Faithful (Wanted 3)

“Oh, fucking son of a bitch. She told the girls?”

“Of course she told them, you douche bag. Why the fuck would you tell your wife that? Let alone, tell her to hide it,” I said.

Bending down, Brad put his hands on his knees.

“Dude, are you going to get sick?” Jef

f asked right before Brad started throwing up.

I ran to Dewey’s office where he kept a small cooler of waters and grabbed one. By the time I got back over to them, Brad was crying.

Brad’s crying?

“Oh god, oh god. I fucked up so bad in so many ways. I don’t even know what to do!” Brad called out as he fell to the ground.

Jeff and I looked at each other. We walked over, picked up Brad, and helped him into the barn. Jeff grabbed three chairs, and Brad practically slumped onto one of them.

“Brad, what the hell is going on?” I asked.

As soon as he lifted his face, our eyes met…and I knew. I’d seen that look before when we were in college.

“You didn’t, Brad. You didn’t cheat on Amanda, did you?” I asked.

Jeff snapped his head from me to Brad.

“What? Wait. Why would you even think that, Gunner?” Jeff asked, confused.

“Because I’ve seen this look before. Remember when he was dating Stacy Malloney? He cheated on her, and this was the exact same look he had when he told me,” I said, glaring at Brad.

Sitting down, Jeff stared at him. “Brad?”

Brad sat back and took in a deep breath. “I was at a business meeting in Dallas, and we all went out to this nightclub. I never go out with the guys, but Amanda and I had gotten into a huge fight right before I left. She was bitching yet again because my mother had kept pushing her to work full-time at the office. Then, she started complaining about how my mother keeps giving her a hard time about having kids. The fight wasn’t even about having kids. It was about my fucking mother constantly pushing Amanda. She told me she was sick of my mother. When she said how she’d given up her dreams for me, I just lost it. I told her to stop acting like a bitch, and then one thing led to another, and words were said that shouldn’t have been said. It was the worst fight we’d ever had. When I left for Dallas, I was mad as hell at her. ”

“Okay, so you went out because you were pissed at Amanda. Keep talking,” Jeff said.

“So, I ran into a girl I knew from college—Michele Walker. ”

“Ah shit, Brad. Your fuck buddy from college?” Jeff shook his head.

“Yeah, Jeff, my fuck buddy from college,” Brad said, glaring at him.

“Go on,” I said. The terrible feeling in my stomach was growing bigger.

“Long story short, she flirted, I flirted, and then she asked if I wanted to go back to her hotel room to get high. I was shocked that she’d even asked, and I told her no. Then, Amanda sent me a text message. Said my bitch mother wanted me to call her. It pissed me off, so I went back to Michele’s hotel room. ”

When Brad looked down at the ground, I saw a tear rolling down his face.

Motherfucker. This does not sound good at all.

“You know I’ve never touched drugs before in my life. Y’all know that. But, fuck, we got back to her room, and she started taking off her clothes. She was just walking around in her bra and panties. I wanted so badly to just forget about everything—Amanda, the fight, my controlling parents…my fucking job I hate. So, I took a hit of coke, and it felt fucking great. I was happy, I had a ton of energy, and I didn’t give a fuck about anything. ”

“Or anyone,” Jeff said.

Brad looked at Jeff with a weak smile. “Yeah…or anyone. Michele started feeling on me, and for one brief moment, I gave in and kissed her. That was it though. I had the sense to stop myself. ”

Jeff glanced over toward me before we both turned to look at Brad.

“By the time I got back to Austin, I felt like such a piece of fucking trash for doing that to Amanda. I needed to forget. I needed to feel happy…like I did that night with Michele. She had told me she lived in Austin, so I gave her a call. Told her I needed more coke, and she hooked me up. I’ve been doing it for the last seven months now. ”