Page 28 of My Brother's Bad Best Friend

He nods a little. “I get it. Five years’ difference and all that. Still, he’s been tweaking his fucking brain out these past few days, and probably for longer.” He sighs, running his fingers through his beard and tugging. “I should’ve seen this sooner. I’ve been too consumed with the fucking shop to notice my best friend going down this goddamn rabbit hole, and now…”

“And now it’s too late?” I finish for him.

He nods a little. “Probably.”

“What can we do?” I suddenly feel this rush of optimism. I have no other job, no prospects, no friends, but I do have Ezra and Jonas. Maybe I can help them, make myself useful at least.

“Nothing,” he says.

“There has to be something. There’s rehab, and, I don’t know, we could get him to throw the drugs away, and—”

Jonas interrupts me. “Lizzie, listen. Whatever he’s doing with those guys doesn’t involve chump change. Even sober, he’s not just going to walk away from this now. No, he’s on his own, and it better work out.”

I feel a little glare of anger. “Why are you abandoning him?”

“I’m not,” he says firmly. “The best thing we can do for him is to either call the fucking cops and get the whole group arrested, including your fuckwit brother, or we back off and see if he can’t make this happen.”

“How are those the only options?”

He drops his hands to the desk. “Only options I can see, at least. Trust me, little rose. Your brother’s in this now and there’s no way in hell he’s going to just walk away, no matter how much you beg him. Plus, those fucking guys won’t let him go that easily. We can’t do shit for him right now.”

I sit there folding and unfolding my hands in my lap, feeling so angry I could burst, but I don’t know what to do with this anger. I could vent it out on Jonas and have him throw me out of Half Pipe, but then I’ll have nothing at all. Without Jonas, I won’t be able to help Ezra no matter how much I want to. I feel impotent, incompetent, pathetic, weak, and stupid.

Jonas leans toward me, hands flat on the desk. “Listen, you know I’d help him. You know how much I’ve done for him already, but this is too far. You have to understand that.”

The memory of that day five years ago comes back, Jonas making me a sandwich, Jonas leaving my house with Ezra. He’s right, Jonas has been taking care of my dumb brother for five years now, and if he thought something could be done, he’d do it.

I let out a long breath and slowly unknit my fingers. “I just wish there was something I could do,” I say finally.

“Yeah, I get it.” He leans back in his chair again, relaxing a fraction of an inch. “Believe me, I do. I blame myself, but blame doesn’t matter anymore. This is where we’re at, so we better deal with it.”

“Really good pep talk.” I give him a little grin and run my fingers through my hair as a smile comes back to his handsome lips. “You should be a coach or something.”

“I’m a bad influence, remember? Drug dealer and asshole?”

“Got it, of course.” I hesitate a second before blurting out, “Listen, I need a favor.”

His eyebrows arch up. “More favors? I thought letting you live in my apartment was favor enough.”

“My brother’s apartment,” I correct. “And I know I’m asking a lot.”

“No, it’s fine.” He strokes his beard again, looking at me. “Ask away.”

“I need a job.”

The smile on his lips gets bigger. “Do you now?”

“I’m sorry, I just, I don’t know what I’d do. I don’t have a college degree or anything, so that means shitty retail gigs at best, and I don’t even have any experience with that, and—”

He interrupts me again. “I’ll hire you.”

I blink, surprised it was that easy. “Really?”

“Really,” he confirms. “I do need some talent up front. How do you look in a bikini right now?”

I narrow my eyes. “Excuse me?”

“Yeah, a bikini. I’m thinking we get you half-naked, oil you up, and have you greet customers as they come in. Call it the Weed Ambassador Program or some shit.” He cocks his head. “How do you feel about a pushup bra instead of a bikini top? Really make them pop.”

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