Page 30 of Toxic Wishes

“Okay, just head to my brother’s house. It’s a Thursday, and he never stays at this guest house unless he brings his daughter for the weekend, so we should be golden.”

“Are you sure your brother is okay with this?” I ask for the tenth time on the way down here.

‘Ya, he’s fine with it. I’ve had plenty of parties there. Besides, we are fucking celebrating tonight. We’ve studied our asses off this semester, and I’m celebrating you and all our hard work because I couldn’t have done it without you, Asher.”

A warm blanket covers my heart.

“Oh, and invite all the hot chicks you know.”

It’s immediately replaced with hot lava, known as annoyance. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Even though Josh was a good friend I enjoyed being around, he was still a guy. His dad, who adopted him after marrying his mom, was in the military and loved sports like every male in Missouri, especially football, so Josh learned to call everyone by their last name.

“I texted my cousins, but they haven’t responded yet.” This is probably because I haven’t told anyone I am coming home yet since Jenna’s baby shower wasn’t until Sunday. She’s getting married and having a baby, so she decided to combine the two and have a baby-wedding shower, Which she nicknamed a Braby shower.

“Keep trying. I had to stop and fill up some gas, so I'll be about fifteen minutes behind you.”

“Okay, sounds good. Should I just wait for you outside?”

“Ya, that’s fine. My friend Chris will probably be there before me, too. He said he invited some girls over. We went to Highschool together so I'm sure there will be a bunch of kids I know coming, but don’t worry, I'll introduce you to them.”

“Oh, goodie,” I say in a sarcastic tone.

“Asher, Don’t be like that. Did I mention how we studied our asses off for the finals? We deserve to have some fun.”

“I know, I'm just kidding. I would feel at ease knowing for sure I could stay at your brother's guest house. I don’t want to drink if I know I have to drive.”

“I’m positive; relax. I’m going to call him here in a bit and let him know I’m having a get-together, so just cool those nice tits of yours, and let’s have some fun tonight. Plus, there’s an extra bed upstairs, so you don’t have to worry about sharing one with me. I know you couldn’t keep your hands to yourself.”

A light laugh leaves me. “You are irresistible.”

“I know, but that’s how much I love you because I only let responsible friends stay there. So you and Chris will be crashing there tonight, but that also means you must help me clean up in the morning.”

“Have I ever let you down? Besides, you should know my ass isn’t lazy by now.”

“And it’s nice too.”

“Josh” I screech.

“Oh, stop. You know you have a great ass. How can you not? The way you work out, you put athletes to shame.”

“At least you have good taste. I’ll give you that. And you’re observant. My, oh my, how the ladies won’t be able to resist that tonight.” I joke.

“Chris is calling me. I’ll see you in a bit.” He hangs up. I look at my phone to see who texted me when I was on the call with him, and sure enough, it is my Ex.

I decided I'll text him when I’m not driving. We are no longer together, so he can wait.

Ten minutes later, I pulled up to his brother's guest house. It’s nice, like, really nice. An uneasy feeling starts to settle in, and I wonder if Josh is telling the truth about his brother being okay with us staying here. I know Josh started talking to a girl, so I'm sure he’s trying to impress her, but I'm not trying to get kicked out by the police for trespassing.

Another good thing about Josh is that we both come from Missouri, so when he went home for holidays, we always tried to fly together. At the beginning of our friendship, he tried to hit on me the first time we were alone in a car, but once he knew I wasn’t interested, he moved on and did nothing awkward. We became good friends, being each other's wingmen, study partners, and doing minuscule mundane tasks together. Plus, hanging out with him gave me good insight into guys, especially young guys. I concluded I never wanted to date someone my age. Don’t get me wrong, Josh was cute, funny, and intelligent, but we didn’t have chemistry like that, and he felt it, too. Besides, Leo’s and Scorpio’s were only compatible when sharing our dreams and passions, making us better friends than lovers.

I did date someone my age for a year, and it turned out disastrous. And that’s why I’m avoiding him. I broke up with Jared three days ago, and he’s been blowing up my phone since I left California.

Take no prisoners.

That was our tagline when I looked up our birthdays in my zodiac book. I should have seen the warning signs back then. Dependable, challenging, and financially compatible were our strengths, but intolerant, depressing, and combative were our weaknesses, and man, did we fight. I know it’s normal for couples to fight, but not like we did. We fought almost every week. Most of the time, it was due to his insecurity and immaturity. He was hot as hell but the most insecure guy I ever met. The main reason I even started dating him was because I didn't want to be a virgin for the whole duration of my college stay. So, I met him at one of Josh’s frat parties, and it’s incredible how clingy and infatuated guys become when they know you don’t give a damn. Over time, I started to care for him, and initially, I thought I was lucky to have him since he was so hot, but I soon realized how controlling and immature he was since he got mad at any guy who looked at me.

It got to the point that if I didn’t leave soon, he would get physical. I studied men like him in college. Gas lighting was a real thing, and he came from a fucked up childhood, so it’s not entirely his fault he was the way he was, but it was no excuse to be a dick. Besides, he doesn’t know this, but I saw a whole bag of cocaine and pills, and I know he was struggling to make ends meet since he had no help from his family and his dad was in prison, but I don’t put up with anything or anyone that has to do with drugs, not after Blake. I didn’t try to talk him out of it because he wasn’t like Blake. He was angry and a bully, so I knew it would be a losing battle and a waste of breath, so I broke up with him in a text. I didn’t want to go back home with a black eye, having to explain myself after all these years, as if anyone would care anyway.

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