Page 67 of Ever With Me

“Kayla,” he croaked, pulling himself to sit up. He balanced one hand on the toilet seat and closed the lid.

God, I’m a wreck.

Shame broke out over his brow in the form of sweat.

“Explain to me why Cormac had to call me first thing this morning and tell me you were drinking last night. Or that, when I got here, I found a woman I don’t even know taking care of Audrey. Not that I’m mad at Maddie. I could kiss her, actually, and she’s my new favorite person on the planet. But you? I’m going to murder you.”

And she has every right to.

Brooks rubbed his eyes. “I’m a fucking mess, Kayla. It’s unforgivable. You have every right to hate me and I’m sorry.”

“What’s going on with you, Brooks?” Kayla shook her head, disappointment and hurt in her eyes. “And why the hell are you drinking? I can’t go through this again with you.”

The smell of alcohol seemed to seep through his pores, and his mouth was acrid from a night of getting sick. He’d never considered himself that uncontrolled, but Kayla had been worried about his drinking, so he’d quit. Darren had heard about it and leaked it to the tabloids himself that time, wanting him to bring it up in interviews and other discussions.

Made him look like a raging alcoholic to the press.

Why do I keep allowing that? Because one day, Audrey’s going to read all that shit.

Brooks struggled to his feet, then made his way to the sink. He turned the tap on and splashed water on his face, then took a long drink directly from the faucet. Putting toothpaste on the brush beside the sink, he looked at Kayla through the mirror. “Maddie’s still here?”

Kayla nodded.

Double fuck.

He’d said some lewd things to her the night before. Tried to kiss her.

God, I owe her an apology.

“I’m sorry, Kayla,” he said again. How could he explain?

He was a failure.

A fucking failure.

A disaster that just kept making his damn life worse.

Kayla’s lips pursed as he brushed his teeth. The taste of the toothpaste turned his stomach, but he pressed on. No way in hell he had anything left to vomit.

“I managed to actually take tomorrow off, so I’m free to stick around until the rental is up. But . . . I don’t want Audrey to see her beloved uncle with a hangover. She didn’t deserve for you to put her in a dangerous situation last night, and she doesn’t need to see that. So Cormac is picking me up, and we’re going out for the day. Then he’s coming back here, but you need to apologize to him because he’s one of the few genuine friends you have. I also gathered up all the liquor bottles in this house and put them in a box. I want you to call the homeowner or the rental manager and have them pick them up this morning. Do all that, and I’ll think about forgiving you.”

“Consider it done,” Brooks said, rinsing his mouth.Holy fuck, I feel sick.

“I’ll consider it done when it’s done. Get yourself cleaned up. Cormac will be here in ten minutes.”

Without waiting for him to respond, Kayla left, shutting the door behind her.

Brooks closed his eyes, resting his weight on his hands as he leaned on the counter.

So this is what rock bottom feels like.

He’d finally done it. Pushed away the closest people to him, thrown five years of sobriety out the window, come onto a sweet woman while drunk . . . and that didn’t even take into account the assault charges or the fact that he hadn’t contacted Ava with any sort of plan for his image rebrand.

Or even really thought about it.

Because the truth was . . .I don’t want it anymore.

Not the fame. Not the label. Not the control.

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