Page 16 of Grave Misgivings

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God, forgive me.

I try to stifle the guilt, the shame.

This is the part I hate.

The aftermath.

There’s no one here to hold me, to make it better. There is only the deafening silence, and the harsh truth I don’t want to face.

That I am defective.

I let the water wash me of my sins, burying them in the darkest parts of myself.

CHAPTER 5

Geo

My alarm goesoff like a screeching siren, rousing me from the depths of hell.

I groan, shoving my face into my pillow. My head is splitting, my mouth is dry, and I need to piss like a damn racehorse.

I let out an aggravated sigh, knowing that no matter how badly I want to hibernate in my warm bed, the alarm isn’t going to shut itself off.

Rolling over, I grab my phone, silencing the ringer. I grab my glasses off the nightstand, putting them on and checking my messages.

I see a couple missed calls. One from Hailee, one from Jinger, three from Kevin, and...

My body tenses when I see the callI made.

Zeb.

I suck in a breath, realizing I fucked up.

Oh no.

Oh no no no...

I rack my brain, trying to remember last night, but I only wince at the pain beckoning in my skull.

That’s what you get for downing a whole bottle of champagne, idiot.

I groan in agony. My dick doesn’t seem to care that I drunk-dialed my former bandmate and ex-best friend last night, and as such, I swing my legs over the side of the bed and get my ass moving to the damn bathroom.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” I mumble as I make my way into the bathroom.

I brace one arm out against the wall and hang my head in shame.

Ten years.

It’s been ten years since I have spoken to Zeb, not that I haven’t thought about calling him.

After I left for Hollywood, I wanted to call him.

A lot.

Every talk show booked, every live performance, every sold out show, I wanted to call him.

I wanted to share my success withhim.

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