Page 16 of Baby By my Best Friend's Daddy

“Sure,” Tristan said and smiled at me. “Anything for a good friend, right?”

“Right,” Brad said.

“It’s a big favor,” I said.

Tristan shrugged. “I owed him one. Brad invested in the bar when no one else would, and it’s a success.”

Brad grinned, looking pleased with himself. He was just an all around nice guy. He was the best of friends to everyone he met.

“What will it be?” Tristan asked.

“Whiskey for me and a vodka tonic for her,” Brad said. “And tequila. Lots and lots of tequila.”

I groaned. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“It’s the best idea.”

“I’m working tonight.”

“So, you have the whole day to sleep it off.”

I giggled, and we sat on barstools while Tristan prepared our drinks.

“How are you holding up?” Brad asked, all jokes aside.

“I’m okay,” I said. “Technically, yesterday was the bad day, and since I worked so hard, I barely noticed. Except for my parents calling all the time.”

Our drinks arrived, and we threw back two shots each before we clinked our glasses together. The bitter tequila burned through my veins, taking the edge off, and I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

“That stuff tastes like shit, and it never gets better.”

“I don’t know… I like it.” Brad chuckled.

“I won’t stop drinking it,” I added.

We fell silent, and as the laughter faded, my mood became blacker again.

“I know it doesn’t help, but I’m sorry,” Brad said.

I nodded. “Thanks. It does help.”

Brad knew everything about my sister. She’d studied to be a doctor, and she’d died in a terrible car crash. A drunk driver had hit her and her friend’s car on the way back from spring break. Both had died.

“I think what gets me more is the fact my parents act like they have no children left now that Naomi is gone.”

“I don’t think they see it that way,” Brad said gently.

“Of course they do,” I said with a scowl and sipped my drink. “She was the wonder kid, the one who made them proud. I’m the one who missed the mark, becoming something just shy of what they wanted me to be.”

“What you do is great, Beck,” Brad said.

I shook my head. “Not good enough for them. They never let me forget that being a nurse is a cop-out, that being a doctor would have been better. I missed the mark, and now with Naomi gone, it’s just me. They only have the disappointment left.”

I downed my vodka tonic so I didn’t cry, and Brad lifted his hand to ask Tristan for another. At this rate, I would drink myself into a stupor, but wasn’t that what Brad brought me here to do?

“Do you want to know what I think?” Brad asked.

“Sure.”

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