Page 19 of Baby By my Best Friend's Daddy

We drove around town, looking for a place, and finally found a pub that Brad always talked about. When we walked in, it was busy. Music blared over the speakers, creating the perfect mood, and they had drinks specials that suited me just fine.

Three more hours of drinking and talking shit with the guys, and I was finally on the level I wanted to be on.

When we left the pub, I was in high spirits, my shitty life finally forgotten.

“Where are we going now?” I asked.

Noah laughed. “Don’t you ever run out of steam?”

“Sometimes,” I said. “But not tonight.”

The world spun slowly around me, and I was sufficiently numb.

“Well, I have to get back,” Noah said. “We have a family thing in the morning, and if I don’t sleep, Ava will have to deal with Warner on her own. Trust me, a three-year-old is a handful. She doesn’t like me in zombie mode.”

Aaron nodded, understanding what it was all about, and I sighed.

When Noah left in a cab, Aaron turned to me. “The club or your place?”

“My place,” I said. “I’m too drunk to drive. Aren’t you?”

Aaron shook his head. “I’ve been having sodas all night, didn’t you notice?”

I hadn’t noticed at all. I wanted to ask what the point was of staying sober if it was his night off, but I didn’t say anything.

Aaron opened the trunk of his car to get something. I spotted a skateboard lying on its deck with the wheels up and a great cartoon of The Hulk on the bottom.

“Oh, I haven’t been on one of these in years!” I cried out.

Aaron laughed. “Yeah? It’s Ben’s.”

“It’s awesome.” I picked it up. “Man, this takes me back to my teenage years. I was damn good on these things too. Let me show you.”

“That’s a kiddie’s board,” Aaron pointed out.

“Yeah, yeah, it’ll be fine. I know what I’m doing.”

I put the board down and did a kickflip, nearly landing it.

“Nice,” Aaron said, clearly impressed. “Ben’s working on that one.”

“You should bring him over sometime. I’ll give him a few tips. Wait, I think I can still…” I tried another trick, one I used to do well in high school. “This used to drive the girls mad.”

I kicked up the board and flipped it. It got enough airtime… until it didn’t. My brain was slow, thanks to the alcohol, my feet not quite where they were supposed to be, and I landed on the board with one foot. The other foot ended up beneath it.

There was a sickening crunch, and pain shot up my leg that I could feel despite how drunk I was.

“Ah!” I cried out and fell to the floor. “Fuck!”

“Are you okay?” Aaron asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, waving him off when he wanted to help me up like I was some old man. “I just landed wrong. I—” When I tried to step on my ankle, it hurt like a bitch.

“Damn it,” I muttered. I rolled the leg of my jeans up a little and studied my ankle. Even in the dim light from a streetlamp, I watched my ankle swell up and become an ugly purple.

“Oh, shit,” Aaron said. “We better get you to a hospital.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said, but I spoke through gritted teeth because now I’d seen what my ankle looked like, it was as if the pain had tripled. “Okay. Yeah. Maybe you should take me.”

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