Jake sat on the hood of his truck in the empty parking lot long after practice ended. The high from that one good quarter had worn off, leaving him with a knot in his chest he couldn’t shake.
He kept replaying it — the no-look pass from Ethan, the way he’d cut without thinking, the high-five after the dunk. For twenty minutes it felt like nothing had changed. Like they were still the same two idiots who used to stay up all night playing video games and talking s**t about girls. Like Ethan was still his brother.
Then reality crashed back in.
He slept with my little sister.
The anger came fast, hot and familiar. But it wasn’t as clean as it used to be. Now it was mixed with something else. Guilt. Doubt. Exhaustion.
Jake rubbed his face hard.
Mia was his baby sister. He’d taught her how
