Page 4 of Final Temptation (Alpine Peak #2)

“Hi, my name is Myles, and I’m an alcoholic.” I stood up in front of the crowd, having done this many times before, and introduced myself.

“Hi, Myles,” the crowd answered back.

After shaking my sponsor's hand, I stood at the front of the church where the AA meetings took place.

I fumbled the blue coin around in my hand, feeling its imprint in my palm.

Public speaking never got easier, even if there were only twenty or so people in the audience—my brother Declan and his fiancée, Paige, being two of those people.

Most meetings consisted of the same individuals, with a new addition or two trickling in and out every now and then.

But today’s meeting was an ‘open’ one. Rarely would outsiders attend unless it was a special occasion like today.

Six months of sobriety was an impressive milestone and worthy of being celebrated by showing the closest people to me just how seriously I’d been taking being sober.

“Today marks six months sober, something I never thought I would say. Thank you for coming out today to support my sobriety; it truly means more to me than you know. I’m sure you’ve heard my story a thousand times by now, but every time I tell it out loud, I’m reminded of what got me here today.

It never gets easier to talk about, but I’ve learned it’s necessary in my healing journey.

” I took a deep breath before flashing back to the details of that dreadful October night.

“Last year, I made a terrible mistake. It was just another night of having one too many drinks and blacking out to the point of forgetfulness. I wasn’t surrounding myself with the right people and was making poor decisions.

Not only was I intoxicated beyond the legal limit, but I got into a car with someone who wasn’t in much better condition than I was.

That night we were responsible for taking someone’s life—not just anyone’s life—someone very important to me.

” Feeling the slightest bit choked up, I cleared my throat, looking into the pews where Declan and Paige sat, my eyes connecting with hers.

It was never easy to remind myself, or her, that I had a part in the passing of her father.

“It’s been about eight months now since the accident.

I still don’t remember any of the details, and the entire night is really fuzzy for me.

I know I was involved, but to what extent is still a blur.

I’m hopeful that with many more meetings and recollections of that night, I will someday jog my memory, getting closer to the full image of what happened.

Thank you for being here tonight and sticking around as I continue to work on myself.

” I held my sobriety chip in the air and nodded to the audience as I finished my speech.

When I joined Declan and Paige, they stood up, each giving me a hug—hers lingering just a few seconds longer. “I’m so proud of you, Myles. I hope you know I’ve never blamed you for what happened.” The truth in her words radiated through her tight embrace.

“Thank you, Paige. It means a lot.” I cleared my throat, forcing the emotion away. Paige reassured me often, but it never got old to hear .

After they congratulated me, we sat there as a family and respectfully continued to listen to the other speeches.

Nights like this were never easy. The moments when I reflected on what happened, I wasn’t any less tempted to pour up a drink. There would always be a small part of me that would want to drink away the pain.

Last year, I got caught up hanging around Logan Brooks, and nothing good ever came from that guy—or any of my other friends, for that matter.

I’ve always been a wild child with adrenaline running through my veins, never taking life too seriously because I was young with no responsibilities.

I was one of the lucky ones—I had a job lined up in the family business since the moment I could walk.

I didn’t need to go to college or leave Alpine Peak.

So, I stayed here and stuck around the guys I grew up with, who had nothing going for them.

I continued to tell myself over the years that I didn’t need to grow up just yet. My time would come.

But then, last year happened, and by some crazy fucked up mistake, Paige’s father was the one who had to pay for our sins. I used to drink and party to have fun and get lost in the moment. Ever since the accident, my mindset shifted, and my drinking became worse. I drank to forget.

Every day, I woke up with a pain in my chest, wishing I could remember every detail of what happened. I knew it wasn’t healthy to live in the past, but I always wondered if there was something I could have done to save her father.

When I finally came clean to my brother and Paige about my part in it all, I decided then and there—I needed to get sober.

I couldn’t continue to live life going down a path of recklessness.

So ever since, I've been attending as many AA meetings as possible.

The more meetings I went to, the better I hoped to feel, the less alcohol I hoped to crave, and the more I yearned to remember that night.

The other attendees finished their speeches, and as the meeting was coming to a close, we all made our way out to the parking lot.

“Thank you both for coming today. I know it never gets easier to talk about.” I stuffed my hands in my pockets, rocking back and forth on my heels.

“Of course, man. You know we are always here for you.” Declan said, giving me a pat on the back.

His embrace was almost robotic. Tense. He played it cool, but every now and then, I still felt like a disappointment to him.

Growing up, we’ve always been close, but we couldn’t be more different from one another.

He’s the older brother, grown and mature.

I’m the one who grew up never learning from my mistakes—until now.

He wasn’t one to fuck around with women in the ways I had; he was always more of the relationship type.

Declan had a way of dealing with his emotions that I envied.

He didn’t shy away from them; he only invited them into his life to deal with them head-on.

We were as opposite as they came, but it didn’t change the fact that he’s as much my best friend as he is my brother.

“We’re just happy you’re getting better and continuing to work on yourself. It really shows, and six months is such a big deal,” Paige said, hugging me once again and shifting my focus from my brother.

We said our goodbyes before heading to our separate vehicles.

It felt nice to have family around today.

I’m not sure I could have gotten through all these meetings without the support.

Normally, my parents would have been here as well, but they were out of town on summer vacation and instead opted to text and congratulate me this morning.

I hopped into my brand-new Jeep Wrangler, considering what to do with the rest of my evening.

Old me would have gone to Peaks for a nightcap.

But new me didn’t step foot in that bar.

As long as it was a temptation, I’d stay away from that place—no matter how good their food was and how hot the women were.

My options were to go home to my parents’ empty house, where I was living, or go to the gym. I had already gotten my workout in this morning to get the pre-AA meeting jitters out, so I didn’t really feel like pulling a two-a-day. I guess that left going home as my only option.

It was challenging to spend time alone these days—it left me too much time to think.

Think about that night, about having a drink, what I wanted for my life, or when I’d wake up one morning feeling better.

I tried to fill that lonely feeling with random hookups, working overtime at my family’s construction company, or letting off some steam at the gym.

My phone buzzed from my pocket, and when I slipped it out to look at the notifications, I was pleasantly surprised to see I received a message on one of the many dating apps I had downloaded.

It was like the universe knew I needed something to distract me tonight.

I pulled open my messages, eyes as wide as saucers at the name typed across the screen.

Sophie Turner.

I hadn’t seen Sophie in months, but it didn’t mean I hadn’t thought of her. No matter how lonely I was, there was no way I would reach out to her and tell her I’d thought about our kiss almost every day since. Or that every kiss I’d had since then hadn’t even come close to measuring up.

I clicked on the message, unable to wait another second to see what she had to say.

Sophie: It’s giving fuck boy.

This girl. Damn. We hadn’t talked in months, and that was how she greeted me? I shook my head, my laugh filling the silence.

I wasn’t sure if she was waiting around for my message back, but I decided to let her sweat it out a little bit longer while I drove home. I had zero intentions of leaving her on read all night, but I was going to have some fun with this.

She wasn’t far off from the truth, though; I did have the tendency to be a fuck boy—even I could admit that.