If you like music while you read, try "Awaken Love" by Lacey Sturm!
*****
~ STARK ~
Had I lied, she asked me? Humph. Sometimes honesty took more strength than silence.
I splashed my face one more time to give myself a moment to brace for it.
"I don't make a habit of it," I answered testily—and far too slowly—shame making my movements jerky as I reached for the towel next to the basin to dry my face and chest, and grabbed one of the mint leaves from the jar to chew while I did so, keeping my back to her because I was fairly certain I was blushing.
"Then stop trying to justify your own shitty choices by pushing someone else to do the same. There is not safety in numbers when both of you descend to hell together."
I bristled.
"You do not understand—" I started, my jaw clenched, teeth grinding the leaf to rid my mouth of the sour residue of alcohol.
