Mine to Worship

What happens when your best friend’s little sister silences all your demons? Eight months ago, I lost my big brother—the last of my family—while he was deployed with the Army. Now, as Christmas approaches, I’m feeling anything other than festive. If I had a boyfriend or a puppy to occupy my mind, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Instead, I’ve resigned myself to losing the thirty pounds of grief weight I’ve put on and avoiding all holiday cheer on TV. That’s where my mind is when I catch a hot, muscular man checking me out while waiting for the elevator in my building. His lingering eyes and then busted blush dotting his cheeks charms me, giving my exhausted ego a small boost. I’ve never seen him before, but I’m intrigued when he selects my floor. Who is he visiting? Is there a supermodel I haven’t met living in my building? Is he my new neighbor? When we’re trapped in a stalled elevator between the fifth and sixth floors, I quickly learn that my sexy admirer has PTSD as he clutches me to him while having a panic attack. Talking him through it, I soothe his anxiety until we’re chatting like old friends. That’s when I learn who he is and why he’s in my building: my brother’s best friend, a soldier who was with Chad the day he died, and he’s here for me. Liam Bishop is as broken and empty as I am, but as he shares the side of my brother’s life that Chad kept hidden from me—together, we find peace. In his arms, I feel worshiped and alive. Happy, satiated, and almost whole. And part of me thinks he was divinely delivered by my late brother. When he takes me to his parent’s house for Christmas, I think I have found the sense of family I’ve lost over the years, because in Bishop I feel like I’m home. After so much heartbreak, can I trust the universe has finally brought me the peace and love I desperately want and need?