We found some bar with Skeeball and took turns trying to dominate each other. We got back to the hotel around midnight. I almost wished we were staying in New York longer. Going home and facing the reality of not having Jessie anymore was going to be torture.
A few minutes after I settled in my hotel room, there was a knock. Guy. “Can I come in?”
“This a booty call?”
“You wish,” he said, pushing past me. “It’s an intervention.”
I busied myself with popping some microwave popcorn from the minibar.
“Why did you really break up with Jessie? Was it something she did?”
“No. She’s perfect,” I said. “She’s just too good for me.”
“Because of Sydney?”
I grumbled. “It’s not just Sydney. One of my other old flings showed up at our apartment while I was gone. These people from my past just keep making her feel like shit. She wouldn’t feel bad about herself if I weren’t in the picture.”
Guy shrugged. “So move.”
“What?”
“Your exes won’t be able to find you anymore if you move. So move.”
I snorted, morose. “Sydney will still be around.”
“Sydney sucks. I heard Leroy say he’s not that happy with her right now either. I guess she got pretty irrational with him that night.”
I blew out a breath. “Not surprised. She’s something. I can’t believe I fucked her. But I fucked a lot of people I shouldn’t have.”
Guy tossed a hand. “We all did. That doesn’t mean you should give up on Jessie. She probably regrets being with Cole.”
He had a point.
“Is that the only reason you dumped her? Your mom texted me today to ask if you were alright.”
I rubbed my temples. “That’s rich.”
“Why? What does that mean?” Guy asked.
I explained what happened with my parents, and Laura.
“That’s fucked up, man. I’m sorry. Like real sorry,” he said.
“Don’t exactly feel qualified to love anyone after that. My own family doesn’t trust me.”
Guy pulled the steaming popcorn bag out of the microwave,kicking it around like a hackeysack. “Gah! Hot!” Butter was flinging everywhere. I had to laugh. “Look, there was a time when I thought I couldn’t be good enough for Kitty. I thought that because my dad sucks, and I’m just a shitty hockey player like he was, that I’d never be able to give her the love she deserved.”
“Seriously?” It was hard for me to picture him, the most loving partner I’d ever seen, feeling inadequate. “But your mom loved you, right? Like a lot?”
Guy cocked his head to the side. “Yours loves you, too, Mike.”
I stared at the floor between us.
“It’s gonna be alright, bud.” He patted me on the back.
“They fucking betrayed me. Every one of them. Even Aunt Lori.”
“I know it hurts, man. But don’t turn away from a good thing with Jessie just because you got hurt.”
