“Is it over?”
She sighed. “Yeah.”
She stood, frozen.
“I’m sorry,” was all I could cook up.
“Someday, I’ll tell you ‘don’t be,’ but I’m not there yet.”
I nodded.
“Goodnight, Ben.”
That night, her sobs leaked into my room as I sat up in bed, worrying about my roommate.
* * *
“I think my roommate’s depressed.”
It was Thursday, and the team was due to leave for another road trip Friday morning.
Guy stuck out his lower lip. “Why?”
“She’s been just in her room crying.”
“Didn’t her boyfriend just dump her? Like Sunday?” Sorrento asked. I may or may not have texted a few guys to let them know I was getting a new roommate.
“I mean, yeah. Saturday night after the party. I don’t think she’s been eating. The only time she came out last night was to go fight with her ex. Then she was looking for ice cream, which I don’t have. I told her it makes my tummy upset.”
“You said ‘tummy’ to the hot girl living in your house?” Leroy asked. “That’s why she’s not fucking you.”
My cheeks flamed. “I didn’t say she needed to fuck me. We’re friends.”
And I just said she was depressed. What kind of monster would it make me if I were even thinking about sex with her when she’d been like that the whole week? Even I had limits.
Sorrento raised an eyebrow. “You’re friends with that girl with the huge boobs that you were waltzing around at Stelle’s party?Justfriends?”
“I mean, yeah. She’s fuckin’ gorgeous. But she’s still kinda cranky with me.”
“So get her the ice cream,” Obi said, cutting through the chatter. Everyone went silent, waiting for him to go on. Despite being the youngest guy on the team, he somehow always had wise things to say. His name is fitting. He’s got a Jedi-like way about him. Sometimes I imagine a cloud of mist around him as he delivers his little proclamations and nuggets of wisdom. “She’s going through a breakup. She’s sad, and she wants ice cream. Give her what she needs.”
“That’s not his job,” Leroy said. “He’s already housing her. She’s not his charity case. She should be nice to you, Mike.”
“She’s going through a breakup,” Guy emphasized. “She’s probably cranky with everyone. I agree. Get her the ice cream. Try and feed her. Show her you’re there for her. Be a friend.”
So on my way home, I stopped for boba, Thai takeout, and ice cream.
Chapter 13
Jessie
I wish I could say that I thought I was better off without Cole. I wish I could say I was a strong independent woman right away. That I felt confident and capable. That I knew he didn’t define my self-worth.
But four years with someone will do ugly things to a woman. Particularly when that someone blames the end of your relationship squarely on you.
I tried suggesting that maybe we were just growing apart, that maybe we needed to work harder.
He countered with the suggestion that I didn’t love him the way I used to and he fell out of love with me because of it.
