Forever never seemed like such a short span of time until I met EricWestright.
36
Ty
“Didyou guys want any more mashed potatoes?” I ask Jesse and Eric as we sit around the table at my condo. I noticed as soon as Jesse finished his plate, and I’m already on my feet, heading for the kitchen before he has a chance to getOh, I’m—out of his mouth. “I got you, man. I know how you love you somepotatoes.”
“You do know me pretty well,then.”
“Damn right I do.” I grab the bowl and carry it to the table. “I would say I need a bigger space, but as long as I’m prepping for these exams, you guys are going to have to deal.” I stack some more mashed potatoes onto hisplate.
“Holy fuck. I’m not going to have a husband if I keep eatingthese.”
“Oh yes, you will,” Eric says, not a trace of humor in hisvoice.
Initially, I wasn’t thrilled about what they were doing, especially when they dumped it on me one evening all those months ago, when I was least expecting it. I remember walking into Eric’s condo, surprised to see Jesse there. I was taken aback, refusing to believe what I must’ve known was true. There was the feeling of betrayal, yes, but there was more a feeling of abandonment, as if in one moment I had to face the fact that my best friend had not only realized something about himself that I hadn’t yet come to terms with for myself, but shared a special connection with a man I spent my life failing to get closeto.
I thought I’d lost them both, yet somehow I gained a real father and a friend I can appreciate on an even deeper level than before. Hell, now we’re even related. Who woulda thought Jesse Morgan, that dork I met in college, would become my best friend and eventually mystepdad?
Now we get to have dinners like this, and even Mom has come over when she’s had time offwork.
Oh, our little weird-assfamily.
I return the bowl to the kitchen and sit back at the table, then ask Jesse, “You still in for the game nextweek?”
“Yeah, and Sam was missing you last week, by theway.”
“Aw, poor guy, but I bet he kicked someass.”
“I was definitely impressed,” Ericsays.
He still comes to our games, participating in my life in general more than ever. We have a much betterrelationship.
After Eric shared about his past, it’s helped me understand why it all went so wrong. Now he’s been even more open with me about his therapy visits and tango classes. I can only imagine the sort of horror he endured at the hands of his uncle, especially knowing how it hounded him throughout his life. Of course, I know just as well as anyone how easy it is for things from childhood to follow a person well into their adulthood. God knows Mom knows it too, considering I’ve always given her hell for keeping my father fromme.
At least now we’re on the right track. We missed a lot, yes, but there’s still time. It’s not too late for us, and for a long time, I believed itwas.
We chat some about Eric and Jesse’s renovations on the new place they bought together before Eric says, “How’re those books treating you? You hitting them hard like you should be doing? That’s that fatherly thing I’m supposed to say,right?”
“Probably could have used it more in undergrad, but it sounds aboutright.”
We share a laugh as we both acknowledge that he’s stricter about my education now than he was back in the day, something I appreciate, no matter how late itcame.
“So what did you guys say your plans were this weekend?” Iask.
“I have this office party, if you want to come,” Jesse says. “I invited you to it onFacebook.”
“I might. That sounds like it could be fun and a nice mentalbreak.”
An impulse rises within me. I’ve beat around something I’ve been itching to ask for a while, yet I haven’t found a way to ease it into conversation without sounding as eager as I am. “Eric, don’t you let Jesse get wasted like he did in PV…when you, Liam, and I had to deal with his trashedass.”
As they laugh, I wonder if Eric notices I intentionally brought up Liam for my own selfish reasons, but his laugh tells me that he doesn’t suspect, so I press on. “You heard from that guy Liam at all?” I’m trying to sound so chill aboutit.
“Liam? Not really. He floats in and out of my life at his convenience. It’s not like when we were younger and had all the time to hang with each other. Good guy, but we both keep pretty busy, and he’s off living his own lifenow.”
Disappointment courses throughme.
Why am I even so interested? I can’t get the guy out of my fuckinghead.
