Dakota held up his phone. “My car is coming in five minutes.”
Elliot opened his front door. “You can wait outside.”
Dakota’s eyes popped open, comically wide. “B-but it’s winter. It’s dark and cold outside. Look”—he pointed to the street—“it’s even starting to snow.”
“Suck it up, buttercup. You chose to spring this on me tonight. You don’t live here anymore.” With a strength of conviction he hadn’t known he possessed, he picked up Dakota’s suitcase and tossed it onto his porch. “Out.”
“This is the real reason I’m leaving. Your negativity is bleeding through your soul. Learn to be positive, Elliot.”
Elliot bared his teeth in a forced smile. “I am. I’m positive you need to leave right now and wait outside on the porch. See how I’m changing?”
Dakota mumbled, “Whatever,” and walked out. Elliot banged the door and winced, remembering it had a glass front. The last thing he needed was to have broken glass all over the place. He still hadn’t fixed the lock on the front window. Every time the wind blew, it rattled and let the cold air inside. He’d asked Dakota to try and fix it, but of course that had never come to pass.
A car door slammed in front of his house, and he peeked through the living room window to see a sedan drive away, its taillights shining red in the darkness until they faded from view.
Another relationship down the drain. Another failure. Elliot flopped onto the couch and pillowed his head in his hands. He should be used to it by now, but he hated being alone.Ugh. He wanted to drown his sorrows.
“Maybe I should call the guys. They’ll be thrilled to hear we broke up.” He pulled out his phone, but the thought of explaining to his sharp-tongued friends why his boyfriend left him burned a hot trail of humiliation inside him, and he tossed the idea aside. “God, I can imagine how they’ll laugh at me. They were right all along. As usual.” Wolf had even said Dakota was looking for a rich sugar daddy.
“You’re more like a low-calorie stand-in until the rich one with the fatter bank account comes along.”
Elliot winced, recalling how he’d stormed out of that particular dinner with his friends less than a month ago, standing up for Dakota rather than listening to the people who knew him best. On his return home, he’d relayed the story to Dakota, who’d reassured him how wrong they all were and that he was there to stay.
“They never liked me. They’re jealous they can’t control you and tell you what to do. They’re wrong, and we’re gonna show them.”
But they were right. They had seen it from the start—not only with Dakota, but with all the guys he’d been with.
Elliot should’ve known it would all come crashing down. No boyfriend ever stayed, no matter how hard he tried. His parents had left too, forced to retire due to his father’s respiratory illness, and had moved to Arizona for the more temperate climate. The only ones who’d always been there for him were his best friends from college—Spencer, Wolf, and Chess. After a few minutes of deliberation, he sent them a group text, wincing as he typed the words.
Dakota broke up with me.
It took less than five seconds for the first response to arrive.
Spencer: Be right over. Don’t do anything stupid.
The rest of the group followed with similar words of warning.
He sighed and placed an order of Chinese food to be delivered, then made sure there was at least a case of beer in the fridge and several bottles of wine. Elliot sat and waited.
***
“Hallelujah.” Spencer raised his bottle. “All I can say is, it’s about time. Stop frowning. You should be celebrating.” He finished his beer and picked up his chopsticks to attack his plate of Hunan Chicken.
“Shut up. I’m entitled to be in a funk.” He looked to Chess, who gave him a sympathetic smile.
“What reason did he give?” Wolf fixed Elliot with his sharp gaze, which always set him squirming in his seat. No wonder Wolf was one of the top trial lawyers in the city. Even knowing Wolf for so many years, if Elliot ever had to appear in court and be questioned by him, he’d probably wet his pants.
“It doesn’t matter.” Now regretting he’d ever called them, Elliot attempted to brush it off, but Wolf was his usual relentless self. Another one of his more charming traits.
“It does to me. Tell us.” His voice, deceptively calm, held an edge of steel.
“You’ll laugh.”
Wolf’s amber eyes gleamed with a rare flash of humor. “Most likely.”
Spencer said, “Elliot. It can’t be that bad. You know we’re here to support you.” Spencer’s attempt at being the comforting friend was a joke, even more so with a mouth full of fried rice.
Elliot downed half his beer. For courage. “He said we weren’t spiritually in sync—something about our chakras being blocked. That our auras weren’t aligned, and that’s why our sex life wasn’t good anymore.”
