“Something going on you need to share?”
He leans against the desk, arms crossed with his glasses sitting on the tip of his nose. His entire body looks stiff, like he’s bracing himself for something, but his eyes are softened. He’slooking at me, almost in a way that makes me want to spill every last thing I’ve been feeling, but I don’t. I can’t.
“No, sir. I’ll bounce back next week.”
I can tell he knows I’m hiding something. He’s known me too long, has seen me go through too much shit, to continue believing my obvious lies. The way he exhales lets me know he’s upset that I’m keeping something from him. But how do you say what you’re dealing with when you don’t even know how to describe it?
Once I walk out of his office and down the hall to the exit, Mia’s standing at the gate, waiting for me. An invisible weight instantly lifts and she waves as she notices me.
“You did good,” she says once I get within earshot.
Her arm reaches out to hug me and I pull her in, squeezing her against my body.
“Were you watching the same game?” I cock an eyebrow at her in question.
“Oh, stop. It was a tough battle. You did your job, though. Their defense just also did theirs. But you guys won.” She nudges my arm as we walk over to the parking lot.
“You guys want to grab something to eat from Louie’s?” Ford asks as he approaches Mia and I.
Mia looks at me, searching my face for a silent answer before we respond. I nod my head to Ford and say, “Yeah, we could eat.”
Louie’s is fucking packed as soon as we walk in the door. It smells like hot pretzels and beer the further we get into the building. I keep my baseball hat pulled down over my eyes sohopefully nobody recognizes us, or if they do, they’ll respect the fact that I’m just here to eat.
“I really am proud of you, Nate.” Mia shrugs, giving me a nod and a smile as we sit down. She reaches for my hand and squeezes it on the table. Sometimes I think if Mia was the only person in the world to believe in me, I’d still be just fine. She gets up from the table to meet Abby over by the bar and it’s then I feel Ford’s hand on my back.
“Are you good?” He stares at me, waiting for a reply.
“Yeah, yeah, thanks. I’m good.” This is the trending question of the day, apparently.
Ford and I talk at the table for a little while longer before Mia brings over a plate of nachos and a basket of buffalo wings.
“We’re splitting all of this.” Her hand gestures to the food in front of us and I nod my head, but then hold up my index finger and step away for a moment, only to return with a cup of ranch.
“Can’t forget the good stuff.” Mia’s eyes widened with an enthusiastic nod.
Once we’ve cleared out the food, I bring my empty glass up to the bar and turn to walk away, but the bartender grabs my attention. Sure, I noticed her, she’s good looking, has tits that would probably bring me to my fucking knees, but I wasn’t planning on talking to her.
“I don’t want to make a scene, because I quickly figured out you guys are in your own little corner for a reason, but just wanted to say good game.” She flashes me a sweet smile and grabs my glass, walking it back to the sink. I smile back at her and linger for a moment at the bar before deciding to walk back to the table. A different version of me would have planted my ass on that bar stool and made sure I took her home for the night, but things have changed. Casual sex and one-night stands have lost all appeal in the last few months. Just another side effect of whatever the hell is going on with me, I guess.
“I’m exhausted and would rather collapse on my bed than this table, so I think I’m ready to go,” Mia says when I get back to the table. Her nose scrunches up into a yawn and the tiniest little squeak leaves her mouth when she does.
“Come on.” I sling my arm around Mia’s shoulder and say goodbye to Abby and Ford before walking us out.
My eyes feel heavy as I keep opening and closing them, like I barely slept. Hendrix is still curled up at the end of my bed in his usual spot between my legs, so I gently try to maneuver out from underneath him to get up.
My body is sore from yesterday's game, and my muscles feel like they need some relief so I text the only person I know who’s also awake at seven in the morning.
Foam roll me?
Mia
I’m just going to leave the one you like at your apartment from now on.
When Mia walks in an hour later, she’s carrying a bag over her shoulder with the giant green foam roller sticking out of the top and a drink carrier with two smoothies. Her long brown hair is pulled back away from her bare face with a headband and she smiles at me, placing the smoothies on the counter and I grab the bag from her arms.
“Fuck. What the hell else is in here, why is it so heavy?” I place the bag on the chair and take a look inside. Mia carries a whole ass computer with her in this thing? I pull it out with a questioning look.
“Well just in case I want to stop and do some work at a coffee shop or something,” she blurts with a quick laugh at the end.
