Fuck, he’s in deeper than I thought.
He opened the fridge, pulling out a beer, and I noted that except for two more, there was nothing else in there.
“Where’s Cass?” I asked, gritting my teeth to keep from losing my shit.
“School, where do you think?” He downed the bottle in only a few gulps before retrieving another. I glared at him. “Hair of the dog.” He smirked.
“The fuck are you doing, Bodie?”
“Don’t start.”
We’ve had the same conversation a dozen times already. I knew he was tired of hearing it and I was tired of repeating it, but he needed a wake-up call and he needed it now.
I pulled in several deep breaths to calm my pounding heart. I wanted to kick his ass, tell him to get his shit together and man the fuck up.
Instead, I opted for reason. “Listen, you need help, man, look at you. When’s the last time you had a shower? Or been on a board? This is getting out of hand.”
Bodie scoffed. “You don’t know shit.”
“Well fill me in then. I can’t fucking help you unless you talk to me.”
“Jesus, you sound like my little sister.”
His tone was bitter, harboring an underlying coldness I’d never heard before. “What’s your problem, huh? Are you angry with yourself because you’re too much of a coward to admit you have a problem or are you angry at me because I keep calling you on it?”
“Why don’t you just fuck off already? I’m angry because you won’t mind your own business. Not everyone’s life is perfect, asshole. Some of us have real fucking problems.”
That knocked me back a step, so did the resentment in his eyes. “What happened to you? We used to be best friends, remember that?”
“Things change.”
“Yeah, I guess they do.”
“Fuck you!” he roared. “Stop pretending like you’re so goddamn perfect. You’re not! I’m so sick and tired of you constantly trying to tell me what I need to do.”
I was done with reason. He needed a gut check, and as bad as it was going to hurt me to be brutally honest, it had to be done.
Collecting several steps, I met him toe for toe. He was only an inch shorter than me but we were both around the same build. We’d never fought before, and he might be a better surfer than me, but I would wipe the floor with his ass and he knew it, especially in the state he was in now.
Lowering my head, I got right up in his face. “Open your fucking eyes. You’re better than this. Cass needs you, and she needs you sober. Now, I suggest you smarten the hell up, get your head out of your ass, and stop feeling sorry for yourself before you lose her or worse, end up dead.”
“Dead would be a hell of a lot better than being here,” he quickly retorted with venom thick in his voice.
A gasp sounded from the other side of the room. Bodie twisted his head, his eyes widening in shock. “Fuck,” he hissed, lowering his head in shame.
Cassidy let go of a sob before dropping her backpack to the floor and running upstairs to her bedroom.
Bodie turned away from me, bracing his hands on the counter. “I can’t take it anymore, Reid. It’s all just…too much.” His eyes swung to mine. “Promise me something, if anything ever happens to me, I need you to look out for her, man.”
“Bodie, what the hell are you talk—”
“Just fucking promise me!”
I stared back into his eyes for a long time; the hopelessness there scared the shit out of me.
Finally, I worked past the knot in my throat to say, “I promise.”
I wanted to say more—so much more—but I couldn’t find the words.
