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“What do you mean you’re good?” Jesse said from the back. “Who you hooking up with?”
“Nobody?” I said. “I just don’t feel like dating right now.”
“Dude, you gotta start pulling yourself out of this funk with your mom,” Jesse said. “She’d want you to get laid.”
“Uh, okay, I’m not entirely sure that’s true?” I said. “And I am working through it.”
Sort of.
And as for dating, I meant it, I didn’t want to. My life felt full at the moment. I had no room for a girlfriend. I had work and my friends. I had Woofarine.
I had Larissa.
I’d rather read an extra book with her than carve out time for someone I’d never met before. For what? Also, I didn’t like the idea of her setting me up with someone. I don’t know why.
“I’m fine,” I said, putting my phone away. “It’ll happen when it happens.”
“Dude’s hoping love’s gonna come find him in his living room,” Jesse said.
“How about you just mind your own business?” I said, pivoting to look at him.
“The people in this car are my business,” Jesse said. “And that motherfucker in California too.”
“Lucky him,” Mike said.
Jesse flipped him off in the mirror and I laughed.
When we got to the gym, Mike started us immediately on the treadmills. I didn’t have a moment alone with him, which I was getting the feeling was the point. Then ten minutes into weights, Jesse looked at his watch. “I have to go.”
“We haven’t even done leg presses, punk,” Mike said.
“Well how long are we gonna be here?”
“Till we’re done,” Mike said.
Jesse looked at his watch again. “Yeah, I should probably get home. Becca wants to come over.”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Get the hell outta here.”
“Next week?” Jesse said.
“If I have time,” Mike said, chucking a gym towel at him. “I got other shit to do besides training your lazy ass.”
Jesse smirked, fist-bumped us, and left.
Mike watched him go. “You’ve just seen the crap I deal with. Nobody has any discipline—and this motherfucker was getting it for free.”
I looked over my shoulder to make sure he was gone. “Hey, can I talk to you?”
He took a drink from his water bottle. “About what? I’m not getting the bear, I promise—”
“Not the bear. The other day. The park.”
“Aww, man, you’re still on that?” He waved me off. “I mean, you guys had fun, right?”
“Uh, if you consider being lost in the woods for six hours fun? It poured, we didn’t have water, she got sunburned—”
“Who goes on a hike without water?” He stood.
