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“Let me guess, the dude you spent last night with?”
“Yes.”
“Cool. Are you going back out, then?” He seemed nonchalant about it and picked up the remote control, but the hesitancy in his tone was obvious.
“I thought we could spend the day together. When was the last time we just hung out?”
“Video games?”
“Breakfast first. I’m famished.”
He gave me a gentle push. “I bet you are. Get your horny little self in the kitchen and make me breakfast, man. And put some effort into it this time. No shells in my eggs, please.”
“Just be glad I’m in a good mood.”
“Yeah, well, you need to go back for a second dose tonight, then, because this Scottie I can live with for the rest of my life.”
“You’re stuck with me all day. We can hit up a club later tonight if you want.”
“A club, Scottie?” Jay trailed me into the kitchen. “Seriously, where were you last night? I can’t tell the last time you went clubbing with me. Definitely not since you walked out on that asshole.”
“We don’t have to go. It’s just a thought.” I slapped the bread I’d taken from the box on the counter. “Since you’re already here, toast the bread. By the way, how are you doing?”
“I’m good.” He grabbed the toaster. “Why?”
“You know…what happened last night? Do you want to talk about it?”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Jay, please don’t be stubborn. I’m here making your favorite breakfast—toast with avocado spread and eggs. I’ll even make you a yogurt fruit parfait. Talk to me already.”
When he turned away, with his lips in a straight line, I sighed and cracked the eggs into a small bowl. At least I tried. I couldn’t make him talk.
“I met my father last night,” he said.
“Yeah? How did that happen?”
“I didn’t tell you, but I took an extra job as a part-time delivery driver for a pizza joint. Of all the places for me to deliver to, why did it have to be his apartment building? Why did it have to be him? What are the fucking odds?”
“And? What happened next?”
“What do you think happened? He tried doing the whole ‘I’m sorry bullshit,’ so I socked him one and left. Told him to stay the fuck away from me for good measure.”
Everything inside me screamed to tell him to forgive Griff. To let go of the trauma he’d been through as a little boy who watched the police take his father away from him in handcuffs. As much as I empathized with Griff, and I knew he was hurting, I had to be there for Jay too. If he wasn’t ready to talk to Griff yet, I had to support him in this as well.
Dumplings. This was more difficult than I’d thought.
“That must have been a shock—you seeing him like that out of the blue.”
“Man, you wouldn’t even understand. I wiped him clean from my life. Why can’t he take the hint?”
“I know you don’t want to talk to him to make him feel better, but what about doing it for yourself?”
“What do you mean?”
“Jay, you’re hurting.” I flipped the eggs. “You pretend you’re fine with everything that’s happened, but you’re restless. It’s why you keep leaving jobs, never quite comfortable anywhere you are. I think it has to do with the unresolved nature of your relationship with your dad.”
“That’s not why I can’t hold a job down.”
