Johnny laughs.
I blow out a breath. “Fine. Yeah, things were shit when I ended it with Tatum and she was with my brother five seconds later. I signed some paper for my dad. My mom died. My brother married my ex. My dad was indicted and I was associated, so the league benchedme for forty games. It was like one thing after another. I felt like my ex wanted to use my family for her business. I felt like my dad used me as a shield for his illegal activities. I went to the Bahamas to lay low, as Bodine told me, but I also went to escape all this shit for a while. I met a girl my first night there. She was there for a month, too, which I found out later. Long story short, I fell for her. But she’s a travel influencer, so there were total red flags that she’d want to use me, too. I asked her not to put me in her content, and then she did. She went mega-viral going live when Coop, Brewer, and AJ came down for the night.”
“She featured you?” he asks.
“She went live knowing we were in the background.”
“But did she actuallynameyou?”
I shake my head.
“Could’ve been a coincidence,” he says.
“It wasn’t.”
“She admitted it?” he asks.
I nod.
“So what happened?”
I push off the counter and grab a lemon-lime Gatorade from my fridge. I hold one up, and Johnny asks, “You got any cherry?”
I shake my head, and he nods at the one in my hand, so I toss it to him.
I take a long drag of my drink before I finish the story. “I walked out. Came home early.”
He stares at me like I’ve grown two heads for a few beats. “You walked out?”
I nod.
“That’s it?”
“Yep,” I say.
“Have you talked to her since?” he asks.
I shake my head. “We never exchanged numbers or anything. I suppose I could track her down based on what I know, but what good would it do? She betrayed me.”
“I mean…you could just, you know, get the fuck over it,” he says.
“And wait for the next betrayal? No thanks.”
He spins the lid of his Gatorade on the table. “How do you know there will be one?”
“There always is.”
He’s quiet a while before he picks up his cap and screws it back onto the bottle. “Are you sure? Or do you think maybe you’re running scared because it got too real too quick and you were looking for an out?” He moves to a stand. “You don’t have to answer that. In fact, I know you, so I know you won’t. I need to get to the clubhouse before Bodine reams me a new asshole, but I needed you to know that, as cheesy as fuck as it sounds, you’re not alone. Okay?”
I nod. “Thanks, man.” I walk him to my front door, and he claps me on the shoulder.
“Anytime, Archer. You know that.” He tosses a light punch at my stomach. “Now get back in shape. You’ve only got twelve days.”
“You’re an asshole,” I mutter, and he laughs as he walks out the door to his car.
It’s the first time that someone asked me that question. It’s the first time I thought about it, too.
Maybe he’s right.
