NO
How’s Isa???
Austin
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say she’s not well if Fletch is out here concussed and asking for alcohol at 10am
Ryan
She dumped me
Cooper
Shit
Hunter
Be there in an hour
Austin
Less than that
Cooper
I’ve got the booze
If there’s one thing I can count on in life, it’s these guys to have my back when I need it.
I’m slumpedover on the sofa at my beach house when the front door is thrown open. I don’t even make a move, knowing it’s the guys. This is why they have the code to the gate and the front door.
Their footsteps echo across the hardwood floor as they weave their way through the house.
“Fletch! Where you at, bud?” Austin calls out.
“Living room,” I reply, voice devoid of emotion. My eyes continue to trace the grain pattern on the wood coffee table on a loop.
All three guys pile through the archway that connects the living room to the kitchen, arms loaded with paper grocery bags. They tip the bags out over the table, spilling a selection of snacks over the surface. A variety of potato chips, chocolate, pints of ice cream.
Cooper drops into the space beside me and holds an opened bottle of beer in my direction while Austin and Hunter head back into the kitchen to grab drinks of their own. I reachfor the bottle, but he pulls it away before my hand connects. “I’ll be cutting you off after two drinks. You already shouldn’t be drinking while concussed, but we’re going to make an exception.”
I give him a nod, and he lets me take the bottle from him this time. “Understood.”
The other two pile back into the space, finding seats on the sofa and the floor. “You two idiots aren’t allowed to have more than three,” Cooper directs at the other two. “We have a game tomorrow and we’re already playing a man down with Fletch out. Coach would murder all of us if we showed up hungover.”
“Sir, yes, sir!” Austin answers with a mock salute.
“Whatever you say, dad,” Hunter says with an eye roll, taking a deep swig of his beer.
Everyone’s silent for several minutes, drinking their beers, but I can tell it’s killing them not to ask.
“Wanna talk about it?” Cooper finally asks, breaking the silence.
I fall back into the sofa, looking up at the ceiling and release a deep breath. “No.” A beat. “Yes. I don’t even know where to start.”
“Why not just start from the beginning,” Hunter suggests.
I squeeze my eyes shut, forcing the rising emotions away. “Well, it seems someone caught us leaving the game together last night. Liz called Isa to break the news to us this morning, but by then it was too late for us to do anything about it. The photos were everywhere.” I shake my head, silently chastising myself again for how careless I was.It’s all my fault.“Anyway, her boss called her in first thing this morning and she was fired. And then she dumped me.”
