Embarrassment clawed up my throat. It was hard enough saying it to myself, let alone anyone else. “This weekend.”
“On your birthday?” he asked incredulously. “Who did it?”
“What?”
“The breaking up. You or him?”
“What does it matter?”
“It matters. If it was you, then good on you for not taking his pompous shit, but I suspect by the reddening of your eyes and the flushing of your face, he broke it off.”
I swallowed a thick lump in my throat.Pompous shit? Josh wasn’t holding back. Since when did he even notice my love life?
A flash of anger swept through his eyes. “Piece of shit.”
“It’s not your fault,” he added.
I shrugged, trying to downplay it.
“Yeah, but no matter what, no one deserves that.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, surprised by the genuineness in his tone. Josh had a reputation of being an ass. He was thoughtless, arrogant, and ruthless. I had seen his ego get in the way many times on the field, nearly getting his ass tossed out of the game if it wasn’t for Kev and Jake calming him down.
“My turn. Don’t be greedy.” Kev came bursting into the room, not giving a crap that I was still in session. He was still damp from the shower and water beaded down his toned physique. At least he had on his Twisters gym shorts, unlike the last time. He’d arrived in only a towel. I kept telling them that therapy was clothing on.
“She likes me more.” Josh smirked at him.
“I do not,” I quickly interjected, avoiding getting in between whatever little showdown those two were about to have. “Keep me out of this.”
Kev chuckled. Josh scoffed, gathered up his bag, and glanced at me; his eyes telling me it was going to be fine. I wasn’t even sure why, but I sort of believed him. That was the thing with Josh. Despite being a giant ass, he was also surprisingly comforting. I lowered my stare to the ground to hide my watery eyes, grateful we didn’t always need words to communicate.
Kev jumped up on the massage table and laid on his back with his head staring up at the sky. “Don’t worry about him.”
I nearly stepped around him. “Excuse me?”
“Josh is an ass all the time. Whatever he said to make you have the puppy-dog look, just ignore it or slip some hot and icy in his lotion and rub it all over his ass next game.”
I snorted so hard that I sounded like Mrs. Piggy. “He’d probably like that.”
“No doubt,” Kev chuckled, threw on his headphones, and closed his eyes while I moved him into position.
The entire time I stretched out Kev, my thoughts were stuck on the conversation with Josh. He genuinely seemed irritated that Wes broke up with me. Maybe it was a circumstance of timing, but either way, there was sincerity in his voice about being better off. He was right. Screw Wes. I’d rather jump back on the single train than deal with him again. Except, what was I going to do about needing a date?
The thought of facing my sister and her self-righteousness was a tough pill to swallow. She had doubted I’d be bringing anyone and instead of letting it go, I’d doubled down. Ugh, what a freaking mess. By the time Kev’s thirty minutes were up, I had given myself a headache.
“I don’t know what happened, but that was the best damnstretch of my life.” Kev grinned, stretching his neck as he sat up.
“Turmoil does wonders for the stretches. Got it.” We both chuckled as I stepped out of the room, giving him some privacy to cover up.
Nora filled my glass to the brim with chardonnay and I watched her do something fancy with the chicken breast she was stuffing with asparagus, feta, and tomatoes. I was lost in thought, contemplating what to do about being single and expected to show off mywonderfulboyfriend on my Papi’s birthday.
“What am I going to do?” I whined. Nora glared at me while wrapping the chicken.
“You’re better off without Wes,” she declared, then I recognized the dangerous sparkle in her eyes. “I know what you can do!”
I was hesitant to engage, but the wine helped with my courage. “I don’t know how I feel about?—”
“Fake dating!” Nora shrieked, clearly excited about the idea that I thought was ridiculous.
