Page 87 of Wingmen

“How was dinner?” said Elliot.

Fuck. Fuck this. Fuck this First Class all the way to Canada. He was just gonna have to say it, and it was gonna be whatever it was.

“I wasn’t at dinner,” he said.

Elliot frowned. “Oh. Okay.”

“I was in Vancouver.”

“O–kay…?”

“In a hotel. Doing math about prescription opioids. Which I bought by lying to a pharmacist because I ran out of the prescription opioids I took every day for the last three weeks after I said I wasn’t going to.”

God, it was just the most painful silence of his entire fucking life.

Elliot stared at him for so long Dustin thought something might have short-circuited inside him. Then he said, “What?”

Dustin started to say it again, but Elliot put up his hand. “No – stop, no, I don’t need you to say it again.” He shut his eyes and stood there with his hand up. “You said you weren’t gonna take any more.”

“I know.”

“And then you did.”

“Yes.”

“And then you ran out. And you just…bought a ticket to Canada. And booked a hotel. Like it was nothing.”

“Yes.”

“And got what? Actually never mind, I don’t wanna know.” He opened his eyes. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“I think…a lot of things.”

“You paid for an international flight. To buydrugs.”

“Legally…”

Elliot scoffed. “You could’ve died.”

“Well, no–”

“You know there are, like, people sleeping on the street at your basketball court who probably have it?” Elliot’s voice rose. “But you didn’t wanna go there, I guess? That was probably beneath you.”

Dustin stared. He didn’t know how to respond to that.

“Only scumbags buy drugs on the street. Right? You would’ve had to feel like a scumbag.” Elliot’s voice was shaking. “Butyou’rea hockey player! You make a hundred billion dollars a year! Dustin Bennet doesn’t buy drugs on thestreet. That would bedangerous.That would mean he’d have to leave the Pearl District. And he hasn’t done that in three years! He doesn’t go down to the North Park Blocks. No! He goes toCanada. On aplane. And stays in ahotel!And lies about it.”

“Elliot, I’m really sorry–”

“And then what? You decided it wasn’t for you and flew right home? Did you fly First Class, at least?”

“I called my brother.”

“Oh,good.” His voice cracked.“And what did he say?”

“He called me a little fucking moron.”

Elliot laughed, but it was a laugh on the edge of tears. “Well he sounds like a very smart guy.”