CALLUM
After turning down my mother’s request to join the others in the Adirondacks for Thanksgiving, I stayed in the city. Many of my friends were away with their families, including the only person I really wanted to see. The only problem was that Nicole wanted nothing to do with me. This wasn’t about Harper, or even the fact that she was my student.
Something had happened, and I was still at a loss when it came to figuring out where I had screwed up. My mind kept returning to the last night we had spent together, and even that didn’t make sense. I never forced myself on her, and she could’ve said no to anything we had done. I was truly at a loss, so opting to get out of my place, I headed to the neighborhood sports bar.
Noah and Romeo were playing today, and this win would almost certainly guarantee them a playoff spot. They had the best record in their conference, and it wasn’t even close. As it was, they both led their respective positions in pro bowl voting. Their success was the only good thing to have happened in the last few months. This year appeared to be good for everyone, except me. Gabriel had reunited with Harper, and the two were so happy together. My two friends were killing it in their careers, and...
I was about to say something about Daxon, until I opened the door to the sports bar and noticed him sitting there alone. The Titan didn’t look upset, even though he was alone over the holiday. I supposed I should’ve been more like him. I noticed the basket of wings and single beer mug, then decided to go join him.
“Hey,” I said once I reached his table.
Daxon looked up and grinned. “Hey! I thought you were in New York.”
I shook my head. “I didn’t feel much like socializing with the entire Steele and Meyers families this year.” My mother and Mason Steele’s father were siblings, and although I loved hanging out with Mase, even he wasn’t enough of a draw.
“You’re just in time for the second half,” he told me, then snapped his fingers without even looking up. Seconds later, a mug of beer was set down in front of me, too. “Thanks,” he told the woman without giving her a second glance.
“Thank you,” I also said, then picked up the glass. “So, what’s the score?”
“They’re up by seventeen points, and Romeo is about eighty yards away from a thousand for the fourth consecutive season.”
“That’s great.”
I was very happy for my friend. While Titans like me, Daxon, Gabriel, and Noah all grew up with money, Romeo had not. From what he’d once told us, he was from a small town in southern Texas, and had only made it to college due to an athletic scholarship. He was extremely talented, so it wasn’t a surprise that he was a Heisman finalist in his junior season. Noah had ended up winning it that year, so to have them both end up on the same team was awesome, especially when it was our hometown one.
The star quarterback friend of ours was picked with the number one overall pick in that year’s draft, and when our team jumped back into the first, Romeo was also drafted. Since then, our multi-year streak of missing the playoffs was finally over. A few years later, it took some maneuvering, but Gabriel was able to get them both contract extensions, keeping the dynamic duo together for four more years.
The game returned, and I began to drink my beer, but declined the offer of some wings. Daxon turned his focus to the game, and while I should’ve been glued to the screen like he was, there was too much on my mind to concentrate. The small sports bar erupted into cheer when we scored again in back to back plays. Noah had thrown a thirty yard pass to get us at midfield, then Romeo juked two defenders and ran in untouched for an easy score. The extra point was good, and I knew the touchdown had basically sealed the game for us. We were going to win the division, and it would guarantee us a playoff spot.
“Don’t you think so, too?” Daxon asked, and I looked up at him.
“What?” I’d been lost in thought, although not the same kind that I usually was. “I didn’t hear you.”
“I just said that those two make a damn good team.”
“Yeah, they do.” I slammed back the rest of my beer, and when our waitress returned after I set my empty glass back onto the table, I shook my head at her offer of another. “No, I actually should be going.”
I pulled out a bill, then handed it to her. “I’ll be back with your change, Mr. Meyers.”
“That’s not necessary. Just keep it,” I told her, then looked over to see Daxon eyeing me suspiciously. “What? ”
“You’ve been acting strange for weeks now. First, you stay in the city instead of going to New York, then you give Emma a fifty and tell her to keep the change. I know money isn’t really an issue, but you seem more scatterbrained than I’ve ever seen you. I mean, you’re not even into the game, and usually, you’re the first one to turn it on. What gives, Cal?”
“School is—”
“And don’t give me that damn school excuse because it was harder for you last year when you practically fell into that job, and you were nowhere near this lost. If I didn’t know better, I’d guess this all has to do with a woman. Am I right?”
Daxon was way too fucking observant for his own good. I suppose it came with the territory of his job, but it was more than that. We’d been friends for several years and everything he said was right. I scowled instead of responding right away. He then chuckled which had me glaring at him.
“Who is she?”
“Who is who?”
“The girl that has you sulking over the holidays. Did she go out of town and leave you all alone? Or, are you—”
“Are you done?” I let my displeasure be known, then stood up. I grabbed my stuff and went to walk away, but I stopped. I wasn’t going to wait for a response from him, and I still didn’t plan to, but I realized he might be the perfect one to help me. After exhaling sharply, I turned back around. “Are you really into this game?”
“What do you mean?”
The words I wanted to say hung on my tongue until I finally just spit them out. “I could use someone to talk to about something, and if you’re not busy— ”
“I actually planned to head to my office for a bit. Want to join me?” When I nodded, he got up and threw a bill down onto the table for his own stuff. “Let’s go.”
Faulkner Psychiatry was right down the street, and since neither of us had driven, we both walked in virtual silence. With every step I took, I was starting to second guess my decision to say anything at all. When I finally decided to just go home, we reached the tall skyscraper where his office was located. Daxon had a key card that he slipped through the reader and when he opened the door, he looked at me over his shoulder.
“No sense in chickening out now,” he teased, and I shot him a glare.
“I’m not, but I think I can handle this on my own.”
“The fact that there is a ‘this’ only proves you can’t. If you could, you would’ve done so already. You’ve been acting strange since going to Costa Rica. You might as well tell me what’s up before the others get to questioning you, too.”
“For fuck’s sake,” I mumbled under my breath as I walked passed him and into the building.
Dax closed the door behind him and the click of the lock was loud in the enclosed space. This building had dozens of floors of office space, and Daxon’s office was close to the top on the fifty first floor. I followed him to the elevator, then down the hallway to his psychiatry office. I’d been here before, more than once even, but never in this capacity. Technically, I wasn’t a patient, just a friend, but when I stepped inside and noticed the couch in the center of the room, I spun around and nearly knocked him over.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding. Your patients actually lay on this thing,” I said, making a sweeping motion with my hand toward it, “and confess their darkest secrets to you?”
“I wouldn’t say they are secrets, per se, but the couch does make my patients feel more comfortable. They almost feel like they’re at home talking to a friend. They’re essentially you, but the only difference is that I’m not going to charge you a boatload of money to do it.”
Daxon grinned, then pointed at it. When he sat down in the nearby chair, I growled. I didn’t intend to lay down, but I did sit.
“So, where do I start? Do I tell you about my childhood, and you notate something in one of your damn notebooks that you’ll use to later explain why I’m so fucked up?”
“We’re not here as doctor and patient, but rather as friends. You can start anywhere, but I assume by your last remark that you think your childhood has fucked you up in some way.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s nothing like that. Do you remember what I said about Costa Rica?”
“About the ayahuasca cleanse, then a one night stand?”
I nodded. “Well, the one night stand is none other than a student in my class.”
“No way! Damn! I bet that was a shock. How does it make you feel?”
“Honestly, I’d tried to get her to transfer to another class, but there wasn’t another one available and she needs this course to graduate.”
“Doesn’t it feel weird having to teach someone you had sex with before?”
My friends all knew how I was with women. I never committed, and to be honest, I’d rarely slept with the same girl more than a few times. As I answered Daxon truthfully, everything came spilling out. I told him about how I’d lost control in my office and took her right there against the door, to actually showing up unannounced at her place. My indecent proposal of sorts came next, followed by the last few months up to the night of the charity event. I expressed my concern about how she’d just abruptly ended things, and the awkwardness between us now.
“I know a secret relationship is hard, or I guess it would be, but the two of us had been doing well. I can’t believe she just up and broke things off like she did. The worst part is that I’m sure it was something I did, but I don’t know what. Nicole hates me. I see it in her eyes, and I hear it in her voice during class.”
“And how does thinking that make you feel?”
“It fucking sucks, man. I just told you that it was the worst part, but I’m realizing that’s also a lie.” His brow arched, and since I’d told him this much, I decided to just throw the rest of it out there, too. “I think I’ve fallen in love with her.”
“You think—”
“Okay, damn. I have fallen in love with her, but she won’t even let me talk to her so that I can tell her.”
Daxon’s advice that followed was basically to give her time. He mentioned the stress that a secret relationship with her professor likely put her under, and that maybe once classes were over and done with, she might hear me out. I was pretty sure the longer we stayed apart, the less likely that was, but I didn’t want to even bring that thought to fruition.
“And there’s something else.”
“What more could there be?”
As soon as he asked the question, I saw his eyes widen and I quickly clarified myself.
“It’s nothing like that. Nicole’s not a normal student, per se. She’s the daughter of a powerful Titan, and the niece of another.”
“What’s her last name? ”
“Courtland. Nicole is—”
“Jonas Courtland’s niece?” At my nod, he shook his head in amusement. “You know he’ll kill you if he finds out that you’ve been fucking his niece. I’ve met Logan a few times over the years, but we know Jonas, and more importantly, he knows us. He knows you. Do you think she’s said anything to him about you?”
This time, I was the one to let out a laugh, albeit mine was more sarcastic in nature. “I’m still alive, so I’m assuming she has not.”
Daxon got up and walked over to a small refrigerator that he had behind his desk. When he returned, he had two beers in his hands. He handed one off to me, and the two of us drank it in nearly complete silence until I remembered what I had gone to the sports bar to begin with.
“I think you should still just give her some more time. Things will get better. But enough of my grilling you for the day, man. Let’s try to catch some highlights from the game.”
He turned on the television, and thankfully, we were able to catch the last few minutes of the game before turning to the highlights. Noah had a great game as usual, but Romeo’s was off the charts. Next week, he’d hit that thousand yard threshold, and luckily he’d be playing at home so we could all go and celebrate afterward.