Xander #3
“Oh, you might not be on the gay team, but you certainly aren’t on the same team you were the last time I saw you,” she said with a snort. “Can’t blame you, he is…cute. I would say sexy, but that seems distasteful considering the circumstances.”
“Yeah, well, we’re managing not to hate each other right now, so I’m not going to agree with you…but I’m also not going to insult him by disagreeing.”
She curled her lip. “And he, uh…takes you just fine, eh?”
“Really?”
“Hey, you can’t blame me for wondering.”
“Oh, yes, I can, and I’m beginning to.”
“Well, one has to wonder, and seeing the look on your face made me feel a little better, so—”
“He takes it like a champ; he could wear me out if given the chance.”
Her mouth opened and then puckered, shriveling as she huffed. “I suppose I earned that one. You’re a bastard for it all the same, but…well, fuck you.”
“And fuck you,” I said with a shake of my head. “Look, we’re not friends, and we probably never will be. For every bit of love we have left for one another, there’s too many ugly, nasty things between us.”
“So what…we just move on?”
“That was the point of the divorce. Shit, I still haven’t figured out why you came here.”
She eyed me. “You haven’t?”
I frowned. “Am I supposed to read your mind and guess what you were doing? I’ve never been able to keep up with you when you’re on one of your tears.”
“Just for that, I will not help you. Sad that he figured it out, but you’re still just as dense as ever,” she said with a snort, taking the bottle from me and pouring a heavy measure. “God save…whatever his name is.”
“Colin.”
“God save Colin; I hope he knows what he signed up for.”
“He didn’t…” I stopped as she took another drink. I didn’t know what the hell to even say about what he was, or what we were. I was going to have to find him and figure out…something. “Sleep here tonight.”
She looked up, startled. “Excuse me?”
I watched her finish the drink. “You really think it’s a good idea to go out on your bike after what you’ve just downed?”
“Aren’t you the one who said you were seriously tempted to strangle me once?”
“Eh, I wouldn’t be the first person, I’m sure, and I know I won’t be the last.”
“Oh, you are a fucker,” she said, but there was a low chuckle as she turned. “Where?”
“Take my bed, I’ll bunk with the others,” I said.
There was a pause. “Do I even need to ask what that bed has seen?”
I got up, stripping the bed in seconds and going over to the small cabinet in the corner, pulling out replacement sheets, pillowcases, and a fresh blanket, which I dropped onto the stripped bed. “There, free of any taint, or however you want to put it.”
“Anything you want to say to me?” she asked as she looked at the sheets. “Because I’m leaving in the morning, I don’t want to linger longer than my stupid choices have already forced me to.”
“I think we’ve spent too many years saying too many things to each other. Maybe we should stick to letting the lawyers talk to each other and let us…move on with our lives.”
“Yours with him?”
“Maybe. That’s up to him…and me, I guess.”
“God save him.”
I gripped the door handle and fought the urge to tell her exactly what she could do with her commentary. “Good night.”
I stepped out into the cold and took a deep breath.
Next on my list of priorities was Colin, and then I would deal with the rest of them…
whenever. There was only one place I could picture him being; trying to contain whatever idiocy had spun out from tonight’s debacle, or maybe being comforted by them after all the nastiness.
I had to take a deep breath before I walked through the back doors.
It was the first time I could remember ever feeling nervous about facing my team.
It was stupid. I was a grown ass man, and it wasn’t like I’d taken advantage of my position to sleep with Colin.
I mean, literally, I had because I was bigger and he loved being tossed around, but not professionally.
Hmm, probably a good idea not to make that distinction to anyone.
After another breath, I opened the doors.
I could hear the TV coming from the rec room, followed by the irritatingly familiar sounds of someone roughhousing in there.
If I were to guess, especially after glancing into two bunk rooms, it was probably Reno and Jake.
Those two had always had an annoying dynamic; their brain cells fleeing their heads, what few they had anyway, when they were around each other for too long.
Except Reno’s bed was empty, but so was Colin’s.
I didn’t want to take a step-by-step inventory of who was around and I walked into the Rec Room.
Sure enough, Jake and Reno were wrestling on the floor in front of the TV, Reno grunting as he did his best to get the better of Jake, who was clearly taking it easy on the other man.
Aidan was in the corner, curled up in a chair with his phone in his hand, while Mika sat on the couch, eyeing his brother and Jake with the wariness of someone who had been surprised by a stray foot in the past.
Aidan was the first to notice me. “Xander.”