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You’re both buttholes.
I read the text Tyler sent in the Hurricanes chat the guys and I had and couldn’t help but laugh—he thought Hunter and I were the buttholes. Go figure. I placed the phone on the kitchen counter and went on cracking open a can of soda.
Shaking his head and placing his phone back in his pocket, Hunter sat on the bar stool at the counter and took a swig of his can. “Ty is such a piss head.”
I swallowed and harrumphed. “Jealous is more like it.”
“Yeah, jealous that we don’t have to come in until the afternoon.”
I looked over at the fridge and noticed the picture Mason drew was slightly askew, so I fixed the magnets to make sure it didn’t fall.
“All right, that does it,” Hunter said at all my fussing, “what the heck is going on with you?”
“I have a lot on my mind,” I responded, hoping that would shut down this conversation.
It did not.
He put his soda down on the counter. “I’m no therapist, but even I could see something is going on with you. You never care about straight lines and you look distracted.”
I raked a hand through my hair and exhaled. “You know, Mason wants me to have a girlfriend.”
He laughed. “I love that kid.”
I tilted my head. “I take it you agree with him, that I should be kissing women, as he puts it.”
Hunter stifled a laugh. “He says that? Man, he’s going to be something else when he gets older.”
I held up a hand and ran my hand across my jawline. “Don’t even,” I warned. “I don’t even want to think about Mason becoming a teenager. If he’s anything like me, I’m going to have my hands full.”
“Just make sure he doesn’t knock some girl up. You’ll be way too young to be a grandpa.”
I shot him a dirty look, but softened my glare when I replied, “I never could imagine how a mother could just leave her son stranded on a doorstep like that. I mean, I know she had her reasons. But she has never once reached out about him, tried to find us. It’s like she doesn’t even care.”
“She did leave him for a reason, so why would she suddenly care now?” He shrugged his shoulders and looked at me as though the answer was black and white. As though my situation was black and white. But it wasn’t. There was so much grey it made my head spin at times.
I didn’t know what I was doing most of the time, just trying to be the best dad I could be while also having my own life. But it wasn’t easy, and those were the things no one talked about. Those were the things I was so unprepared for. It was a juggling act and I was tired of holding up all the balls. I wanted to drop some and know someone was going to be there to pick them up.
And it wasn’t like I didn’t want to meet someone, like Mason wanted me to. The exact opposite, in fact. I was at a time in my life where I wanted to meet someone and settle down. I wanted to have more children and share them with a woman that made me see the world differently. One that kept me on my toes and made me feel again.
That would’ve been nice—to feel again.
I hadn’t had that in a long time.
“Earth to Lance,” Hunter said. When I looked over at him, I saw his hand waving in my face. “Geez, you really are having a rough time.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Some days,” I started and brushed it off. He wouldn’t understand.
“Well, Mason’s at a playdate with one of his friends and you don’t have to be into work until later today. Just chill, man.”
“I don’t think I know how to do that anymore.”
“We both know that’s not true.”
I gave him a pointed look. “Enough about me. Tell me what’s going on with you. Tyler’s love life is practically public knowledge and we’ve officially established that Corey is, well, whatever he is.”
Hunter scoffed. “Tyler’s sex life, you mean.” He got up and took his soda with him, taking another sip before saying, “I don’t think I like the way this conversation is going. Maybe we should talk more about you and your sad life.”
I cracked my knuckles. “Not a chance.”
