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“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?”
