"Yeah."
"What? Am I stealing your thing?"
"Fuck no. You don't wear misery like I do."
Fair enough. It's natural on Ryan. Like he was born with a frown. Hell, I barely remember him with a smile. He was never the happiest guy in the world, but when he was around Penny…
"You love her, huh?"
"Why do you care?"
"Fuck, Dean was right. You're stupid."
"How the fuck do you know about that?"
"He's my brother." He taps his head in the duh motion. "You do realize you're my friend?"
"Yeah. And?" We're not exactly buddy-buddy. We rarely speak. Don't get me wrong. I like Ryan. I want the best for him. But I'm not expecting an invite to be his groomsman… in some parallel universe where he's interested in love.
"Believe it or not, I don't want to see the entire world miserable."
"You've been sulking over your ex cheating for a year."
"And?"
"It's been a few days."
"You like being miserable?"
"Do you?"
"That's not the point."
"Yeah, it is." I'm done with this conversation. I can be a miserable asshole if I want. If anyone understands that, it should be Ryan. "What? You get free rein to hate the world but I don't?"
"I don't sulk."
"Yeah, you do."
He shakes his head stupid kids. "It's not that she cheated."
"What is it?"
"She's gone. Yeah, I hate her for sleeping with that asshole. But, no matter how much I hate her, there's a gaping hole in my chest the size of her."
"You'd take her back?"
"I don't know. Doesn't matter. She's still with him."
"You really keep tabs?" The pounding in my head lessons. Fuck, it's nice thinking about someone else's problems. About anything that isn't how much I hate Iris. And how much I want her.
"People talk."
"You don't look at other women."
"I'm not doing it again."
"But you could fuck half the girls you ink."