“I’m saying that being together means compromising. You can have an ideal life, sure. Then, you have to come together with your partner and figure out a compromise that works for both of you. Both with money and with school.”
I paused. “And you think I don’t know that?”
He scoffed. “Says the guy who hasn’t told Rae he’s miserable yet.”
“I’m not miserable.”
“That was the word you used.”
“Well, I didn’t fucking mean miserable.”
“Might want to choose your words better when you talk with her, then.”
“Dude, this is why I didn’t want to have this conversation. Get off my nutsack.”
“You get off it first.”
I sighed as I leaned heavily into the seat. Sweat dripped down my back and I merely accepted my
fate. I’d boil to death in this car before we got to the fucking boardwalk. Since when did things get so complicated? Since when did money drain this quickly? Holy fuck, I’d need a serious job if I wanted to keep living my life around this area. Especially around Cal State. Where Rae had decided to attend college for four. Fucking. Years.
Shit.
“What kind of jobs have you been looking for?”
I shook my head. “No.”
Mike paused. “No, what?”
“No, I’m not talking anymore with you.”
“Oh, come on. We’ve moved on from Rae.”
“And I’m done talking.”
“Just answer the damn question. What kind of jobs?”
“All kinds of jobs, Mike! Mechanic, part time cashier, a fucking sub sandwich maker. Gas station attendant. Construction. Internships. Fucking internships, dude! And no one gives me anything. No callbacks, other than people telling me We’ve found our candidate, thank you for fucking applying.”
“Do they say ‘fucking’ or…?”
I growled. “I’m going to slit your throat.”
He chuckled. “Hopefully you don’t list that as a skill.”
I reached over and tried to fist his shirt, but he caught my wrist. He tossed my hand back into my lap before shooting me a look. Traffic slowly rolled down the block. Inching us closer to the boardwalk before we came to yet another standstill.
Then Mike put his car in park again.
“You can be pissed all you want, Clint. But we both know the only reason you’re this angry is because Rae doesn’t have her shit together, so you can’t. And you won’t get your shit together until you talk to her. Until you have a firm foundation with her again. Or at least a firm enough foundation to tell her whether or not you actually want to follow her to college or strike out on your own again.”
I shrugged. “I mean, her college is only an hour away. And that’s with traffic.”
“Yeah, well. Look at this traffic. We were fifteen minutes away from the boardwalk. And we’ve been sitting in this damn car for forty-five.”
Point taken. “I mean, if we really wanted to--”
“Dude, quit being a pussy.”