“Bros before hoes,” he said.
“She’s not a hoe…”
“You know what the hell I mean, man.”
He pulled me closer and gave me a bear-hug. I felt Teddy patting my back.
“Is a woman worth all this?” Teddy asked.
“No,” I admitted. “But she’s no normal woman.”
“Obviously,” Trey said. “She’s playing games with you. We need to get in the zone for the next few games. Coach is pissed at us for losing last week.”
“Yeah…”
Whether I enjoyed admitting it or not, he made sense. I pushed Trey away then turned and saw Brian standing on the porch looking lonely.
“Get over here, roomie. We’re doing a house-huddle then a night of drinking and brotherhood.”
“Fuck yeah!” Trey yelled, getting into it.
“Football forever,” I screamed into the night air, not caring if Brooke heard me.
She had probably made it back to her own apartment. Let her deal with that nutty roommate of hers. I put my arms around Teddy’s shoulder and headed to the porch.
Inside, we played some old school Beastie Boys at full volume – Fight for Your Right to Party. I didn’t want to drink any alcohol, but a group of guys could have fun without drinking.
I was sure of it.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Brooke
Austin called the next morning and invited me to breakfast. He sounded hungover, and sorry. I agreed to meet him, but walked over instead of letting him drive me. We both needed to say we were sorry. We both needed the truth.
“So, what are we going to do about the Jocelyn situation?” He asked after we ordered.
I smiled at the word “we.”
“Well, I should move out right away, but I have nowhere else to go. And I feel sorry for her. She’s not going to be able to come up with the money to break the lease.”
“Is your name on it?”
“Yeah, but I’ve got some money saved up. I can pay a few months to get out of there, but I still don’t have anywhere to go.”
“You could move in with me?”
“And Trey and your other roommates? No thank you.”
He laughed.
“They’re not that bad.”
“It’s going to be a big enough adjustment living with you.”
“Oh, yeah? You think so?”
I felt his hand rubbing my back.