Page 12

Chapter 12

Mikey

I sat at my kitchen island, grinding my teeth. It had been five minutes since I heard Jessie crying next door. Asshole Cole had exchanged some harsh words with her and left. She’d left the living area, because her cries were more faint. How much longer could I listen to her sob like that?

She’d spent the morning combing apartment listings, which I let her do even though it killed me. I didn’t get why she wouldn’t just stay with me. Before she went over to her apartment, she told me she found a place a little out of budget and farther from work for her, but she’d go look at it in the afternoon.

I couldn’t let this go on. Jessie was losing her mind in the drama of it all. I could be the strong one. I just needed to put my foot down.

I stood, ready to take over. Her and Cole’s apartment door was unlocked and I walked in. I found her on the bedroom floor, a half-packed duffel bag open next to her. She gazed up at me with bloodshot eyes, waiting for me to talk.

“You’re coming with me.”

“I found a place, Ben.”

I crouched next to her. “It’s too expensive and it’s farther from work for you. Do you really want to do that?”

“I don’t want to be near him. I don’t want to see him. I don’t want to hear him.”

Now that was a fair argument. If I laid eyes on him in my present state, I’d probably knock his teeth out. “I’ll make sure he stays away from you. Just stay with me. It’s free. It’s no further from work for you.”

“I can’t live with you for free.”

“Jessie, money’s not an issue for me. I don’t want your money.”

Her face arranged into a sneer. “I have to earn my keep, Ben.”

“Let’s worry about that later. Right now, I’m going to help you pack up and we’re moving your stuff into my place. Okay?”

She looked at her crossed ankles in her lap. “I hate this,” she mumbled. I sat next to her and put my arm around her.

“I know, hon. Show me what’s yours and I’ll carry it to your room. Then we can order some nasty takeout. Sound good?”

She sniffed and rubbed her fingers under her eyes. “Alright.”

* * *

Jessie had been living with me since Cole broke up with her, and it was Wednesday. She usually came home before I did and shut herself in her room. I knocked at her door sometimes when I heard her crying, but she either pretended not to hear it or to be asleep. But I knew she’d been awake because she’d pop out to use the bathroom.

Sunday night, after we moved her stuff in there, blew up her air mattress, and got her settled, she claimed she wasn’t hungry.

Monday and Tuesday, she got home from work and disappeared into her room. She claimed she ate on her way home. Through the door. She wouldn’t even open the door for me.

I was about five seconds from demanding she eat with me like the Beast in Beauty and the Beast.

Wednesday, I was clear to play again, but we didn’t have a game. I cooked dinner, making enough for two. Nothing fancy, just tacos. It was actually Valentine’s Day, but I didn’t know how to handle her feelings around that. Was she depressed? Would she accept roommate flowers? Better to ignore it altogether. I even planned to make a joke to her about it being Taco Wednesday if she came out of her room.

I perked up at the sound of her bedroom door. She shuffled through the kitchen with her head down and her phone in her hand.

“Hey, Jess,” I tried.

“Hey. I’m going to talk to Cole.”

“Oh. Cool. Um, good luck, I guess?”

She gave a weak smile, then stalled at the front door like she realized she should say something else. “Work okay for you? You get to go back yet?”

“Yeah, yeah. Shoulder’s doing a little better.”

“Good.”

“Everything okay for you?” I spooned up some of the taco meat I was stirring. “Hungry?”

“I ate on the way home.” Then with her hand on the doorknob and a wry smile, she said, “Don’t wait up for me, Daddy.”

And then she was gone. Why was I relieved that she had a two-minute conversation with me? And why did I like it so much when she called me Daddy, even if it was a joke? I heard Cole greet her, his tone sounding flat.

Their voices grew faint. I’m sure she knew that I could hear them and they went deeper into the apartment. I can’t not be nosy, so I cracked open the window hoping to hear more. I had the TV on and muted, so I could quickly pretend like I wasn’t being absolutely invasive.

I was desperate for any scrap of her because honestly, I was worried about her. She was crying alone in her room and wouldn’t let me in. I suspected she wasn’t eating.

I fell asleep on the couch absolutely 100% waiting up for her. I wanted to be there when she got home. I startled awake when she came in. She went straight for the freezer.

“Lookin’ for something?” I asked.

“Do you have ice cream?”

“Sorry. Lactose issues,” I said. “Makes my tummy upset.”

She muttered something. “Goodnight, Mikey.”

“Jessie, wait.”

She turned in the hallway, looking back at me with a sadness that was deeper than tears, bigger than just getting dumped. Or at least, I thought. I’d never been dumped. I didn’t know how big that could feel.

“Is it over?”

She sighed. “Yeah.”

She stood, frozen.

“I’m sorry,” was all I could cook up.

“Someday, I’ll tell you ‘don’t be,’ but I’m not there yet.”

I nodded.

“Goodnight, Ben.”

That night, her sobs leaked into my room as I sat up in bed, worrying about my roommate.

* * *

“I think my roommate’s depressed.”

It was Thursday, and the team was due to leave for another road trip Friday morning.

Guy stuck out his lower lip. “Why?”

“She’s been just in her room crying.”

“Didn’t her boyfriend just dump her? Like Sunday?” Sorrento asked. I may or may not have texted a few guys to let them know I was getting a new roommate.

“I mean, yeah. Saturday night after the party. I don’t think she’s been eating. The only time she came out last night was to go fight with her ex. Then she was looking for ice cream, which I don’t have. I told her it makes my tummy upset.”

“You said ‘tummy’ to the hot girl living in your house?” Leroy asked. “That’s why she’s not fucking you.”

My cheeks flamed. “I didn’t say she needed to fuck me. We’re friends.”

And I just said she was depressed. What kind of monster would it make me if I were even thinking about sex with her when she’d been like that the whole week? Even I had limits.

Sorrento raised an eyebrow. “You’re friends with that girl with the huge boobs that you were waltzing around at Stelle’s party? Just friends?”

“I mean, yeah. She’s fuckin’ gorgeous. But she’s still kinda cranky with me.”

“So get her the ice cream,” Obi said, cutting through the chatter. Everyone went silent, waiting for him to go on. Despite being the youngest guy on the team, he somehow always had wise things to say. His name is fitting. He’s got a Jedi-like way about him. Sometimes I imagine a cloud of mist around him as he delivers his little proclamations and nuggets of wisdom. “She’s going through a breakup. She’s sad, and she wants ice cream. Give her what she needs.”

“That’s not his job,” Leroy said. “He’s already housing her. She’s not his charity case. She should be nice to you, Mike.”

“She’s going through a breakup,” Guy emphasized. “She’s probably cranky with everyone. I agree. Get her the ice cream. Try and feed her. Show her you’re there for her. Be a friend.”

So on my way home, I stopped for boba, Thai takeout, and ice cream.