Page 72 of Boyfriend
And then she’s gone, and I’m sitting here feeling unsettled.
“Someone’s an early riser,” mutters Tate as he shuffles into the kitchen. “Your girl get you up early for sexy times?”
“No.” I let out a sigh. “I might have screwed up with her.”
“Might have?”
“Yeah. I’m not sure.”
“Hmm.” Tate points at the cake. “You eating all that?”
I pass him Abbi’s clean fork. “We can go halfsies. She ran out of here without eating it.”
“Hmm.” He takes a bite. “You two have a fight?”
I shake my head. “I just don’t know where the boundary lines are, you know? Abbi doesn’t have an easy life.”
“Do any of us?” Tate asks.
I know for a fact that Tate’s family farm is struggling, and he somehow does chores there, works an extra job, and still makes it to hockey practice.
So the man has a point. “I guess everybody has their moments. But this is a bad moment for Abbi, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
“I thought it was casual with you two.”
“It is,” I insist.
“Then what are you worried about?”
“I’m not sure,” I lie, and then I shove another bite of cake into my mouth. “Honestly, I’m starting to feel like Abbi deserves better than me. I’m a commitmentphobe with a busy schedule. She needs a guy who wants to go the distance. A real partner.”
“She seems like a great girl,” Tate says. “But she’s graduating, right?”
“Right.” I feel relief just saying it. “I won’t let Abbi down, and she won’t let me down. We’ll just go our separate ways.”
Tate’s eyebrows lift. “Hang on, though. Did Abbi say she wants more from you?”
“Well…” I try to think. “No, she never said so. It’s just a feeling I have.” Don’t most women want more of me?
Christ, maybe I’m just an egomaniac.
“See, you don’t actually know.” My friend shrugs. “She might not even be looking for a long-term thing. Maybe she’s just as relieved as you are that it’s off the table.”
“Hmm.” I sit with this idea for a moment. But it doesn’t quite feel right. “Abbi keeps her cards pretty close to her chest. But I get the feeling she can’t let herself expect more from anyone in her life. She’s really alone in the world.”
“Like how alone?”
“An orphan. She has a stepdad, but he remarried. And there’s a new step-stepbrother who sexually harasses her.”
“Wait—that bouncer at the Biscuit?” Tate asks.
“That’s the guy.”
Tate makes a face like he’s tasted something foul. “That guy is a tool.”
“Yeah, and he’s the reason she can’t even live in her stepfather’s home. She’s got a lot on her plate. And life has already disappointed her so brutally…”
“You don’t want to be the next thing that goes wrong for her,” Tate suggests.
