Page 59 of What if I Told You

“Yeah, no. Affirmations aren’t doing it for me,” I mumble and then knock on the door again.” Why isn’t he fucking answering?”

I rap on the door three more times but still no answer. “Dammit! Where are you?”

“I’m right here, dumbass.” I turn where I’m standing to find Griffin and Ledger walking toward me from the stairwell, both a sweaty mess with towels around their necks.

“Where the hell have you been?” I scowl.

Griffin cocks his head and gives me an amused look. “Sorry…Mom. We were downstairs in the gym. Why?”

“Then why didn’t you take the elevator?”

Ledger laughs. “Did you not read the sign?” He gestures to the large white paper taped to the elevator doors. “It’s being serviced this evening.”

“Dude, what is wrong with you?” Griffin asks with a shake of his head.

My lungs feel like they’ve closed up entirely as I struggle to take a steady breath. “I…I… “

God I might throw up.

“Griff he doesn’t look good,” Ledger says as I bend at the waist and try to steady my breathing. Griffin brushes past me and quickly unlocks his door pushing it open for me.

“Get in here.”

He and Ledger toss their gym bags by the door and Griffin heads to his kitchen to grab a couple bottles of water. He offers me one and I gladly accept, twisting off the cap and guzzling nearly the entire bottle. Ledger sits in one of Griffin’s bar stools and pulls one up for me as well.

“Sit, Blackstone.”

I do as he says and take a seat at the bar looking into Griffin’s kitchen.

“You want to tell us what’s got you so tied up in knots?” Griffin asks.

“Yeah, man, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this way. Pissed usually, yeah, but you look like you’re about to fall apart.”

My mouth is so fucking dry. Like I haven’t had a drop of liquid in weeks. I take another swig of my water and swish it around in my mouth before swallowing it down and finally saying, “I fucked up.”

“You fucked up,” Griffin repeats, deadpanned.

“Yeah. I fucked up.”

A silence falls over us before Ledger chuckles and says, “Bro, we’re going to need a little more than just ‘I fucked up.’ How did you fuck up? What happened?”

“She’s on a date,” I finally spit out.

“Who’s on a date?”

“Ella!”

“Oooh,” Ledger says, his features softening.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Griffin adds, his eyes narrowing. “What does that have to do with you fucking up? Did you say something to her?”

“No. I think it’s what I didn’t say to her.”

He crosses his arms over her chest. “Alright. Explain.”

“Last week, in Vancouver,” I start. “She slept with me.”

Griffin’s eyes bulge and an excited grin spreads across his face. “DUDE! You didn’t tell us th?—”

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