Page 186 of The Perfect Love

I’m a moping, mumbling, cranky as fuck bastard.

Mom and Hyla came back to the apartment with me yesterday. While Mom left last night, Hyla left this morning. Now I’m sitting around in a pair of sweats with no shirt, my beard untamed, looking through Chelsea’s romantasy books, and wondering how badly I’ve screwed up every part of my life.

This might be rock bottom.

A knock on the apartment door surprises me, but doesn’t lift my mood. The only person I want to see wouldn’t knock. Maybeit’s Robbie here to tell me to get the fuck out. Though I haven’t seen his car since everything happened.

It’s a lot of effort to get off the couch, but when a second, firmer knock comes, I force myself to do it.

I throw the door open, and I don’t know who I was expecting to see, but I wasn’t expecting Nick Ardito to be standing in my doorway.

“Gonna invite me in, or do I have to beg?”

I move to the side because words don’t come.

“I guess I’ll take it.”

He walks in and drops his bag on the floor as I close the door behind him.

“What are you doing here?” I finally ask.

He walks over and throws his arms around me. “This. You’ve shown up for me at the rockiest of bottoms. Now I’m here for you.”

I dislike the tears that well in my eyes because I’m sick as fuck of crying. How do my eyes still have tears? Pathetic asshole has been my setting since Tuesday night.

“Now,” he says, giving me a shove. “Go take a shower. You smell like ass. I’ll make us some lunch. Turkey club is still your favorite, right?” He nods to the grocery bag next to his backpack.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll have them ready by the time you’re done.”

I stare at him blankly for a second. “Thank you.”

He smiles and gives a quick nod. “Go on. I can smell you from here.”

A slight smile curves at my lips despite the ache in my chest.

It shouldn’t surprise me for a second that Nick came here. He’s always shown up for me. When my dad died, he was the one who broke through the haze around me. He lost his mom when he was really little, and he made it a point to come spend time with me because he knew how I felt and he wanted to help.

Nick and I have been friends forever, but that was when we grew closer. Our bond deepened through high school, and whenever my childhood best friend ditched me, Nick was always there to cheer me up, take me out, get me smiling again.

I take a quick shower, letting the hot water soothe some of the tight muscles in my back, then make my way out to the living room where Nick is sitting with sandwiches plated up and the firstTerminatormovie queued on the TV.

“Remember when we discovered this movie and had to watch it every single sleepover?” he asks.

I laugh at that as I pick up my sandwich. “Oh, yeah. I think my mom was ready to throw the DVD away.”

“Thank God for streaming,” he says with a smile, then starts the movie.

We get comfortable on the couch and eat our sandwiches in silence. When we’re finished, I lean back against the couch and run my hand through my hair.

“How did you deal with this with Leigh?”

Before they were married, Leigh went through some rough stuff that led to some distance between her and Nick.

He blows out a breath. “Well, it’s a little different. Leigh was pushing me away, but from what Hyla said”—because of course she called him—“Chelsea isn’t doing that.”

“No. She openly said she needed some time to process. That’s more than fucking fair.”

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