Page 3 of The Jock
“I am sorry I intruded though. Am I forgiven?”
Taylor turned to the sound of the back door opening and closing again.
“Spencer is waiting for you at our table. We’ll be out in a minute. And…we’re sorry, Jonah.” Taylor said, looking pretty fucking morose. Colby suspected his bad feelings weren’t all about hurting Jonah and Colby still wanted to find a way to make it up to him.
But he could only deal with one problem at a time and, right now, the crisis with Jonah was more easily solved. “We didn’t mean to steal your thunder, man. We’re sorry.”
With the apology and the promise of French toast, Jonah was going to forgive them. Especially when Colby and Taylor went out there and offered a proper congratulations to the happy couple. It was nice that Jonah had found someone to behappy with and there wasn’t a more perfect person for him than Spencer.
If only things with Taylor were as easily corrected. By the time breakfast was over, Taylor was back at the stove, and while he was talking to Colby again, there was an undercurrent of sadness there that Colby didn’t know how to fix. Only that he wanted to try.
CHAPTER 2
MILO
Neville—whothe fuck named their kid Neville—looked the part of the sad, dejected boyfriend who’d fucked up and was trying very hard to be sorrier than they actually were. Milo wouldn’t let him back in the apartment. He was even more thankful that even after two years of dating, he’d never let Neville move in. It made ending things smoother.
Milo was currently pacing back and forth, with Neville on Facetime. He’d agreed to let Neville plead his case, but it was a lost cause. He should hang up.
“Milo, please. It was innocent fun.” Neville sniffled and blinked hard, probably trying to conjure up some tears.
“You were talking to people, plural, behind my back. Exchanging dirty pictures and telling them things they had no business knowing. Things about us. About me. How is any of that innocent?”
Neville put on his best pout. His big blue eyes used to be Milo’s undoing, but sometime over the course of the past few months, Milo had grown tired of the way Neville treated him. It was like he was an afterthought where Neville was concerned. When he did manage to make Milo a priority, it always camewith a guilt trip. And if it didn’t, it was because Neville wanted something from Milo.
“Come on, Milo. You know I love you.”
“Do I know that? It’s kind of hard to tell right now. Usually people who love someone don’t talk to a bunch of other people.”
Neville’s facade cracked and Milo watched him roll his eyes. He must have come to the same conclusion Milo had. They were over and no amount of groveling was going to change that.
“Come on, Milo. It’s not like I fucked any of them.”
Milo scoffed. “What a comfort, Neville. Thank you for that.”
“God, what is wrong with you? So what if I was flirting with some dudes online. It’s not like it went anywhere.”
Milo hadn’t intended to out the person who’d reached out to him, but the ache inside him had gone from a dull throb to this big, sharp, stabbing pain, like an ice pick was driven through his guts.
“Wayne showed me the screenshots, Nev. I saw what you said about me. ‘Milo is so moody and difficult. Sometimes I wonder if I love him, or if I just love the way he sucks my dick.’ Do you know how shitty it is to find out from your boyfriend’s internet fling that he thinks so highly of you? Of course you don’t, because I would never do that to you, Neville. Never.”
Neville sneered. “Right. I forgot, you’re Mister Perfect. Milo never does anything wrong. Milo is a fucking saint. Spare me the?—”
Milo ended the call then blocked Neville’s number. He’d already changed his locks and he’d probably end up changing his number after this just to be sure Neville couldn’t contact him from someone else’s phone.
Milo flopped down onto his couch and draped an arm over his face. He almost wished he worked that night. Anything would be better than staying home and staring at the ceiling andpoking at all the little wounds Neville had inflicted during their break-up and the months leading up to it.
Maybe if Neville hadn’t spent the past few months making it clear to Milo that the end was near, he might’ve wanted to work through things with Neville. But he was glad, in a way, that he’d already seen the writing on the wall. He’d tried to hang on, though. He didn’t want another failure under his belt, but it couldn’t be helped.
He and Neville were not meant to be.
“Note to self, stop dating.”
Milo heard his dad’s voice in his head telling him not to give up, that he couldn’t win if he didn’t play the game.
“Yeah, and I can’t lose either,” Milo responded to his thought out loud.
He did his best not to think of his family. His mom died when Milo was just a kid, leaving his dad to raise him and his older brother alone.
