Page 62 of The Hookup Type

January 2016

I watchedMaci walk across Court Street from inside Brathaus. I had no idea what she and Bryson were screaming about, but it was too damn cold for me to stand on the road and wait for her.

I finished the rest of my Legal Joint and walked out the door just as she stepped onto the sidewalk. She didn’t speak. She just turned and started the walk back to her apartment. I walked silently beside her and glanced over every now and then to make sure she was okay while I got into my own head.

I was angry all over again. But this time, it had nothing to do with Tyler or what had just happened with Katie. This all stemmed from Maci and Bryson. I was tired of seeing her with him. I was tired of hearing the comments he made about her and tired of Maci accepting the shitty way he treated her. I just watched them have a screaming match outside of the bar like they had some sort of extensive history to argue about. They didn’t, but they had very different expectations for what they were and where it was going.

Maci wanted him to care about her, and Bryson wasnevergoing to be the guy she wanted him to be. I was angry with her because Maci knew all that, and she put up with it anyways.

The walk from Brathaus was short. I followed Maci up the stairs of her building, and she gestured for me to go in first when we got to the apartment. Connor sat on the living room couch.

“She’s in the shower,” Connor mumbled and ran his hands over his face. Walking into that scene from outside had made both of us sober up real quick. He continued and directed his attention to Maci. “I couldn’t get her to calm down, so I told her to wash off and take a moment before she filled me in on what happened.”

Maci nodded and squeezed Connor’s arm when she passed. She opened the bathroom door just wide enough for her to slip inside.

“What the fuck, man,” Connor groaned.

“Just another Friday,” I said and took a seat at the dining table.

A laugh escaped Connor’s chest, and he helped himself to a beer in the fridge. The apartment looked like a tornado had gone through it, and I forgot that people had been here only a few hours ago.

“Want one?” He extended a bottle in my direction, and I took it.

I twisted off the cap and took a sip. I didn’t even know what I was doing here, but I had a feeling Connor wanted me to stay. He saw me in his girlfriend’s apartment and thought it was a regular thing. He liked being able to share this part of his life with me. The other guys wouldn’t be about it.

“I have some extra clothes if you want to shower,” Connor offered and nodded at my hands.

I pulled the shirt I wore away from my chest and assessed the damage. I hadn’t noticed my appearance until now. My hands hurt, but nothing looked broken. I flexed my fingers a few times and shrugged. The sight of Tyler lying on the floor was worth every punch I threw. After I saw the look on Katie’s face and Maci’s lip, he was lucky I didn’t kill him.

Connor took a seat across from me. “Are you good, J?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I’m good.”

“It all happened so fast,” he admitted. “I owe you, man. Thank you.”

I shook my head. “I didn’t think twice about it.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes and drank our beers. I wasn’t sure when it happened, but sometime over the course of my friendship with Maci, I developed a genuine friendship with Katie too. I never looked at her as someone I would hook up with, even before her meeting Connor. But I cared enough about her to throw a few punches on her behalf.

“Fuck.” I sighed. “I left my credit card at the bar.”

“I’ll go get your card.” Connor stood up and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “If you go back there, someone will remember you.”

“You don’t have to do it now. It’s been a rough night, man. Sit back down,” I said.

Connor tapped his thumbs furiously against his phone screen. He looked anxious just standing there. “I wanna go now before the cops leave. I want to make sure they know who it was that started the fight. My dad knows some of the law enforcement here and will make sure Tyler pays for what he did.” He was determined to walk out of this apartment no matter what I said to him, so I nodded and watched him leave.

Just as the front door closed, Katie appeared in the living room in Connor’s Michigan hoodie and a pair of sweatpants. I offered a small smile, and she took the seat across from me that Connor had just left. I heard Maci turn on the shower, giving Katie and me a moment to ourselves.

I reached my hand across the table and ran my thumb over her fingers. It was weird to see Katie like this. She seemed like the type of girl that didn’t put up with anyone’s shit. Tyler must have done something to really shake her.

“Katie?” I asked softly.

Her light brown eyes met mine. She looked alert and exhausted at the same time.

“You probably don’t want to talk about it, but I’m going to ask anyway since it’s just us.” I took a deep breath before I continued, “What happened with Tyler? What did he do that made you stop seeing him?”

Katie bit her lip and stared down at her fingers. We sat in silence for a few minutes before she gave me an answer.

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