Page 69 of The Attack Zone

“Of course not,” I say. “You’re the one who seems to need to talk about something.”

Then Matti appears in the doorway. He’s a bit shorter than me and some other guys on the team, but he’s still a crazy good hockey player, and he was fun to hang out with in Puerto Rico. I wave him over to our table and he places an order with our server.

“Well ...” Caleb starts. “I guess I am the one who suggested we meet up, but it’s not about me.”

He looks at me. Thomas does too. Matti looks at his coffee.

“How are you doing, Mitch?” Caleb asks.

I look between him and Matti, in part because I barely know this guy so I don’t really want to answer that question truthfully, and in part because it would be a little weird for him if I launch into how I’m actually feeling with zero explanation of how we do this. Maybe I can get out of this.

“Matti knows,” Caleb says. “He saw us heading to breakfast in Dallas last season and wanted in. And his mom has bipolar, so I thought he might be able to help.”

Ugh. Great. More people to fail in front of. Love that for me.

“Fine,” I say. “I’m doing fine.”

“Cut the horseshit,” Thomas says.

“Man, that is not how we talk at breakfast,” Caleb says.

“I don’t give a shit. We’re supposed to be honest,” he says. He looks at me with his meanest I’m-about-to-slam-you-into-the-boards glare. “Be honest.”

Of course, I’m the one who started this stupid little ritual, and now I’m getting screwed by it.

“I’m ... numb, I guess,” I say. “It’s all been very overwhelming. I don’t even know how to handle it. But I feel like I have to do something. Not just for me, but for a lot of people. Especially to placate the donors toRebounds for Rescues.”

“Speaking ofRebounds...” Caleb starts before glancing at Thomas.

“Have you talked to a certain non-profit consultant about any of this?” Thomas says.

“No. Nope. No way,” I say. “We are not talking about her.”

“Well, that’s too bad, because that’s why we’re here,” Thomas says.

“I thought we were here because you wanted to make sure I’m okay,” I say.

“We are,” Caleb says. “That’s why we’re asking.”

“And it’s why you’re going to answer,” Thomas says.

I let out a groan and take a sip of my coffee. I really don’t want to have this conversation, but I’d do the same thing to these guys. So I take a deep breath and try to prepare for their reactions. “No,” I say. “I have not talked to her.”

“Dude,” Thomas says at the same time that Caleb says, “Man, come on.” Matti just shakes his head.

“What?” I say. “The fling is over. It’s time to move on.”

“Fling?” Caleb asks. “You brought her as your date to my wedding.”

“Well, I guess that’s true, but ...” I start.

“You couldn’t stop talking about her in Puerto Rico,” Matti adds.

“I know I couldn’t, but I was also hypomanic, so ...” I say.

“You tried to fight me over her,” Thomas says flatly.

I really can’t argue with that one, so I open my mouth and close it a few times before taking an angry bite of my eggs.