Page 158 of His Hungry Wolf
“Yeah. Thanks for doing this. I don’t know what’s up with my dad.”
“Of course,” she said grabbing my bag as I maneuvered my way onto my crutches.
The drive back to my place was a long, quiet one. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say to her. My playing football was at the heart of the dream that held us together.
She hadn’t been in my room when I told my dad what I had. She did know that my season was over, though. And, she was smart enough to guess it meant that my easy path to the NFL was gone.
What did we have left together? I had to bring our relationship to an end. I couldn’t do it now because she was in the middle of doing me a favor. But, I was going to have to do it whether or not I heard from Quin again.
Pulling into my driveway, I saw my father’s truck. He was home. Relief washed over me. Things were going to be alright. I was about to get out of the car when Tasha stopped me.
“Can we talk?”
“Sure. What’s up?”
“I feel like it’s kind of shitty to do this now, but whatever. I think we should break up.”
I didn’t know if I was more relieved or rattled. Certainly, our relationship was going to end and her saying it meant that I didn’t have to. But, with everything in my life changing and Quin being M.I.A., I was hoping we could have waited at least a few more days to have this talk.
“I agree,” I told her.
“You agree?” She asked like she had said it as a test.
“Of course. You were with me because you wanted to be a football wife. You didn’t care about me. If you did you didn’t act like it.”
“You think I didn’t care about you?”
“If you had to choose between me and Vi, who would you choose?”
“Vi is my best friend.”
“Exactly. I feel like I should have been your best friend. Or, let me rephrase that. I feel like the person I spend the rest of my life with should be my best friend. And, I should be theirs. You have your best friend and it’s not me.”
“So, you’re blaming me for this?”
“I’m not blaming anyone. There were probably things I could have done to be a better boyfriend.”
“Yes, there were. So many things!”
“That’s fair. And, I don’t know how much of a difference doing those things would have made. I think you’ve just found someone you love more than me, and… I’ve found someone I love more than you.”
“You’re interested in someone else?”
“Yeah, I am. But, so are you.”
“You think I want to date Vi?”
“I think you’re in love with her. And, I’m happy for you. I think you two might be really happy together.”
“Are you saying I’m a lesbian? Fuck you, Cage!” she said refusing to entertain the idea.
I shifted to get out and then stopped.
“Look. I know how hard it is to escape the box that we put our lives in. When we’re kids we think we know what we want and we keep going after it even when we realize that it’s not. But there is a liberation that comes when you don’t allow everyone else’s dreams define you… even when the other person won’t text you back,” I said solemnly.
“Goodbye, Cage,” Tasha said not giving me an inch.
“Goodbye, Tasha. Thank you for the ride,” I said throwing my bag across my shoulder and exiting on my crutches.