The other guys were drinking beer, but Gabe had pounded back two gin and ginger ales and was working on his third.
“Let’s play a round of pool,” Kevin suggested.
Both Ed and Nick shifted in their seats, ready to leave the booth. It was late August now, and the bar crowd had thinned considerably. All the students had either gone back to school or were preparing to do so.
Gabe didn’t budge. “No.”
Kevin looked at him. “You don’t want to do anything fun anymore.”
Gabe glared back. Having fully submerged himself in his new lifestyle, Kevin’s attitude had changed. He still liked to goof off and make stupid jokes, but he wasn’t so negative anymore. He seemed to take his new job seriously, and since working out at the gym, he had a whole new level of energy.
“I’m getting sick and tired of moping around with you. Let’s do something.”
Gabe barely avoided snapping at him.
Then Kevin pressed his luck even further. “Have you even tried talking to her since she left?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Obviously, you cared about her. I’ve never seen you like this over a girl before.”
Nick and Ed quietly watched the exchange. Ed rarely stuck his nose in other people’s business, and Gabe knew Nick had learned he would ask for advice if he felt he needed it. But advice wouldn’t do him any good now.
“You’ve spoken with her?” Gabe hated himself for asking, but he couldn’t stop himself.
“Of course. I’m helping with the sale of the house.”
Gabe didn’t look up from his cup. “How is she?”
“Good, I think. It sounds like things are busy at work. She’s gone to the animal shelter a couple of times. She hasn’t mentioned Mark, though.”
His head snapped up. “Who is Mark?”
Kevin didn’t answer right away. Instead, he looked around at the others as though hoping one of them would intervene. “He’s this guy that works at the shelter. Sometimes, she went out with him when she and I were on a break, you know?”
Unfortunately, Gabe understood.
“And she hasn’t said anything about Chase either.”
“Who the fuck is Chase?”
“He’s this other guy she sometimes sees. She has a life over there, Gabe. That’s why she broke things off when she moved. She wanted to explore other options.”
Gabe frowned.
Kevin quickly backpedaled. “But I mean, that was us. You guys are different. I don’t know why you guys broke up, but I’m sure she’s not off banging some other dude.”
Gabe spewed alcohol across the table.
Nick patted Kevin on the back. “Stop helping. He looks liable to hang himself.”
Gabe wiped up his mess with some napkins.
“Sorry,” Kevin mumbled before shutting up and taking a drink.
Ed’s phone started ringing. After pulling it from his pocket, he frowned down at the display. He urged Gabe to move so he could get out of the booth. “I’ll be right back. I’ve got to take this.”
“See those girls over there by the bar?” Nick pointed to a pair of women, blatantly staring at their table. When they saw Nick pointing, one flushed and looked away, the other coyly waved.
“What are you doing?” Gabe hissed at his future brother-in-law.
“They’ve been eying Kevin.” Nick swung his gaze from the pretty women at the bar to Gabe. Realizing what Nick was about, Gabe groaned and dropped back in his seat. He was about to get lectured.
Kevin glanced between them, murmured, “Gotcha,” and headed toward the ladies.
Gabe didn’t bother waiting. “What’s wrong?”
Nick leaned back, propping his arms along the back of the booth. “You tell me.”
Ordinarily, Nick had no trouble getting information out of Gabe. He was the more patient of the two, but tonight, Gabe wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
When the silent stare-down didn’t end, Nick gave up. “After you started dating Brooke, I felt like you were hiding something from me every time we hung out. Like maybe there was something you wanted to ask me.”
As close as they were, Nick and Gabe had never talked about relationships. Gabe didn’t want Nick poking into his romantic endeavors. “It’s not like it matters now.”
“Because she’s gone?”
“Yep. Gone. And this time, she’s got no reason to come back here.”
“She’s got you.”
Gabe fixed his friend with a dark stare. “She left me.”
“That doesn’t have to mean it’s over. Have you talked to her since she left?” Gabe stayed quiet. “Are you in love with her?”
He traced a line of condensation down his glass. Barely audible, he confessed, “I’m scared.”
“Of what?”
“This sucks, Nick. I feel like someone’s ripped out an organ that I need to live. I hate feeling this way—confused, lonely, and…hurt.” Gabe tossed the soggy cocktail napkin at Nick. “Stop grinning, you ass.”
Nick tried and failed to wipe the smirk off his face. “You’re in love with her.”
“Doesn’t matter anymore now, does it?”
“Talk to her, Gabe. Work it out.”
“And then what? Ultimately, I end up right back here. Heartbroken.”
Nick frowned. “It doesn’t have to be like that.”
“My dad’s folks died within months of each other. She was sick, and they said he died of a broken heart.” Nick had heard the story before. Now, he waited for Gabe to point out his actual problem. “What would you do if something happened to Amelia?”
Nick tensed, his eyes flaring with distress. “What do you mean?”
“Like if she died. What would you do?”
“I don’t like to think like that.”
“But…” Gabe prompted. He didn’t want to drag his friend down this depressing path, but he needed to know.
“I’d be heartbroken. I’d have a hell of a time. Is this because of Brooke’s mom?”
“No.” Gabe shook his head and looked away. How do I explain it? “Almost every girl I’ve ever dated has been on the rebound—I picked them up after a bad breakup had left them devastated. Look at Kevin and Brooke. They did the constant push and pull, break up, and get back together. And Ed and Jenny, we don’t even know what happened, but he hasn’t been the same since.”
“So?”
“So every relationship breaks up, and if it doesn’t, the alternative is even worse. Look at my grandparents. One way or another, it ends.” Gabe’s chest heaved with pent-up anger and pain. “Whether I love her or not, I’m better off leaving it now before it gets worse.”
“Wow.” Nick took a moment to think about his response.
Gabe glanced over at Kevin, flirting it up with the two ladies. He must have been telling some stupid story—he was really animated in his explanation and was suddenly doing the running man. Whatever he said must have worked because both women laughed. When the laughter subsided, Kevin asked them a question. He accepted a drink from the bartender and settled in to listen to their responses.
“Okay, listen.” Nick leaned over the booth. “You just can’t think that way.”
Gabe waved away that suggestion. If that was the only advice Nick had, he could keep it.
“Listen to me,” Nick snapped. His hand smacked the surface of the table, causing Gabe to jump. “If I had one do-over, I know exactly what moment I’d pick. That night when Amelia kissed me under the mistletoe at your parents’ party, I wish I hadn’t turned her down. I wasted three years missing her, wanting her. Hell, I even sat by while she dated that bozo. I wish I’d had the courage to do what she did that day: go after what I wanted. Then, I would have had three more years with her, spending time with her and making memories. Do you understand?”
Gravely, Gabe nodded.
“I don’t like to think about something happening to one of us. I don’t want to waste time thinking about something I can’t change or stop. But what I can do is make the most of the time I have with her. I want to be with her, I want to have kids with her, and make memories with her because, in the end, I’d rather have had all those things than not have experienced them at all.”
“Yeah, I get it.” Changing his thought pattern would take a while, but he realized Nick was right.
“So don’t waste your time—or hers.”
Uncomfortable with the heavy topic and satisfied they’d cleared up what needed to be discussed, Gabe relaxed. Nick leaned back in the booth again, slipping his right foot over his left knee, drumming a pattern on his sneaker. Gabe finished off his gin while silently planning out his course of action.
He needed to get Brooke back.
“Where’s Kevin?” Ed asked when he rejoined them.
Gabe pointed at the bar where Kevin was still engaged with the lovely ladies.
Ed perched on his seat. Practically vibrating with energy, he tapped his phone against the table, a frown plastered across his face.
Gabe nodded toward the phone. “Who was it?”
“Huh?” Pulled from his musings, Ed tucked the phone away. “Oh, it was my old commanding officer. He wants to get together for coffee next week.”
Nick didn’t seem to like that one bit. “Why?”
Ed shrugged. “Beats me. I haven’t seen him in a couple of years, but we’ve kept in touch through email. I don’t mind seeing him, but I get the feeling it’s for more than a friendly chat. I hope he’s okay.” Ed shook his head as though to clear it. “What were you guys talking about?”
“Whether or not Gabe should call Brooke.”
Ed reached past Gabe to grab the beer glass he’d left. “Definitely,” he said before taking a drink.
Trying to save face, Gabe muttered, “You guys can all butt out now.”
Nick and Ed laughed. After swallowing the last of his beer, Ed looked back over to the bar. “If you guys will excuse me, I think Kevin’s got one more than he can handle.”
With Ed and Kevin occupied, Nick and Gabe decided to call it a night. Nick gave Gabe a lift back to his parents’ house.
Later that night, while sitting in the basement alone, drinking another gin and ginger ale, Gabe dialed Brooke’s number. There was no answer. He left a message, but she never called him back.
Two weeks later, she still wouldn’t pick up her phone.