Chapter 6: Sebastian

I had held my phone in my hand for the last twen-ty minutes with only one thing on my mind, and that was to call Emma and apologize for what had happened last night. I had managed to grab her card from Mason. The stripper was good, real good at stripping. But I'd lost track of what she was doing, thinking about Emma in my house. She had really brought it all back home. The girl that I'd met when I dropped my big sister at college-and hadn't stopped thinking about since then-had walked back into my life. That wasn't something you forgot about in a heartbeat. My parents used to tease me about wanting to go to see my big sis at college all the time. Sure, Sophia and I were close when she was at home. She used to drop me at practice and all that kind of considerate stuff that a big sister would do. But when I first met Emma, she felt like she had put me under her spell or something. I just wanted to go back to that col-lege every damn weekend.

Now I thought about it, Emma was my inspiration for going to college. Those years sped by and I soon found out that she was one in a million. No one seemed to compare.

I had been supposed to go in and meet the new doc but I had made up some excuse. I couldn't face go-ing in there and being the first person that she wanted to examine. The only one that had been out for a whole sea-son; it was clear that I would be top of the list. So I skipped the appointment that day and then the guys had come over and started the party. I never asked if the doc-tor was a woman or man or even what they were like. I was too busy feeling sorry for myself. That was what I seemed to be good at doing lately, and it felt so damn natural.

Now I was sitting in my living room after most of the team had managed to leave. Most of them had left during the afternoon. I knew what they were like when they partied: it usually meant all damn weekend.

Whenever I had been at their joints, sure, I partied, got up in the morning or afternoon, and left. But these guys took hanging out to the extreme. I suppose it was natural: they had nothing else to do but keep fit, and they were on vacation. Shit, I felt as if I was a fifty-year-old man the way I keep complaining all the fucking time. What the fuck was wrong with me?

"What you doing dude?"

"Mason, you still here?" Silly question, but then I stood up wondering who else was still here. I had gone to bed at some crazy hour and left them to it. I couldn't be bothered anymore; I was exhausted. Besides, I never slept well unless it was on my bed or in Mason's guest room. I'd tried the sofa a couple of times when I was too lazy to go up the stairs, but I still couldn't sleep. I always went up to my room, just never alone; I usually went up there with someone. But there was no way that I was thinking of taking the stripper. Especially with my little problem, the one that I really need to go to the doctor's about and it ain't going to be Emma either.

"Yeah man, you were acting kind of weird last night after the doc came by," he sighed as he came and sat next to me on the sofa.

"Did you sleep in your room?" He had a room in my house. Everyone joked about us being joined at the hip, but I couldn't imagine sticking out football as long as I have done without him by my side. I would like to think that he thought the same way about me.

"Yeah man. Shit that room's better than my own back home!" he laughed as he gave me a high-five.

"So, why you holding the card and phone in both hands? You gonna stare at it all day?"

"Nah, I want to call her, say I'm sorry about the misunderstanding."

He started to laugh, "You're getting sensitive in your old age." He started to shake. "It must be your thir-ties creeping up on you or something. Cause I ain't never seen you hesitate to get a girl."

He didn't wait for me to reply; he just shouted out, "Magdalena, I'm starving!"

My housekeeper shouted out, "Come and get it!"

She winked at me, meaning that I should eat too. I couldn't be bothered right now. There was only one girl on my mind, and right now she hated me. I just had to find a way to fix it. The question was how?