“Are you hungry, boy?” Crowbar was always hungry. I made a turkey sandwich and poured kibble for him, but we both knew he would get half of my dinner. I kicked off my shoes and fell onto the couch. I turned on the television, not even sure what was on. Crowbar curled up next to me and within minutes of finishing my half of the sandwich, I was asleep.

“Hey, wake up, babe.”

I blinked to find Lexi standing over me. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost one. What time did you get home tonight?” she asked.

“Early. About eight.”

“Why didn’t you send me a message? I could’ve come home earlier.”

I sat up and rubbed my face. Crowbar didn’t budge. “I figured you needed to get out. Where’d you go?”

“I took a Lyft and met some friends. Didn’t you notice my car in the garage? Weren’t you even worried? I mean, if I got home and saw your car but you were nowhere to be found, I would legit worry. This is exactly what I mean. You don’t care. You don’t care about anything but yourself and your world.”

I hated that she wanted to start something at one o’clock in the morning. I knew she’d been drinking and I didn’t want to take the bait. “That’s not true. I care about you.”

“You care, you just don’t love me. You’re emotionally unavailable. You always have been. I thought Bridgemont would be a fresh start for us, but that was naive. I hate that I’m a therapist doling out advice to people who are exactly in this position, and yet I can’t even get my own life straight.” She threw up her arms and refused to look at me.

I shrugged and brought my dishes to the kitchen. She wasn’t wrong. Relationships were hard and she wanted too much of my time. “You knew I would be super busy with my new job here. We’ve talked about this a dozen times.”

“Why do we always have to do what you want? How come your career is more important than mine?” she asked.

Her voice boomed across the empty space between us. She was close to breaking down. I knew the signs, but I held my ground. “It’s not, but this has been my dream since I was a little girl. My whole life has been football. This is who I am, Lexi.” I softened my voice. “Don’t make me choose.”

Her shoulders drooped. “You’re right. You deserve to live the life you want.” She looked at me for the first time in over a minute. “I know it’s late, but we really need to talk.”