Trev couldn’t bring himself to admit he’d stormed out like a drama king because she’d pressed suddenly and unexpectedly on the wound he’d been hiding to the best of his ability. Until he couldn’t anymore. And it was frankly kind of cruel of her to ask for things to go back to how they had been before, when she…

When they…

Whatever.

“It’s good advice,” Trev said, stepping into the warm apartment with a sigh of relief.

“Gonna snow later, you got in just in time. Is Titus gonna be mad?” Dante teased.

Trev had compartmentalized his complicated feelings about Sarah and the fact that Titus had kept that fairly dire secret about her cheating. He tended to avoid issues he’d rather not deal with, and it took him a while to work up the courage to face conflict rather than pretend it didn’t faze him. But sometimes, it was necessary.

I’ll handle this today.

“I’ll message him later,” Trev said. “You mind if he comes over for a beer?”

“Not even slightly. These days, I work, play with Evonnie every weekend, and then there’s our monthly poker game. My sisters come over to liven up the place when they can, but mostly, I’m on my own.”

“Unless you’re hooking up with Margie.”

“Haven’t seen her for a bit,” Dante said with a frown.

“You think she’s trying to phase it out?” Trev asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Since he could relate so hard to that, Trev nodded. “Fair. No relationship talk. Either of us slips, we do a shot.”

“Sir, I have work in the morning.”

“Then you better not slip.”

At Dante’s urging, Trev carried his bag to Evonnie’s room and set it in the corner. His friend hadn’t been joking; the room was decorated with so many ruffles and sequins that Trev might turn into a Brony standing here. It was supercute, and he smiled at the mental image of himself tucked into this pink canopy bed for the night.

No need to unpack. He wouldn’t bother Dante for more than a day or two. Hopefully, he could either get his head in order and apologize to Leanne, or failing that, he’d have to follow Junie’s path and answer a roommate ad. All those options were better than the basement. His family would probably say “told you so” over his marital failure and commune over how they saw it coming from the start.

God, this sucks.

He messaged Titus and said he was hanging out with Dante tonight then asked if he wanted to join. Within five minutes:

Titus: Danica canceled our date. Apparently the whole book club is heading to Leanne’s place. Something you want to tell me?