“Listen,” he said, dropping a hand on my shoulder and giving it a rough squeeze. “I get it. I’m married now, and you’re a perpetual bachelor. Maybe you think we have nothing in common anymore. Or maybe you’re worried monogamy is contagious or that our relationship is going to change. Whatever the case, I get it. You needed some time.”

It took me a minute, but eventually, the joke set in, and I laughed. “I’m not at all worried about monogamy being contagious,” I answered truthfully because how could I be? The one woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with was the one person I couldn’t have, and fuck! I need to let this gooooo…

“Whatever,” Jared rolled his eyes. “Hang up your coat. I’ll get you a beer. Brandi is running late.”

I shrugged out of my jacket and hung it on the row of hooks near the front door. “Is she on call? I thought she had the night off.”

“She does, but the on-call who was supposed to relieve her was running late…whatever. She’ll explain it when she gets here. But don’t make it a big deal, okay? She’s doing this thing where she’s trying to be the perfect wife.” He made air quotes around those two words and rolled his eyes again. “I keep telling her that we’re both doctors, and it’s super unrealistic to expect either of us to have some sort of nine-to-five lifestyle where we eat dinner together every night, but she’s dead set on it…”

I shook my head and laughed. Now we were back in familiar territory. Jared Territory.

We took our beers on a tour of Jared’s new two-story, three-bedroom, three-bath townhome. It was builder basic — high-end finish builder basic, but basic none the less. Stark white walls, bland blond engineered wood floors, pressed wood crown molding, kitchen and bathroom packages from Lowes or Home Depot, with hard surface countertops and bronzed fixtures. I hated it. But I could tell that Jared wanted my approval, so I made all of the appropriate sounds and thumped him on the back. At least Brandi had done a good job decorating it.

“This is a beautiful home you’ve made for you and your little wife. I’m proud of you.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. You really did good.”

“Thanks. Let’s go out back and light up the fire pit—”

“I’m here! I’m here! I’m here!” Brandi called out frantically as she burst through the front door, her arms full of grocery bags. “I’m so sorry I’m late. I had a last-minute aneurysm roll in, and the on-call neurosurgeon wasn’t answering his phone, and—”

“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay,” Jared said. He went to her, kissed her, and took the bags out of her hands. “Me and Tomás are perfectly capable of entertaining ourselves.”