“So, you and Jessica had sex a few weeks ago and she’s moving in?”

Jack has been my best friend since we were seven. There’s nothing he doesn’t know about my life, but for some reason, I don’t want to tell him about her. What we’re doing, it’s just ours. Well, it was supposed to be.

“She’s not moving in, Jesus. Is that what they’re saying?”

“That, and how the two of you have been spending a lot of time together. Apparently, you were spotted driving her home very early in the morning the other night when your daughter was at a sleepover.”

“This town needs a hobby.”

Jack shrugs. “They have one. Talking about you and Jess.”

“We’re taking it slow.”

He laughs. “You two don’t know the definition of slow.”

I drain my beer. “I don’t want a lecture.”

“I’m not giving you one. I’m just saying that slow would’ve been a date, then another, then after like three weeks of coming home, jerking off thinking of her, maybe she lets you diddle a little.”

“Did you just say diddle?”

He smirks. “That’s all you’d get to do. But no, you guys skipped all that and went headfirst.”

I huff, not really giving a shit about what he thinks. “We’re not jumping in.”

“Gray, you want to fool yourself, then have at it, but we both know the truth.”

“Whatever.”

“I don’t blame you,” he adds after a minute of silence. “You loved her. You always have. It’s not like we all didn’t see it coming.”

“She’s going to leave,” I say because it needs to be said. “She’s gone as soon as the doctor clears her.”

“And you’re okay with it?”

“Of course I’m not.”

He shifts in his seat, tossing the remote onto the ottoman. “What are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know.”

And that’s the thing, I don’t know how to hold on to someone who wants to be free.

“Then, take my advice, Gray, life is about moments. I know we all want the endings to be great, but the end is . . . well, it’s hell. It’s knowing you can’t have what you want. It’s seeing all that could’ve been but watching it slip away. The end is not what you want. Trust me. So, don’t go for the ending, go for what you can have now. Date her, love her, try to hold her or let her go because, if you do none of that, you’ll regret it.” Jack takes a long, slow pull of his beer, draining it. “Now, enough talking about this shit, let’s watch the game.”