Blake lowered his voice even more. “I was involved with a woman, Ryan. This . . . thing lasted a short time. And I want to be clear: It happened when Sam and I were broken up. And it ended once Sam and I were putting things back together. You know Sam. She wouldn’t stand for infidelity, even when we’re dating, and I wouldn’t do that to her. I’m a commitment-phobe but not a cheater.”

“I know that,” I said. “You wouldn’t hurt Sam that way.”

“But I did spend time with this other woman. We had some really good times, to be honest.”

“I still don’t see the problem,” I said. “If you were broken up when you dated this woman and then ended it to get back together with Sam, what’s the issue?”

Blake leaned back in his chair. His cheeks flushed deep red above his beard. “You’re trying to oversimplify it, Ryan. You’re trying to fit things into a neat little box.”

“Isn’t that exactly what you’re telling me?”

“You’ve got the perfect marriage and the perfect kid. You’ve got your PR firm, for God’s sake, and you have a stake in a hipster brewery. You’ve made every correct step since we finished college. You could have gone in a lot of different directions when your dad died, but you went into a higher gear and haven’t looked back.” He shook his head. “Sam and everyone I see tells me about your posts. The fund-raisers and the charitable donations and the pro bono work. You’ve got the world by the short ones. Your life is always shown through just the right filter, isn’t it, Ryan?”

“Okay, I’m not sure where all of this is going. You said you wanted to ask me something, but instead you’re going on about this woman who you didn’t cheat on Sam with. Are you looking for advice?”

“I don’t need advice. Maybe I’ve outgrown that part of our friendship. I can go to Sam. I can talk to her. Isn’t that what you have in your marriage? A partner?”

“Of course.”

“Well, I’m not looking for that here.”

“I’m in a hurry.” I pushed back from the table, the chair scraping against the concrete floor so loudly that the other people in the coffee shop turned to look. “Amanda’s waiting for me. I have to help her put Henry down. You think everything’s perfect. I’m going to go home and have to change a shitty diaper. I can’t put that on Instagram. Nothing’s perfect. I’m happy for you, Blake. I really am. I’m glad you told me about this. Sam’s amazing. I hope you’re happy. But you’re not really telling me anything—”

“You can’t go.”