I laugh. “I’ll explain it to you again when I see you.”

“I can’t wait,” he says sarcastically. “Now to what pleasure do I owe this phone call?”

“I need to ask you something, and before I do, I need you not to bust my balls about anything,” I say, suddenly regretting my decision to call him.

“Why do you do this to me?” he asks.

“I also need for you not to tell anyone.” I add that in even though I know he’ll tell Karrie.

“Jesus, did you get a girl pregnant?” I know he’s talking between clenched teeth. “How many times did I tell you to wrap it up? Jesus,” he says and doesn’t stop. “Are you going to marry her?”

“Okay. One, I didn’t get anyone pregnant,” I say. “That’s your job.”

“Hey,” he snaps. “I was always going to marry her, but I just had to convince her.”

“You mean trick her,” I joke with him. He and Karrie met when she was his chaperone, and then she got pregnant. There was no denying he loved her with everything that he had, but he was also a caveman. “Anyway. I met someone,” I say it out loud, admitting it to the universe.

“Okay,” he says, waiting for the rest.

“She’s a mom, and her son attends the hockey camp.”

“Justin,” he says my name almost like a warning.

“I know what you’re going to say.” I lean forward on the bench, putting my elbows on my knees.

“There is a lot I want to say, but the first thing I’m going to say is that if you don’t think you can give her what she needs, then you need to walk away.”

“I know that, Matthew.”

“No, I don’t think you do. This isn’t just one person,” he says as if I don’t fucking know. “You can’t think with your dick this time.”

“Matthew,” I hiss. “It’s not like that.”

“What are you saying?” he asks, and I take a deep breath.

“I mean that I like her a lot.” My heart beats fast, but then my chest constricts when I tell him the next part. “She’s had a rough time. I don’t know the details, and I’m afraid to ask, but she isn’t giving me the time of day. I want to just help her,” I say softly. “I want to just be there for her.”

“You have to knock her walls down,” he says.

“I don’t know how,” I say. “I’ve never been here. I’ve never wanted anything more in my life than for her to sit down with me and tell me everything. I want her to know that I don’t want to solve her problems but to help be by her side.”

“Have you told her this?” he asks.