I laughed loudly. “I’ve asked myself that about a hundred times.”
He walked over and offered his hand to me as I stood up. He got closer and I swatted his hand away. “Fuck your handshake,” I said, pulling him in for a hug. We both sat down and, for the first time, I could see how exhausted he was. He looked pale and had dark lines under his eyes.
“You look like shit. What’s going on?” I linked my fingers and tucked them behind my head.
He rubbed his eyes with his palms and shook his head. “Being a single dad is tough.”
“Single dad?” He officially had my attention.
“Yep. We’re done.” He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “Actually, I’m done. I left. If she loves that ridiculously ugly castle house so much, she can have it.”
“What about Becca and Logan?”
“I took them with me.”
My mouth fell open. “You did?”
“Yeah. I sure as shit wasn’t leaving them there with her. Of course, she argued, but only because she would’ve looked like an even bigger bitch letting me take them without a fight.”
“Wow.” I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “How did you get her to let you take the kids?”
Andy looked at me and rolled his eyes. “You know how Blaire is, Brody. Money talks. Instead of ten thousand a month in child support, I offered her thirty in alimony. She couldn’t sign those papers fast enough. Gloria helped me pack up the kids’ shit and we left. I’m renting a house in town until I figure out what I want to buy. A real house—one that they can actually play in.” He sighed. “Gloria has been a huge help. I pulled the kids out of day care and I’m paying her double to be with them during the day. They seem so much happier. Me too.”
“Holy shit, dude. I had no idea all this was going on. Why didn’t you call me?” I felt awful that my best friend of twenty years was going through so much and I’d been so clueless.
He shrugged. “Last time we talked, you had a lot going on with Piper’s accident and all. You didn’t need my shit weighing on you. Besides, I’m good. Better than I have been in years. You know what the worst part is?”
I shook my head.
“We’ve been out of the house a full month and Becca and Logan haven’t asked for her once. How pathetic is that?”
“Has she asked for them?” I asked cautiously.
“Today, finally. She asked if they can spend the weekend at her house, with Gloria, of course, because God forbid she be alone with them without a nanny for longer than ten minutes.” He exhaled loudly. “It’s fine, though. I have work to catch up on and house hunting to do.”
“I’m so sorry about all this.” I was trying to ignore the knot in my stomach. “You know I’ve never been a big fan of Blaire, but I never wanted you to be a single dad either.”
“Oh, I know that. I got the best parts of her in Becca and Logan, so for that reason, I’m glad I was with her for the last few years. Now that I see how she is, I know what not to look for next time.” He laughed.
“Well, you sound pretty content. I’m happy about that.”
“I’m glad you stopped by, actually.” He stood up and walked over to his desk, picking up a piece of paper. “I have the contract termination ready for you to sign. As you know it doesn’t go into effect for sixty days, and should there be any team negotiations or if you need a new contract in that time period, of course I’ll still help you out with that.”
He handed me the paper and a pen and sat back down across from me.
I stared down at the legal bullshit, not understanding a damn word of it.
“Go ahead, sign it. Business is business, Brody. No hard feelings.”
“Fuck this,” I said, ripping the paper in half. “Regardless of your marital situation, no one has my back like you, Andy. They never have and they never will.”
“Brody, listen… you made your decision and I completely respect that.”
“I was pissed off.”
“You had reason to be,” he argued back.
“You’re damn right I did. Even so, this is not what I want.” I set the ripped-up document on the table and stood up. “Take that. Shred it, burn it, do whatever the hell you want with it, but do it after dinner. Let’s go to The Bumper. I need a burger and a beer with my best friend.”
A smile spread across Andy’s face as he stood and grabbed his suit jacket out of the closet. “You’re on.”
He opened his office door and let me go first. I clapped his shoulder as I walked past him. “To celebrate, I’m going to let you buy me dinner.”
A few hours later, I took Diesel for a quick walk and crawled into bed, exhausted from staying out too late with Andy.
My phone chirped.
K: ARE YOU STILL COMING?
FUCK! I got so caught up that I forgot I was going to go to Kacie’s tonight.
BABY, I’M SO SORRY. I HAD AN UNEXPECTED DINNER WITH ANDY AND JUST GOT HOME. I TOTALLY FORGOT.
K: OH, THAT’S OKAY. I GET IT. :(
No. No. No. Not a SAD face!