Bloodlines - 30. Chapter 30

October 26, 1998

I had just gotten out of Biology and had the whole afternoon free, free being a relative term. I had a shitload of work to do, as usual. I started to head back to my room when the phone rang and the caller-id said it was Jack. That made me smile. Jack was an awesome guy, great looks, great sense of humor, and smart as hell.

“Hey,” I said as I answered.

“Hey back at ya,” he said cheerfully. “I have some news for you.”

“You have news for me?” I asked nervously. What was wrong with me now? Were my kidneys about to give up on me like, in 10 minutes or something?

“Yeah. Your buddy Cole has been in here on lockdown. You've just been added to the visitors list,” he said.

I could actually go see Cole without busting in. “That's great news Jack!” Trite words that didn't really express how I felt. “How did that happen?”

“Well, I could tell you that I pulled a whole bunch of strings just so you'd think I was JP, but Cole's the one who got it done. He's really struggling, and I think he sees you as his link to sanity,” Jack said. “That's a lot of pressure on you, I know.”

“Shit! What if I do something wrong? What if I say the wrong thing?” That made me nervous as hell.

“It's not like that. It's more about you being around for him,” he told me. Another obligation. Then I kicked myself. Cole isn't an obligation, Cole is my friend.

“Thanks Jack. I think I'll head over and see him.” I went back to Lag first, figuring I'd pick up his books and back pack so he'd have something to do. If it was me hanging out in a hospital with nothing to do but fucking stare at the walls, I'd go crazy. Cramer handed me all of his shit and I took it back to my room, determined to eradicate all things Amber from it.

“'Sup?” Danfield asked. He was kicking back on the bed watching my television.

“Going to see Cole. I got put on the visitors list.” He actually looked jealous, although of what I had no fucking idea. He'd gone from being a cool roommate to this weird guy that seemed freaked out by everything. Last night we'd hung out and I'd teased the shit out of him, and I could tell it had an impact, but he didn't do anything, he just went to bed. Whatever.

“Amber is gone,” he said with an evil smile.

“Gone?”

“Yep. They moved her stuff out this morning. She dropped her classes and went home. She's out of Stanford,” he said. I felt so fucking happy to be rid of that bitch.

“Did they throw her out?” There was that morals clause, but that was about the only thing they could really throw at her.

“I'm sure they encouraged her, but it was her call. No one would talk to her, not even Gilchrist, so she was pretty much a pariah. Someone like her that needs people to fucking worship her, no way she could handle it.”

“Good fucking riddance,” I said, and meant it.

“Damn straight. Tell Cole I said 'hi' and that his suspension is up in three more games,” Danfield chirped, finally getting his brain back on target.

“Got it,” I said. “You gonna be around later?”

He smiled at me. “You mean like for dinner? I can be.”

I felt like I was asking him out on a date. “Good. I want to eat at 7:00pm on the dot,” I said, doing my JP imitation. That cracked him up. “See you later.”

I drove over to the hospital and headed up to Cole's floor. One of the nurses who'd been there when I'd busted in was on duty in the reception area. “You again,” she said with an irritated tone.

“Good afternoon. My name is Matt Carrswold and I'm here to see Cole Weber. I'm on his approved list of visitors,” I said formally, with an air of cockiness that pissed her off.

She eyed me coolly, and then pulled up her computer, taking forever to find my name. “This is a lot easier than breaking in.”

“Yeah, but breaking in was faster,” I said, slamming her for being so fucking slow. She gave me a sour look, but then told me I could head down to his room. I walked in and found him lying on his bed, flat on his back, just staring at the ceiling.

“Hey bud,” I said. There are those moments in life when karma gives you rewards, and this was one of them. He saw me and his whole face lit up. He jumped out of his bed like an acrobat and ran over, grabbing me in a big hug. He was so soft and cushy, like a big strong teddy bear. I felt his euphoria at seeing me flood over his whole being, but it was short lived. Soon that left him, and now he was wracked with pain. Now he was crying, sobbing, his tears soaking the shoulder of my shirt. I just held him and stroked his back and his hair. “It's OK Cole,” I said repeatedly.

I led him over to his bed and sat next to him, putting my arm around him affectionately. “I made them put you on the list but I didn't know if you would come.” That pissed me off, but I controlled my temper.

“OK, Dude, we need to clear this up now because I'm not going to listen to this guilt shit,” I said firmly. He stared at me, waiting, of course. “You let that bitch totally control you, and you dissed your friends, me especially, because of her. You knocked me out of practice with a cheap shot, and kept me from playing in the games against Cal. All that shit really pissed me off.”

He looked down, crushed. “But you told me that you loved me and that I was your friend and you told me that you were sorry and I know you meant it. So we're cool.”

“Just like that?” he asked, stunned.

“I may make you blow me a few times, but otherwise, yeah.” He reached for my zipper and I smacked his hand away playfully. “That's what friends do, Cole. You fucked up, said you were sorry, and I forgave you. And the next time I fuck up and say I'm sorry, I hope you'll do the same thing. None of us is perfect.”

“Yeah, but what I did was really horrible,” he said morosely.

“God damn it!” I said, pissed off, partially faking it, partly not. “You're sitting here feeling all bad and guilty for this shit and I'm the one who got nailed. I said it's cool, it's over, and it pisses me off that you won't let it go when I will. I think it's my decision, don't you?” Sometimes you had to get in his face to get a point across.

“Yeah, I guess it is. Thanks,” he said and gave me his cute smile.

“What nice manners you have,” I said, imitating my mother. “You're welcome.” He cracked up.

“So all the guys on the team must think I'm a fucking idiot. I don't know if I can face them.”

I rolled my eyes. “You don't give them enough credit. Dude, they dedicated their game on Friday night to you and kicked Cal's ass. All of us, the whole team, went to bat for you and got the coach to give you just a five game suspension. Two games are already over.”

“They're gonna let me play again?” he asked, a huge smile on his face. “You fucking kidding me?”

“Nope. Three more games and you're back on the ice, assuming you can get out of here.”

“Ten sentences,” he said, grinning at me.

“Go ahead.”

“My parents want me to come home. They won't pay for school anymore, or send me money. They got too much for me to get financial aid. The doctors here will release me if I go see a shrink. I don't have the money for that either. The people here say a lot of my problems come from how I was raised, and how my mom always puts me down. I don't want to go back there, but I don't know what else to do. I can make it through this quarter, but then I'm done. Plus, I don't know if I can go back and face everyone after what I did. It was so fucking stupid, and I'm so fucking embarrassed I can't even look in the mirror.” Clearly he'd put these together before, hoping I'd come see him.

“That's a lot of shit to deal with,” I said. “You want my advice?” He nodded. “Focus on getting through this quarter, and on getting your mind back on track. Focus on the game, on hockey. The rest of it will come together as the year goes on.”

“Probably good advice,” he said grudgingly, to tease me. That really made me happy. If he could bullshit with me, he was getting better.

“By the way, Amber's gone. Left Stanford,” I said. I saw the emotions on his face, sadness and anger, then hate, then loneliness. It was really sad to see the impact. “So when you get back to Lag, she'll be gone.”

“Good,” he said. He leaned in and I could tell he wanted to kiss me but was too shy to initiate it, so I took over. His reaction was volcanic, like he let himself go, and it was really nice. We sat on the bed, side by side, making out, just enjoying each other. I ran my hand up his thigh and found his hard dick, and scrambled for his zipper. Then I pushed him onto his back and gave him the best blow job I could, and he flooded me. “Thanks,” he said shyly, then reached up to undo my zipper and return the favor.

I stopped him. “Next time. I have to run.” He looked devastated by that, so I tried to distract him. “I brought all your books and shit so you have something to do and you won't get too far behind.”

“Good. I'm bored out of my fucking mind,” he said. I gave him a final hug and a kiss, and then left him to try to rebuild the academic side of his life, while I went back to campus to get a handle on mine.

Only I couldn't do that, not yet. Cole had some pretty big problems to deal with, and he could handle all of them but one: money. He was really screwed, with a family too wealthy to allow him to get financial aid, yet they'd cut him off. I didn't have to worry about money for school. I had a trust fund that provided me with more than enough money for tuition, room and board, plus an allowance. But there wasn't enough income to support him too, and the provisions of the trust wouldn't let me do that anyway.

But I had access to money. Robbie would give me whatever I asked for, and so would Brad. Stef wouldn't even bat an eye. But for some reason, JP seemed like the one to go see. I told myself that I should ask Brad, since after the big blow-up they were kind of on a par with each other, but JP was here, and he was at Stanford, and we may need his help with the school as well. I headed up to his office where there were two students waiting to see him, while another one was in his office talking to him. I poked my head in and got a dirty look from the two that were waiting.

JP saw me and smiled. “Matthew. Good to see you. We were just finishing up. Give me a second,” he said. He used my presence as an excuse to cut short his current meeting, and then motioned me in.

“You have a few other students waiting,” I said nervously.

He shut the door. “Then let's not waste time. What can I do for you?”

“I went to see Cole today. I think my visit helped him, and he seems to be doing better. He wants to get back to school, but he has some problems. His parents want him to move back to Nebraska, and they've told him they're cutting him off financially. Plus he needs money to pay a shrink so they'll let him come back to school. He's pretty broke.” He watched me carefully. “I don't have the money to help him out. I mean, I could sell my SUV, but that wouldn't cover more than a quarter or two.”

“So you want to know if we'll help him out?” JP asked. I nodded. He seemed deep in thought, and rather sad. I felt like I had crossed a major line and overstepped my bounds.

“If I'm out of line, I'm sorry,” I said hastily. “I have no reason to impose, I mean, he's my friend and...” JP cut me off.

“I'm the one who should be sorry. Of course, we will help Cole, because you asked us too. I didn't mean for you to think otherwise. Your question just made me think of Brian, and distracted me.”

“I reminded you of Brian?” I asked. “That can’t be a good thing.”

He sighed. “It isn't, and no, you don't remind me of Brian. Brian doesn't ask me for favors, he demands them. So to have you come in and ask me for something that he would take for granted just illuminates the contrast between the two of you. And to have you ask not for yourself, but for a friend, makes that contrast much starker. I'm proud that you would think of selling your GMC to help a friend out. I know how much that vehicle means to you.”

He was right, the GMC was my baby, but if I had to sell it, I would. It was just a set of wheels, after all, and Cole is a person. “Thanks JP. I really appreciate it. I think Cole's a great guy, but he's just had a bunch of people in his life that have completely fucked him up.” I gave him a hug, which he returned readily.

“I agree with you. And now you must let me deal with the other students who are waiting, before they plot to have you killed for butting in.” I laughed and was still laughing when I walked out and got hit with their dirty looks.

“So how was Cole?” Danfield asked. I looked at the tray of crap he'd gotten and compared it to the tray of crap I'd gotten. This cafeteria sucked. But I was here eating with Danfield, and that made me happy.

“He was doing alright. He's excited to get back on the ice, but worried about how people will treat him when he gets back.” I took a bite of this stuff that looked like potatoes. “You know how shy he is, and having everyone focus on him will freak him out.”

“He'll be fine. The team will help him out,” Danfield said. I nodded and then started eating. I remembered what Cody told me, about how I should watch who Danfield watched, so I tried to do just that. Only thing was that since he was across from me, the people he was watching were behind me. Then I got a golden opportunity. A really handsome guy was walking toward us. His path would take him past our table, and then be out of my visual range, but he'd be in Danfield's. Damn, the guy was good looking, with dark hair and a slim, taut body. He got to our table and my eyes shifted from him to Danfield, just in time to see Danfield's switch to the guy. His eyes had a look, almost lustful, but a more benign form. Cody was right. He had to give it away; it would take way too much effort to be on guard about whom you looked at.

I sat there and kept on eating, watching Danfield as he watched people. He definitely didn't show the same amount of attention to the women as he did to the men. So if he likes guys, why did he push me away? Fuck. That again. I'd tried for Cody, but he kept me at a distance. Then Cole did, although he had a good reason since he's pretty much straight. And now Danfield. We were good friends; I really liked the guy a lot. A lot. Just being with him could brighten my whole day. He was fun, he was charming, he was smart, and he was someone I could trust. Plus he was the cutest fucking guy on earth. I liked him; I totally liked him, why didn't he like me? Maybe there was something wrong with me. Maybe there was something about me that he didn't find attractive. Maybe I wasn't his type. I tried to see who he was eyeing without being too obvious, to see if there was a type of guy that caught his eye, but there didn't seem to be. He stared at all of them, from twinks to a massive linebacker that reminded me of Carullo. I tried to brush my insecurities aside. Last night he'd been all but drooling over me.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

I looked him right in the eye. “Watching you.”

He got nervous then. “There are nicer things to look at around here,” he said with a leer, trying to play it off.

This was one of those moments, those go for broke times. Should I be honest with him, or just blow it off. I thought about Cole and how I'd lectured him on what being a friend meant. About forgiving people when they fuck up, and always having their back. But being a friend also meant being honest, didn't it? I made my decision. “I know. I've been watching you watch them,” I said.

He freaked out, literally freaked out, or at least for Danfield he did. He got really nervous and looked around as if he was trapped. “Are you finished? I need to head to the library.”

I tried to hide how pissed off that made me. I was honest with him, but he was going to run away from me? He looked at me and I could see the terror in his eyes, the raw, blatant fear. Calling him on this had really messed him up. I suddenly felt bad, trading my irritation for guilt. “Go ahead and go, I'll see you later on when you get back. Cool?”

I watched him pull himself together, sort of. He gave me a weak smile. “Yeah. See you later on.” Maybe he needed to go get his shit together, to sort things out. I kept hearing those words: ‘let him hunt me’.

I got back to Lag and I was horny, as usual. I was walking up the steps just as Carullo was walking down. “Hey Matt,” he said in a friendly way.

“'Sup,” I said.

“Going to the library,” he said glumly.

“You have to go right now?” I asked, arching my eyebrow.

“I can put it off for another half hour or so, if I have a good reason,” he said, playing along.

“I can give you a really good reason,” I said with a slutty whisper. He turned and headed back upstairs. I tossed my books in my room and headed down to his room, but there were a bunch of his buds hanging out. I knew I couldn't go breezing into his room with them there. I pretended as if I had to go to the bathroom and went in, waiting until I heard their voices go away. I peeked back out and they were gone so I rushed over to Carullo's room, opened his door, and went in, not even thinking to knock first.

I should have. He was standing there, nude from the waist up, making out with Brittany. They both looked at me, both kind of pissed. “Dude, I am so sorry,” I said, thinking fast. “I'll get that book from you later.”

“Do you always just come barging into people's rooms?” Brittany asked, teasing me.

“Well we ran into each other on the stairs about fifteen minutes ago so I figured John was alone. I didn't take into account your speed,” I said, winking at her. “See ya.” He hadn't said anything the whole time, but the look in his eye told me that he wanted me and not her. Too funny. I headed back to my room and put my supercharged libido on the back burner long enough to get some work done.

October 27, 1998

I walked into the hospital, barely able to drag my tired ass to the elevator. I was having a brutal day. Classes had been boring but intense, the kind of classes where you know you should pay attention but it was just too boring. Then I'd headed back to my room, expecting Danfield to be there, but he was nowhere to be found. He didn't get back from the library until early this morning when I was already asleep, conveniently avoiding me.

So then, there had been a really grueling hockey practice, one that was all drills and work and no fucking fun at all. Everyone was in a bitchy mood, and afterward when I'd tried to corner Danfield to see if he wanted to grab a bite, he'd made sure he'd already set up plans to eat with some of the other guys. I knew he was just doing all this to avoid me, and it really pissed me off, but by then I was too tired and worn out to give a shit. I wasn't too sure if going to see Cole when I was dragging was all that smart, but I needed a friend.

He was thrilled to see me, and that just brightened up my whole world, wiping away all the bullshit I'd dealt with. Then his good mood faded and he seemed as depressed as I did. “I'm out for the quarter. If my profs will work with me, they'll let me take incompletes and make it up, but if not, I'm out.”

I gave him a hug to try and console him, but he didn't seem as sad as I thought he would. “I'm really sorry bud. I figured they'd let you come back as soon as you felt better.”

“Not when you try to kill yourself,” he said glumly. “That means hockey is out too. My life is over until next year.”

“Better that it's over for just that long, and not forever,” I said. He ignored me.

“There's some good news though. Jack came to see me and told me that they've found a way to cover the costs for me to see a shrink. Plus I talked to the University and got some good news there too. They found some money to help cover me when I come back. So that means I don't have to go back to Nebraska.” I smiled. So JP had arranged this so we could help Cole out without him knowing about it. That would avoid all of those issues that Cole would have with taking charity from others.

“That's really good news Cole. See, things are looking up. How long do you have to be in the hospital?” I wondered what he'd do when he got out.

“I wanted to talk to you about that,” he said nervously. “JP came to see me yesterday.”

Of course he would manage to breeze past any restrictions they put on visitors. “Oh yeah?”

“He offered to let me stay with them at Escorial for the rest of the year while I work through all of this shit,” he said. “I told him I'd think about it.”

“What is there to think about? I asked, pretty sure that I knew the answer.

“It's a great place to live, and they're such great people, but I don't like taking charity from other people. And I didn't want to do anything without asking you about it first.”

“Dude, you don't have to ask me,” I said.

“Yeah, I do. They're your kin, and I wouldn't feel right being there unless it was OK with you.” Kin: what a Midwestern word.

“Not many people would give a shit about that. Most would just jump at a chance like that. Guess that's why I love you. Go, move in up there. You'll like it and they'll take good care of you.” He smiled at me to thank me. “Just make sure you stay in shape. Stef may catch you otherwise.”

“I'm so fucking horny I may let him.” I laughed at him, then with him.

I noticed a jar of Vaseline on his bedside and grabbed it, then rolled it around in my hands. The whole mood in the room changed. “I can think of something we can do with this.”

His eyes got big and he swallowed. “What?”

“Fuck me.” He looked at me, surprised and nervous, but his pants were tenting big time. I got up and dropped my pants and underwear, then reached over to massage his dick through his pants. I undid his zipper while he just stared at me, and took his hard cock out, stroking it gently. Then things seemed to move at high speed. I was rubbing Vaseline on his cock and my hole, then I was flat on my stomach on his bed, then he was on my back and his cock was probing at my hole.

I stopped for a minute to think about how similar this was to my last fuck with Carullo, only this was Cole, and I genuinely loved the guy. I pushed my ass up into his dick, urging him to push forward. He did, so slowly and deliberately it was really sweet the way he tried not to hurt me. Ever since I'd met Cole I'd dreamed of this, of having him on top of me, pinning me down and fucking me, only now that it was happening, it just wasn't as good as I thought it would be. I mean it felt great, and he was into it, but the emotions weren't there. I kept thinking of Danfield and his fucked-up issues, and then I thought about how good it had felt that night when I'd gotten to just hold him, how much better that was than even getting fucked by Cole.

I spurred my body to respond like normal even though my mind wasn't there, and I think I pulled it off. He blasted his load inside me, groaning and pushing like crazy. If he'd done this a month ago, he'd have taken me to another world, but now it was just nice. Nothing more, nothing less. He was all lovey-dovey afterward, but I told him I had a bunch of studying to do and bailed. I was worried that he'd figure me out, figure out that I wasn't all that into it, but he seemed fine with it.

I got back to Lag and dragged my ass up the stairs, ignoring the cum leaking out of my ass. What was wrong with me? Why didn't I enjoy that? I'd wanted Cole so badly, and now that I got him, it was like a total let down. Would it be that way with all the guys I tried to nail? What if it was Danfield? What if he finally decided to be with me? Once I had him, would I not want him? I thought about him and his handsome face, his thin, taut body that had felt so good when it was on top of mine, and fought down a smile. No, if I got him, I'd keep him.

Getting rid of my smile was easy when I got back to the room and he wasn't there. Was he going to do this all fucking quarter? Go out and just avoid me? I stripped off my clothes, put on my sweatpants and grabbed my towel. I felt dirty and gross, and I decided a shower would change my frame of mind. I walked into the bathroom and saw that someone else was taking a shower. I was just starting to speculate who it might be when the curtain pulled back slightly and a face peered out: Carullo.

He gave me a big grin and I all but ran into the shower with him, tearing off my pants and jumping under the water. I hadn't blown when I was with Cole, so I was really horny. “My turn,” Carullo said, and turned his ass to me and pushed back into my crotch.

I grabbed some soap to lube myself up and pushed into him, savoring the feel of my dick piercing his ring, of having this massive man quivering and whimpering as I thrust in and out of him. I was into it, really into it, and knew I was getting close. I reached around and started stroking him, but I'd done it too soon and I set him off right away. He blasted and blasted and blasted, but even seeing and feeling him cum like that wasn't enough to get me off. Carullo was a nice guy, a real nice guy, but he was done getting fucked and he wasn't about to let me finish up, so I pulled out and jerked myself off to a mediocre orgasm, blasting all over the shower wall while he watched and smiled.

“You know, you can come down later and stay awhile,” he said. He was asking me to do more than just fuck him? He wanted to spend time with me? Suddenly I felt my attraction for him soar.

“I'd like that,” I said. He leaned in and gave me a really nice kiss, then dried off and left me to finish showering on my own.

I got back to the room in time to find Danfield scrambling around, trying to get his stuff together and get out of the room. “Oh hey,” he said nervously. “I've got to go finish this fucking paper.” He headed for the door, but I was in front of it, and I just stood there, blocking his path.

“You're avoiding me,” I told him. I wasn't nice about it, I was severe, but I figured that as pissed off as I was, that was about as good as I was going to get.

“I'm not avoiding you. I have a ton of shit to do,” he lied.

I looked at him and felt my severe attitude fading, replaced by sadness. I really enjoyed his company, his friendship, him. But apparently, there was some issue that had blocked that off, and now it was gone. I moved aside and opened the door for him. He walked out; looking at me just as sadly, then I closed the door behind him. It seemed like he was into guys, but he wasn't into me. Why didn't he just say so? I could live with that. My ego would take a hit, but I could live with it. I was confused, really confused, but I knew that there was one guy who could help me out with this. I called Cody.

“Hey Matt,” he said nervously as he answered the phone. “This isn't the best time.”

“Sorry. Give me a call when you can,” I said, sounding all depressed and maudlin. “I need your advice.”

“Hang on,” he said. I heard him cover the phone and I heard him mumbling some stuff, and it didn't sound very pleasant. He uncovered the phone in time for me to hear Brian yell ‘Fuck you’ and a door slam. “Sorry, I'm back.”

“Dude, I didn't mean to ruin your whole fucking night,” I said. I felt guilty that he was taking shit just to talk to me.

“It's so not your fault. It's been like this since you left,” he told me.

“What happened?”

“I thought you called to ask me for advice?” he teased. I didn't say anything, telling him with my silence to go on. “After you left I had a conversation with Brian, pretty much like we talked about. I told him what I wanted, and he told me there was no fucking way he was putting up with that. So I told him we were toast.”

“So what's he doing there?” I asked.

“He left then came back and was all nice. He tried to talk me out of it, but after I started the conversation with him, I realized how right you were. So I held firm. Once he realized that his nice guy act wasn't going to work, he turned into a total bitch, so I left. I just came back up here to get some of my stuff and ran into him. He's so pissed off he can't see straight.”

“Wait a minute,” I said. “You rented the place and you're moving out?”

“I'd rather be back in Malibu. I'll front the rent for a few months while he figures out what to do. It's a lot easier for me than throwing his ass out,” Cody said. “So what's going on with you?”

My mind was reeling. So Cody broke up with Brian and he was back in Malibu? My first instinct was to fly down and fuck him for three or four days, but that's not what I really wanted. Did I even want him? I wanted to fuck him, I wanted to be his friend, but that was it. “I went out to dinner with Danfield and caught him checking out all the hot guys in the cafeteria.”

“So, what's the problem?” he asked.

“When I told him I was watching him watch other people, he freaked out, and now he won't even talk to me,” I whined.

“You told him that? Are you fucking kidding me?” he asked.

“No,” I said defensively. “What's wrong with that? I was just being honest with him.”

“Dude, you just called him a fag, right to his face,” he said.

“So. He was checking out all the guys like he wanted to fuck them, and here he's been acting like I'm a fucking pariah. Why wouldn't I say something?” I didn't get it.

“Did you ever stop and think that maybe he's not sure if he's gay or not? Or if he is sure, did you ever stop and think that maybe he doesn't want to admit it, to deal with it? You just reached into his brain, pulled out what is probably his deepest, darkest secret, and threw it in his face.”

I stared at the phone, stunned at what he was saying, and traumatized by the knowledge that he was right. “Shit.” What had I done? I was so self-absorbed, so focused on what I wanted and needed, I didn't even think about him. I looked around, trying to think of what to do, what I could do to make things better.

“You get it now?” he asked.

“Yeah. Fuck! I can't believe I did that. I can't believe I did that to him,” I said. “He must feel so exposed, but he's playing it off like nothing happened, even though he avoids me like the plague.”

“You guys are tight friends. He probably feels like he let you in too much, and he's trying to figure out how to save that friendship and not let this happen again. Give him some time to work through it.”

“If he can,” I said, truly depressed now. “Thanks Cody. I knew you'd be able to help me out.”

“Dude, that's just a small piece of what I owe you. I am so much happier today than I was last week. Thank you.” I closed the phone, wondering if I'd ever be able to solve my own problems as well as I solved other people's.