“Oh, goody,” Mitch muttered.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Mitch
Head pounding, mouth like a moldy sock, for some reason, his chest hurt as though someone had wrapped a bunch of iron bands around it and squeezed. It took him a moment to realize it was because he felt like something was missing. Something big he’d gotten used to being there.
Even though he and Domi hadn’t had a ton of sleepovers, he’d thought there would be more. Now there wouldn’t be. That was what he felt—the absence of her in his life.
He stared up at the ceiling.
A knock on his bedroom door made him jerk with surprise, but the movement was slower than normal, as if he was trying to swim through thick air.
“Mitch, you up yet?” Brian’s voice was muffled through the door. Oh, right, Brian had taken him home last night.
“Yeah.” At least, that was what he tried to say. It came out sounding more like “blegh.” His tongue felt swollen, and it wasn’t working correctly. Clearing his throat, he swallowed and tried again. “Yeah. Getting up.”
“Okay, breakfast is ready, and coffee’s waiting.”
Coffee.
Driven by that one word, Mitch forced his body to start moving. Coffee might not fix everything, but it would help his brain work, and right now, that would be a massive improvement. Last night, Brian helped him get down to his boxers so he could sleep. All he had to do was grab a pair of sweatpants, and he was good to go. Not that Brian would have cared, seeing him in his underwear again, but Mitch would feel weird if Brian was fully dressed.
The sound of multiple voices, speaking in low tones, didn’t register until he reached the kitchen.
“What are they doing here?” he asked Brian, staring blankly at Zach and Kincaid sitting at his kitchen table, eating what looked like fast-food breakfast sandwiches. His stomach rumbled in anticipation of grease.
“After last night, I figured I needed reinforcements,” Brian admitted, sitting down on the chair next to Kincaid. “You were pretty fucked up.”
Yeah. He should probably stop drinking when he was upset. It wasn’t healthy. Especially since he’d started off alone.
“Come eat. We picked up breakfast,” Kincaid said, prodding Mitch into motion. “Brian updated us on most of it.”
Oh, good, he didn’t have to relive his heartbreak first thing in the morning while suffering from a hangover.
Heartbreak?
Yeah.
“Shouldn’t you all be at work?” he muttered, sitting down.
“My shift doesn’t start for another couple of hours,” Kincaid said calmly.
“Working from home today.” Zach’s smile was almost sadistic. Bastard.
“Told them I’d be in late this morning due to a family emergency,” Brian said.
A little ball of warmth took root in Mitch’s chest. His parents might be fucked up, and they’d never given him siblings—which he’d been both grateful and disappointed about at various times throughout his life—but Brian was right… they were family. If he could choose his own brothers, he’d choose these guys right here.
Proven by the fact they were here for him right now.
“Do you have to work today?” Brian asked.
“Yeah, but not until tonight.” Mitch took a long drink of his coffee, which was just barely cool enough. The hot liquid helped clear away some of the fuzziness inside his mouth, and he could almost feel the caffeine hitting his system, helping wake him up.
To his relief, the guys didn’t seem intent on hounding him over breakfast. Zach and Kincaid wanted to know about Brian’s date last night, especially about how well Morgan had handled it and what he’d thought of the guy. Once they’d been reassured everything had gone well on that front, they wanted to know more about the woman Brian had been with.
“Marissa?” Kincaid cocked his head. “I think I’ve heard that name before.”
“Olivia didn’t like her,” Mitch said suddenly, interrupting the conversation. He’d been listening but not participating, which wasn’t like him, but the guys rolled with it. “I think she almost called her a name at one point.”
“Really?” Brian blinked in surprise, his brow furrowing. Both Kincaid and Zach had similar reactions. Olivia didn’t like everyone, but it was rare she actively disliked someone. They’d had a total misogynist asshole in their Dom class. Olivia had been perfectly civil to him until she’d kicked him out. “She seemed nice enough.”
“Do you think you’ll see her again?” Mitch was genuinely curious.
“No chemistry.” Brian shrugged. He looked between Zach and Kincaid. “If Morgan wants to go on more group dates with them, and Marissa needs a date, we should probably switch off. I wouldn’t want to lead her on.”
“What about me?” Mitch asked, frowning. Not because he wanted to date someone other than Domi, but he didn’t like the feeling of being left out, and he wasn’t dating Domi anymore. Looking out for Morgan would give him something to focus on.
Three pairs of eyes bore into him.
“Aren’t you going to try to get back together with Domi?” Zach asked the question, but it was on all of their faces.
Yes!
The little part of his brain that reacted wanted nothing more… but… was this how it started? Was this how his parents had begun? Knowing they should stay away, but always giving in to the impulse to be together again?
Mitch knew Olivia thought he’d made a mistake dumping Domi. He had a feeling she meant for him to try to win Domi back, then stick with it. She’d been right when she’d told him it was easy not to be his dad—he had to do what his dad had never done and stay away from Domi.
“I don’t think so,” he said finally, looking down at the breakfast sandwich in front of him. The tight bands around his chest squeezed hard. “It’s better this way.”
“If you say so,” Brian said doubtfully. Kincaid patted Mitch’s shoulder. He could tell none of them agreed
