“Answer the phone, Charlie,” I muttered as the storm began to crackle outside my bedroom window.

I regretted not picking up when she called earlier. I’d been too angry. Wasn’t thinking straight. Should have turned around, gone back upstairs and just told her she was being stupid, I didn’t want Stacy, let’s go back to being together. My ego got the best of me like it would most men. When someone attacks you, you fight back. It’s a primitive response. It’s how wars got started. And divorces.

I tried again, but her voicemail came back on.

“This is Charlie Reed. I’m sorry but I can’t get to the phone right now. Please leave a message. Thank you.”

“Hey, it’s me again. If you’re listening to these, stop being stubborn and call me back. I’ll make you forget all about this, I promise. I’ve got handcuffs and lube. I’m kidding. Seriously Charlie, I’m sorry. I don’t want Stacy. I want you. And I don’t care about the damn video if you don’t. Call me.”

Trees outside my window bent under the pressure of the impending hurricane. I walked to my fish and stood watching them swim around. The stingray was hidden in sand, eyeballing me like he didn’t think I could see him. Kneeling down I said through the thick glass, “Yo dude. I see you. Don’t think you’re being sly. Everyone wants to hide from me today, huh? Well, only one of you is successful and it ain’t you.”

In a flurry of motion sand clouded the air as he shook himself a little deeper under cover. I chuckled despite my mood. “Yeah, that didn’t help, buddy. I still know you’re there.”

A blowfish ambled by and I rose to standing as I followed his journey. The phone rang in my hand and I nearly terrified the little guy with how much I jumped in response.

But it was just my cousin Ben.

“Ethan, hey, what are you up to?”

“Being ignored by a woman I’m falling in love with, how ‘bout you? When are you going back to the farm?”

He paused a beat. “You met someone? Why didn’t you tell us at the hospital?” At my silence he muttered, “Yeah, probably not the best time for news like that.”

“I told Grandpa though. But let’s not talk about her. She’s not returning my fucking phone calls so let’s talk about anything but her. What’s going on with you?”

“Speaking of women we can’t understand, I just got a text from an ex. That should be a band name, Text From An Ex. Anyway, you remember Summer?”

“You really expecting me to keep up with your exes, Ben?”

He persisted, “The blonde with blue eyes who I met while I was visiting Elijah at Yale. Hot and heavy, didn’t last long. We all went to that bar together, the one with the darts.”

“Oh yeah, and you guys couldn’t keep your hands off each other. I remember her, why?”

“She’s in Atlanta and wants to see me. Come with. There’s a hurricane. I figure we can day-drink and watch it from the outside patio of JCT Kitchen. It’ll be closed but they leave the chairs out there.”

Staring at my tranquil fish I knew I’d go out of my mind if I stayed another minute with all this silence. “Yeah, they know us. Won’t care if we sit outside,” I muttered, figuring it out as I went. “Upstairs bar is closed Mondays, but we can grab beers from the main bar and bring them up.”

“Exactly.”

“Why do you want me there?”

“This girl is Kryptonite, plus she’s a little nutty. Bi-sexual, which is awesome, but she had this girlfriend when I met her, who kind of lost her fucking marbles when Summer and I started dating. It got weird. Problem is this — Summer’s so damn hot I will fuck her tonight if you’re not there. I can’t go down that rabbit hole again. It was hard enough to shake her outta my skin the first time.”

Didn’t even hesitate. “I’m in. Where’s my key fob?”

“Don’t forget to latch all those windows you’ve got, Ethan.”

My cousin knows me too well.

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” I muttered and hung up.