Wasn’t it absolutely amazing what a hot shower could do for your attitude? It completely changed my outlook on life. Amazingly, I found myself looking forward to going out into the big world with Eddie. He drove, so I was at his mercy.

We stopped at a familiar apartment block around the corner. It was a bit nicer than ours, but still not exactly five-star accommodations. “Are we picking up Sam, too?” I asked him, even though I already knew the answer. We didn’t know anyone else who lived here. Of course, it would be Sam.

“Yep. Sam’s bored and I told him about your situation. He wants to talk to you,” he said, nodding in my direction. Great, an intervention. I tried to convince myself that it could be worse, but at the moment I couldn’t think of anything. Eddie glared over at me. In a very serious tone, he said, “He’s really worried about you, too.”

Sam came strutting out, leaving a trail of broken hearts in his wake. He was a ladies’ man if there ever was one. Sam never stayed with one girl for longer than a few nights before he was off to find another heart to break. Trust me, it never took him long to find another willing victim.

“Yo, boys,” Sam said as he slid into the back seat, a place I was sure he was comfortable with. “I hear you’ve had some girl problems, mio amico?” he said in his Italian accent, leaning between the front seats, grabbing my shoulder. “No worries. I know how to deal with that. We’ll fix you right up.” He shook my shoulder hard, laughing so loud I thought my ears would burst. Nice.

My hopes of going to a sit-down meal were dashed when Ed pulled into the drive-thru at a fast food joint. I should have known he wouldn’t spring for something decent. Oh well, beggars couldn’t be choosers. He ordered us burger combo meals and asked Sam what he wanted.

“From here? Nothing. I don’t want to smell like nasty burgers when I’m around the ladies,” he responded with a grimace, fixing the collar on his shirt. See? Sam was all about the women, even in a car filled with men.

“Suit yourself,” Eddie said, then pulled up.

As we ate in the parking lot, Sam remained leaning over the seats from the back, his huge bicep nearly knocking me out every time he stole a fry. “Here, take mine. Jason hasn’t eaten in days. I’m surprised his clothes still fit,” Ed said as he offered his fries to Sam. Another one for the books—Ed sharing his food with someone.

“You got it bad, man. This ever happened to you before? Locking yourself up in your apartment over some volpe femmina?” he asked loudly.

“What?” I replied with a mouthful of burger. I didn’t care about formalities right now. This cheap burger was absolutely the best thing I’d ever tasted.

I mulled over his words as I chewed. Hmm, I’d been in relationships and ended relationships, but nothing had turned me into the walking dead after it was over. This time was different. This time crushed me.

“No, I guess not,” I answered him as I chewed, but fuck was it hard to swallow. I grabbed my drink, the ice sloshing around as I took a few draws on the straw. Somehow, I got that mouthful down, but it just sort of sat there as my throat tightened. Placing the remaining half of my burger back in its box, I wiped my hands on the thin, bright white napkin.

“You gonna finish that?” Eddie asked, already eyeing my discarded meal like some kind of prey that was going to run off any second.

“Nah, go ahead. I’m really not that hungry anyway,” I said, and it was true. My appetite vanished as thoughts of Vivienne invaded my mind. I’d love to press delete to clear my brain of all the Vivienne information it kept using to harass me.

“A shame to let good food go to waste,” Eddie said as he scooped up the burger, downing it in two big, disgusting bites. It would never cease to amaze me how much food a skinny person like that could down in a day. It wasn’t like he was active and burning off a ton of energy jogging or shit like that. He pretty much just hung out, ate, and wandered around.

Must be nice to have that kind of metabolism. I, on the other hand, spent more than my share of time at the gym. Of course, I had to switch from my “all the perks” gym to a plain Jane gym when I decided to cut costs, but I was still there a lot.

“We’re gonna fix you right up, buddy. Don’t you worry about a thing,” Sam repeated, scaring me a bit. The look on his face was a devious mix of you have no idea what’s going to happen next written all over it.

“I’ll be fine, but thanks,” I told him, hoping to reassure him that I would in fact be fine.

I wouldn’t be fine, that I knew. My world had been rocked, and I wasn’t exactly sure how you ever recovered from that.

After Eddie slurped back the last dregs of his drink, he threw it onto the floor in the back seat. “Hey, watch it, man,” Sam yelled, trying to dodge the flying cup.

“Let’s get on with it,” Sam said to Eddie, poking his shoulder. I turned to them, frowning, not understanding what was going on. Eddie quickly put the car into drive. Off we went to God knows where.

“It’s for your own good. Trust us,” Eddie said as we sat in the parking lot of a club. No way in hell was I going in there. My stomach tightened. The little food that was in there protested.

“Man, it’s time. The only way to forget a dead horse is to go get on another one.” He laughed, punching me on the shoulder. I’d have a bruise by the end of the night if he kept it up.

“I’m not completely sure that’s an accurate saying, Sam. And thanks, but no thanks for the night out. I’ll take a rain check. You guys go have a good time, though. Don’t let me be a Debbie Downer.”

“Oh, Debbie’s goin’ down, all right,” Sam jested, hitting me on the arm again. Fuck, that was starting to hurt. I rubbed my poor, abused left arm. “Look, take it from someone who knows. You need to get back in the game, Jason. No joke. Sitting around doing Jack shit, crying all day does nothing for you. She chose to fuck you around. This shit is not your fault. Do not for one second think it has anything to do with you. She picked the slutty way out, not you. Man, you deserve better. Trust me, there’s better out there. Much better. But you need to take a chance. Put yourself out there again. It’s the only way to get over her.”

I rubbed my hands on my face, praying for someone to beam me back to my bed so I didn’t have to deal with these two clowns right now. I was not in the mood to deal with this shit.

“Look, guys, I appreciate what you’re trying to do here. Believe me, I really do.” It was a nice gesture. “But I’m not into this tonight. Just drop me back at home, then you guys can come back.”

“Sorry, buddy. Not gonna happen,” Sam said, placing his giant hand on my head, tussling my hair. Nice.

“Okay, I’ll call for a ride back. You guys go on in. I’ll sit here until someone comes,” I pleaded, hoping they’d go for this last option. No way in hell did I want to go in there tonight. Or any night, really.

“Not gonna happen,” Sam repeated himself. “We’re going in there to find you a way to forget about this woman. Now, let’s roll.” He exited the car.

I could feel the heavy bass of the music throbbing in my still tight throat. It appeared like I hadn’t missed much since I’d been here last. Still the loud music. Still the scantily clad women looking for Mr. Right. Still the horny idiots looking to get laid.

If I thought this scene was tiring a few years ago, it was damn near exhausting now. Nothing about this atmosphere turned my crank in the least. I couldn’t wait to get home to stare at my blank fucking screen. Squeezing my eyes shut once again, I hoped this was just a bad dream and I’d wake up anywhere but here.

“Painful, isn’t it?” I immediately opened my eyes to a cute brunette who was standing in front of me. Her tight black dress left nothing to the imagination, which I was sure every other guy in the place would love. Definitely pretty, but really not my type, even if I was looking.

“You can say that again.” I smiled politely, taking another pull on my beer, hoping she saw my coldness as a turn-off.

“I hate these places, but my friends dragged me out,” she said, closer to my ear this time, her breast grazing my arm. By accident I was sure...

Either way, it had no effect on me. I paid her little attention except to nod again out of politeness. She stared at me as a sexy smile crossed her face.

“Do you come here often?”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her lame attempt to pick me up. It was flattering, yes. But I wasn’t feeling it.

“Uh, no. My friends forced me out, too,” I admitted to her. There was no reason to be a total dick, after all.

“So, we have that in common. Our friends are assholes.” Again, I laughed at her boldness. She grinned back at me with her tiny hand out. “Janine, and you are?”

She left me little choice but to accept her hand, which I did. “Jason. Nice to meet you, Janine.” Her hand was soft and warm. It felt nice to touch someone again, even if it wasn’t the person I wanted to be touching. I attempted to take my hand away. She held on to it, wrapping it around her waist as she pressed up against me. Here we go. Now to let her down gently.

“That was quite a handshake.” I tried to smile, but it felt more like a grimace. She really was cute. No need to be a jerk.

She giggled, inching up tighter to me so her body was practically fused to mine. “Did you like it? I just made it up. How about it’s our new secret handshake?” she said as her fingers brazenly grabbed my bicep, wrapping her hand around it.

“I’m not really into shaking hands these days, sorry.”

“Bet I can change your mind.” She rose up on her toes, then pressed her lips to mine.