“Guys, I’m sorry that I haven’t asked more. I’ll be honest and admit, with you guys casually dating, it didn’t fully occur to me to ask. I feel like an ass-hat of a friend.”
“Oh, nah, man. That frustration wasn’t geared toward you. That never bothered me. I know you’d be there for me if I needed to talk. We both know that. I’m just unsettled with everything right now. I can’t put my finger on when it started,but I’m just not happy where life’s landed me in that department lately.” Mark looks over at me, and I can see he’s tired of the game. Maybe he’s finally ready to start looking for something serious.
“Well, I’m still sorry just the same,” I apologize. I got a little too lost in my feels and shut out everything around me that even came close to touching that area in my life.
“So what are you going to do about it?” I ask.
“You could start by brushing up on how to act around other women,” Trystan chimes in with a bit of snarky advice.
He’s not wrong, but…ouch. I glance over at Mark out of the corner of my eye to see his reaction. He’s chewing on his bottom lip, mulling it all over. Damn… he really is unhappy. This isn’t just something that’ll blow over in a few days.
“We’re here for you, man. Is there someone you’re really interested in?” I truly can’t think of anyone he’s really been pumped about going out on a date with lately.
“Nah,” he trails off, “just a general discontent with life, love, and all the things. Seeing you settle down with Sydney’s really made me start thinking more, you know? I’m not getting any younger, and I’d like to share life with someone…”
“Yeah, I do get it.”
“Trystan, other than youradvice, you’re awfully quiet,” Mark notes, turning the attention away from himself.
“Nothing new here. No prospects. Just living the life.” I call bullshit. After what I saw the other night, he’s locking some shit down. I huff lightly to myself, and Mark lets out a dangerous rumble from his throat that does little to conceal his jealousy. He has nothing to be jealous of. If he’d pay just a little more attention, he’d see that there’s obviously something going on that neither of us is privy to. I haven’t had a quiet moment to start that conversation with him though.
“Bout time!” Trystan whisper-shouts when he sets the hook on a catch. “I got dinner!” We both get a good chuckle out of the blurted remark.
He reels in a really nice bass. Damn, next year, we need to find a nearby cabin with electricity. I’d love to have my fryer. A campfire will do this time though. There’s something satisfying about eating something you’ve caught yourself.
A few hours later, we decide to take a break and clean the nice mess we’ve managed to bring in. If we get back on the water, it’ll be catch and release for the most part. While cleaning the fish, I take in the scenery around me again. I notice clouds rolling in from the west. I didn’t think we were supposed to have any rain. We planned this weekend around the fact that there was going to be great weather.
“Didn’t the forecast say perfect weather before we left yesterday?”
“Yeah, and I checked again before we set out on the trail,” Trystan notes, looking up at the sky and seeing what I see. “I bet it’ll dissipate before too long.” Thankfully, it does just that over the next hour. When Mark walks away to take a piss, I eye Trystan.
“So what was up with you the other night? You got weird when Mark was talking about Brynleigh.”
Trystan hesitates, but I notice the way his grip changes on the fillet knife, the way his movements slightly slow down.
“Don’t give me bullshit.”
Trystan sighs, setting down the knife.
“You know how I was into Brynleigh before I left for the Marines, way back in the day?”
“Yes, you guys had a few dates, but that was before what he was talking about.”
“She didn’t want to date a Marine. That’s why we didn’t go any further. Well, for the most part.”
“Spill.”
“When I’d come back on leave, occasionally we’d get drinks and hook up. When I got back from my last deployment, I went to her and said I wanted to try again, that I was out for good. She turned me down with no explanation. Things were just different. Done. Now I get it. I had no idea.”
“Do you think the baby was yours?”
He sighs, rubbing his face across the sleeve near his bicep.
“Going by the way she just cut me out of her life? I’m going to go out on a limb and say, ‘yes’.” Trystan mutters frustratedly, exhaling with a shaky breath.
“Are you going to talk to her?”
His eyes snap up to mine, and I can see the turmoil churning in them.