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Moreat”

“Thanks Calida’s been working on it”

“How are things going with you two?”

I took a drink fro‘I told you so’”

“Son, you kneasn’t going to be an easy relationship You can’t just cut and run because things ht be hard,” Dad said

“Jesus! Why does everyone fucking assu?” I’d never snapped at my parents like that, but it pissed me off that they, and Macy, wanted to put all the issues onin an instant

“Malcolm, I’m sure that’s not what your dad meant But, at the sareat track record with relationships”

“Yeah, well this is different I was never in love with those other women They were justI wasn’t in love with them”

“All right, fair enough,” Dad conceded

I took another drink, knowing I needed to bite the bullet and tell theure out if I should keep trying, or just step back into the friend zone “She’s having panic attacks”

“Well, that’s not all that uncoh This is just an educated guess, but I would say Calida most likely has an acute case of PTSD”

Shit! I really s that should have been blatantly obvious I pressedache At the saht this possibility up before e’d talked He’d probably been under the sa, but doing okay since she was in therapy

I lowered my head as the vivid recollection came back toher fall apart because of so I’d said It was a surreal moment and one I’d unfortunately repeated a week later

“I triggered two of them” I shamefully admitted “At least that I know of, because they happened in front of me”

Mom walked around