Leaving Again

Ben

I nodded. “I didn’t think about that,” I said. “Thanks, man. That puts it into perspective a little.”

“Everything happens for a reason,” Jerrod said.

Immediately, I thought of Mila. But she hadn’t come into my life at the right time. I would have liked that, but she wasn’t one of the things that had happened for a reason. Or if she was, I wasn’t sure what lesson it was that I was supposed to learn from loving and losing her.

My stomach flipped when I thought about love in those terms. I wasn’t nearly that far, I told myself. Maybe Mila had been put on my path to help me through the worst and to teach me how to be strong. No matter what.

Even if I lost more and more people who meant something to me.

“You know I’m always here when you need to talk,” Jerrod said. “Even though us real men never talk about anything serious.”

I snorted. “Of course not. We just get wasted and get laid. Nothing serious here.”

Jerrod laughed. “You’re so full of shit.”

“You started it,” I said with a grin.