He f**king wanted Reese.

With a groan, he let his head fall back, hoping that Erik would think it was because he died in Call of Duty and not that he was emotionally f**ked up over a girl. This was the first time this had happened in ten years and did Reese care? No, mostly because she didn’t know, but if she did, he knew she still wouldn’t care. He was usually a rush-the-goal kind of guy, but he didn’t know how to win this game. He didn’t know how to make Reese his.

This was that ballerina’s fault! Phillip wanted nothing more than to find the ass**le that broke her and kill him, but what would that do? He doubted it would help, so instead, he drank a little more than he should, tried to have sex with girls that did nothing for him, and played video games with his best friend.

Pathetic.

Erik threw his controller down and leaned back into the couch. “Okay, want to tell me what’s up? You’ve been off for the last two weeks. The huffing and puffing you are doing is annoying. Also, you’ve been sucking on the ice.”

“Fuck you, I have not!” Phillip yelled, causing his buddy, Dimitri, to look up at him with wide eyes from his playpen. “Sorry bud.”

“Yes, you have. You completely missed the goal last game.”

He did, but he would never admit that. “Did not, someone tipped it.”

“No one was around you.”

“Ugh, f**k you, shut up,” he growled, but then saw that Dimitri was still watching him. “Sorry bud.”

Erik chuckled beside him before saying, “Reese has you in knots, huh?”

He let out a breath as he slowly nodded his head. He really didn’t want to talk about this, but it was Erik. Erik knew everything. They both came from shit ass parents, bad home lives, and had actually made something of themselves. While Erik let his childhood ruin him for most his life, until he allowed himself to love Piper, Phillip did the opposite. He learned from everything. He worked hard to never end up like his dead-beat dad, and f**ked-up mom. He was going to succeed. He was going to be happy. Even though he lost his first love, he didn’t let it ruin him. He knew it had happened for a reason. He knew that she, Alana, wasn’t the one, because she allowed her father to make the decision for them, and he was fine with that. Got over her quickly but even then, he didn’t feel the way he did now.

He just felt empty now.

It was scary and with a nod, he said, “Yeah. She broke off what little we had. She had apparently been screwing other people while with me.”

“No shit? Dude, that blows, but I told you Reese was a man-eater. Hell, even she will admit it.”

Phillip ran his hands through his hair. “I know, but I thought maybe I was different. She didn’t act stuck up when she was with me. We laughed. We had a great time. The sex was so f**king hot, and I liked her, even with her clothes on. I mean, that has to mean something, right?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Well, to her it didn’t.”

Erik shook his head. “Sucks, dude.”

“We have so much in common. We talked about everything. It wasn’t always about sex, and I just don’t get it. I don’t understand. Why aren’t I enough for her?”

Erik didn’t say anything for a moment and then asked, “You love her or something?”

“Or something,” Phillip admitted, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

Erik sucked in a breath. “Damn, that sucks. I know what Piper did to me. Absolutely destroyed me emotionally, in a good way, but I thought it was a bad way. Anyway, you know the story, but Piper is soft while Reese is hard. That girl has some issues. I hate it for you, man, but this might be the one to let go.”

Erik was right. “I know, but I can’t. I can’t let her go; I can’t do anything, because all I do is sit here and try to figure out how I could make her see that I am worth the chance.”

“Why work to make anyone see, dude? It should just happen.”

“True, but did Piper give up?”

Erik looked away and slowly shook his head. “No, she didn’t.”

“And I don’t think I can give up on Reese. I ‘or something’ her.”

Erik chuckled. “So, what are you going to do?”

“I have no clue. If I knew, I wouldn’t have spent the last two weeks wrecked beyond repair.”

“Hey guys.”

Both men turned to see Piper smiling at them. Dimitri let out a shriek, and her smile grew.

“Baby, I didn’t hear you come in,” Erik said, getting up to greet her. She had been at the spa with her sister Harper, and maybe Reese.

“Snuck in on y’all. What are you two talking about?”

“Nothing,” Erik said dismissively as he wrapped his arms around her.

“How long have you been standing there?” Phillip asked. Uneasiness settled in his stomach as Piper looked over at him with a grin that told him she had been there for a while and heard everything he said.

But all she did was shrug her shoulders and say, “I just got here. Why, what were y’all talking about?”

Fuck. She heard him.

“Nothing, baby. Mmm, you smell good,” Erik said, running his nose up into her hair, causing her to giggle.

“Stop,” she said halfheartedly before looking at Phillip. “What are you doing tonight?”

“Nothing,” he said, noting that she wasn’t fighting to know what they were talking about, which confirmed that she heard them. The only thing he wondered was what that meant. Would she call Reese? Should he ask her not to?