The Perfect Timing

Chapter Eleven

Cameron

I'm sitting cross-legged on the hardwood floor of my apartment with about fifty tiny screws and other gadgets that I have no clue what to do with. From the looks of the instruction manual, this should be easy, but this is getting ridiculous. I'm embarrassing myself at this point.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, I close the manual back up just as my phone starts to go off. Ethan's contact pops up on the screen and I quickly hit decline. I'm not ready to talk to him. With Maddie, I have to have communication with her in order to see Isabelle, but I don't need shit from Ethan after he kept this from me.

He rings again, just like he's been doing for the past three days now. He won't let me ignore him, so I quickly swipe across the screen to answer it, putting him on speaker. "What the fuck do you keep calling for?" I snap. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Bro, just let me explain," he pleads. "Maddie is my little sister, okay? You broke her heart. How was I supposed to know you had some stupid-ass contract with Katie?"

"You know?" I ask in confusion. "Maddie told you?"

"I also know that you proposed to Maddie before you ended things," he adds, and I try my hardest to block out those memories. It was the best day of my life when she said yes. "I know what I did was wrong, and I shouldn't have kept it from you, but I didn't know you were in deep shit with Katie. I thought you had just up and left my sister, and-"

"Nobody could know," I tell him. "It's not like I didn't want to tell you. If Maddie found out the real reason I ended things then those videos would have gotten leaked. I couldn't risk that."

Trying a new approach, I pick up another screw while I wait for Ethan to reply, feeling slightly less upset with him. Not a lot, but a little. For whatever reason, it's easier with him than it is with Maddie to fix things.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ethan finally asks when two screws clatter to the floor.

"I'm trying to build Isabelle a crib," I admit in defeat. "But this shit is way harder than I thought it would be to put together. Why don't they give better instructions?"

Ethan laughs. "I know what you mean. I had to put the crib together for Maddie before she had Izzy and it was an all-day project."

Again, I find myself becoming angry because that should have been something that I did for her, but I refrain from saying anything.

"You know..." Ethan trails off. "Since I put together a crib already, I could come over and help you build that one..."

I find myself smiling. "And in exchange?"

"Well, a beer would be nice. Oh, and forgiveness too. You could throw that in as well. Couldn't hurt."

Looking around at the mess I've created in front of me, I let out a loud sigh and toss the manual to the ground. "Fine. Hurry up though. I don't want to be at this all damn night."

***

By dinner time we successfully put together the crib. I ordered a pizza to celebrate, and we're each already on our fifth beer. Honestly, it feels good to be friends again, and I like the fact that it was so easy to move on from what happened. With men, it's just easier. No feelings.

"What room is hers?" Ethan glances around the apartment, looking up at the high ceilings. "This place is fucking incredible."

I had to admit, this place was pretty damn cool. It's all modern, with stainless steel appliances and fully furnished with leather furniture and red accent pillows. The ceilings are incredibly tall, but my favorite part about it all is that it's on the thirtieth floor, and it overlooks the entire city of Phoenix. There are huge floor-to-ceiling windows, and this is the perfect time of day to look at the view. The sun is just setting on the horizon, casting a glow on all of the buildings below. I could stare at it forever.

"Uh, you can just leave the crib in here for now," I tell him. We leave it in the dining room and go to the kitchen to grab some pizza. "I have to redecorate anyway. I want Isabelle to love her room here too."

Ethan smiles and slides a piece of pizza onto his plate.

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing. It's just that I knew you'd be a good dad. I kept pushing Maddie to tell you, but she just never seemed to be ready."

"Are you the reason she brought Izzy to the game?"

He nods, and I can feel my anger diminishing for him bit by bit. "Yeah. It was time. It had been time. She just needed a little encouragement is all."

We eat the rest of our pizza and watch a random golf game that's on the television. It seems as if Ethan remembers something because he reaches down into the pocket of his sweatpants and takes out a box. "Before I forget," he says and passes it over to me.

It's a tiny black box wrapped in satin ribbon, and when I undo the bow and open the lid I see a flask inside. Engraved on it is Best Man, my name right below it with the date of March 7th.

I'm not one to get emotional with him, so instead, I make a joke like I always do. "Thought you didn't want entitled quarterbacks to be a part of the big day?"

He shrugs, a large grin on his face. "Eh, I changed my mind."

"Well, in that case..." I laugh and pull him in for a quick hug, slapping him on the back. "You know I wouldn't miss it. Of course, I will be, man."

Just like that, we're back to normal. I wish it were this easy with Maddie. I wish we could do what Ethan and I are doing, throwing back drinks and acting as if nothing had changed.

But she and I can't do that. There's so much that has happened between us, and each time we do try to go back to normal we end up getting back together, and then one of us fucks it up, miscommunication gets the best of us, and we ruin everything. That's how it's always been.

I want to change the cycle, I just don't know how. We need to change it for Isabelle, whether that means we get back together or just do this healthy co-parenting thing for the rest of our lives.

I pray to god it's the former.