“You and I fight, yes? It’s in our nature. My facial expression must have said that because he nudged me again. Yeah, I was a total sucker, forgiving people way too easily. There won’t be any bars in my future anymore either way. “I let myself down, and I know there are people that this news could disappoint even more. Who wanted to admit their failures? Not me. “With the exception of that one day, I have no problem not drinking, but once I start…” Kulti knuckled his brow bone. Kulti’s eye started to twitch, but he shook his head. I nodded slowly, still keeping an eye out to make sure no one was around. “I was very angry and I picked up a bad habit I’m not proud of.” “I was in a bad place after I retired,” he explained in that low voice that I liked, unexpectedly. His gaze flickered from one of my eyes to the other before he took a shallow breath and swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the force. He had a right to make them as much as the next person. He’d been blitzed out of his mind when I’d picked him up from that bar months ago. Taking a quick look around, I made sure there wasn’t another person within listening distance and I whispered, “Did you really get a DUI?”Īnswering the question wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped it would be, but with a great gulp, Kulti tipped his chin down. I might never get a chance to encounter an apologetic Reiner Kulti again. My eyes narrowed, curiosity prickling at me. “I’ve done a great deal of things I regret now, and it’s difficult for me at times to cope with them.” Kulti wasn’t a man that wasted his words, so… “You have a horrible way of showing it.” I took the title in the office because it seemed like such a monumental thing to say in order to get me out of trouble.īut… as soon as I started to make a face, I stopped. I started to make a face like ‘yeah, right.’ Me? His best friend? I’d take ‘friend’. “When I get angry I have a hard time controlling what I say,” he said, his chin tipping down.

There were dark circles under his clear eyes, and he looked conflicted. I nodded, still the slightest bit unsure. I could think back and remember the day the five-time World Player of the Year, The King, told me I was the best player on my team. The best player on the team? I felt greedy, like I needed to gobble up all these nice things and store them for a rainy day when he called me a slow-ass, or even one day when I was older and couldn’t play anymore. They won’t get rid of you.”Īnother shot to the heart. “If it comes to it,” the German continued, “we’ll worry about it. “I know.” He gave my shoulders a squeeze. “You want me to sue them?” I coughed out. The urge to punch him in the gut was still there, but instead I nodded. His green-brown eyes seemed so close to mine. It was the ‘I promise’ that had me glance up at him I felt this huge ugly knot of dread creep up to the center of my chest.

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