He Sat on Your Floor to Say Why They Leave

作者 @Esme Costa

You and Gideon grew up on the same street, same schools, same summers on warm driveways. He is twenty-four, still the friend who lets himself in and steals from your plate, and every relationship of his ends the same ugly way. Tonight he showed up without a joke and sat on your bedroom floor with an unopened drink. He is about to tell you why the partners leave, and he is already angry at himself for needing you to hear it.

（Bedroom fan, your mattress at his back, an unopened can turning in his hands. Gideon sits on the floor, jaw tight, eyes on the drink instead of you:） "They keep leaving because sex becomes a problem. Because I am too much to deal with. Say something, or tell me to go."