In my less mature years, I thought it was pretty cool that he spent so much time chasing women. I can’t say I wanted to do the same thing—not every single minute of life—but I didn’t see anything wrong with how he lived. I had also never given his actions much thought beyond the surface, “guys doing what guys do”.
As years passed, we would talk when he was going through painful times in his life. There seemed to be a common denominator in those moments. His low points always seemed to be related to women leaving him and him being single.
I witnessed him in relationship after relationship, at low point after low point, and I eventually realized that I had been wrong all those years. My friend wasn’t a player at all. He...