08/26/2026
I kept hearing little things here and there that Dalton had been going through it with his ex.
Nothing I needed details about. Nothing I was trying to get involved in. But when you know somebody, you can tell when s**t is starting to weigh on them.
Then somebody finally told me:
“Man… you might wanna go check on Dalton.”
Say less.
I canceled what I had going on, packed a bag, grabbed Dolly, and booked the first flight out.
I didn't even tell Dalton I was coming.
By the time I landed, I already had a black Escalade waiting and had rented us a ridiculous lake house hidden back in the woods.
Three stories overlooking the water.
Private dock. Boat. Infinity pool. Outdoor kitchen. Fire pit. A refrigerator packed with steaks, seafood and enough food for a damn family reunion.
And, naturally, a couple bottles that cost entirely too much money.
I wasn't flying across the country to sit around talking about somebody's ex all weekend.
I was coming to get my boy.
When I pulled up, Dalton walked outside looking tired as hell.
Then he saw me.
Then he saw Dolly tucked under my arm.
His whole face changed.
“BRO! What the hell are you doing here?!”
I handed him Dolly.
“Came to check on you.”
He started laughing while Dolly was licking all over him.
Then he looked at me dead serious.
“Man… I want me a Dolly.”
I snatched her back.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. This one's taken.”
😂
He kept messing with me about it the whole ride.
“Come on, bro. I need one just like her.”
I looked over at him.
“I'll think about it.” 😉
That finally got the laugh I'd been waiting to hear.
An hour later we pulled through the gates of the lake house.
Dalton stared out the window at this massive place lit up over the water.
Then he looked at me.
“You rented THIS?”
“Yep.”
“For just us?”
“And Dolly.”
He shook his head.
“You are fu***ng ridiculous.”
Perfect.
That first night, his ex barely came up.
That wasn't why I was there.
We threw steaks on the grill, opened something unnecessarily expensive, turned the music up and sat outside overlooking the lake.
Dolly spent half the night bouncing between us like she'd known Dalton her whole life.
And every twenty minutes:
“Bro… seriously. I need a Dolly.”
“I said I'll THINK about it.” 😉
Later that night we walked down toward the dock.
The lake was almost completely black, with nothing but moonlight and the glow from this huge house reflecting across the water.
Somebody snapped a picture of us standing there.
You could barely see our faces.
Just silhouettes.
Me and Dalton standing shoulder to shoulder with the lake house glowing behind us—and little Dolly right there between us.
No posing.
No bulls**t.
Just a moment.
Dalton looked out over the water for a while and finally said:
“Man… I needed this.”
I looked over at him.
“I know.”
“How'd you know?”
“Because you weren't gonna tell anybody.”
He didn't say anything after that.
He just nodded.
The next morning we took the boat out, spent half the day on the lake and talked about everything.
Business.
Money.
Cars.
Dogs.
Life.
All the s**t we still wanted to do.
His ex barely came up.
And that was exactly the point.
By the end of the weekend, Dalton was laughing again.
Really laughing.
Sometimes being there for your boy doesn't mean giving him advice.
You don't have to solve his problems.
You don't have to talk s**t about the person who hurt him.
Sometimes you just hear your boy has been going through it…
So you get on a plane.
Rent a stupidly extravagant lake house.
Bring steaks.
Bring a couple bottles.
Bring a boat.
And most importantly…
Bring Dolly.
Because apparently now Dalton wants one too.
I'll think about it. 😉
Dalton Aint Worried
