Man Juice

Owen shrugs. “Kind of, I guess. I am considered the black sheep of my family, there’s no denying that.” He looks down at his feet.

“Join the club,” I say in a joking tone, but he just gives me a half smile.

“My parents don’t approve of either my lifestyle or my chosen profession,” Owen says bitterly.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I say in shock. “You’re totally successful, and I’ve seen like…every one of your movies.”

I feel giddy and comfortable with him, and my playfulness is rising, thanks to the alcohol currently taking the lazy river stroll through my veins right now.

“Apparently, that’s not good enough for Martha and Joshua Wolfe,” he states sarcastically.

“Well, what the fuck makes them so special?” I ask.

“They’re doctors.” Owen rolls his eyes.

“They wanted you to be a doctor, too?” I guess.

“Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner.” Owen points to me and uses a game show host voice.

“I’m sorry.” I shake my head. At least we can relate to each other as we drink ourselves to oblivion, thinking about our failures to our parents.

Owen looks at me with crystal clear genuine affection. “You’re fucking cute,” he says and grins.

“You aren’t bad to look at either,” I joke.

“I don’t usually have this much fun,” Owen admits.

“You mean with another girl or with life in general?” I tease.

“Maybe a little bit of both.” He smiles.

“I’ll drink to that,” I say and guzzle down the remainder of the wine in my glass.

All my reservations and intuition regarding decent life choices are cast to the wind and all but forgotten on this lovely night with Owen.

I don’t even fucking care right now. I’m embracing my inner wild child and taking risks, just like my sullen father tells me to do.

12

Owen

“Are you ready to blow off some steam, dude?” I grin at Victor as we walk into the gym together.

“I’m gonna knock you out!” he shouts, getting pumped up.

“You fucking wish.” I shake my head and look at Victor, my awesome best friend with Latin roots and the flare of one to boot.

“I’m going to take you down one day,” he laughs.

We walk over to the boxing ring. We have to pay for an hour spot to use it in advance, which I did yesterday.

Victor and I like to come to the boxing ring to unwind after a stressful day at work. You may say it’s just two guys trying to be tough and macho to prove which of us is the stronger man….and you’re probably right to some extent.

I’m not afraid to fight for what I want, whether physically or emotionally, and the sooner everyone in my life realizes that fact, the easier it will be for all involved.

“So, when I went to your meeting yesterday, everything went well,” Victor says as he straps on his gloves.

“Oh, yeah?” I ask and gear up by jumping up and down.