Troy checked his watch. Two. “So you can’t go out now because…”
Kent looked mortified. “I got things to do.”
Troy laughed, faked whipping the ball at him again. “What, you have to wax your legs?”
Kent rolled his eyes and headed off the court. Chad followed. Troy stood with the ball, aware he was acting nearly as badly as misogynist Steve and not caring. He gave Nathan a challenging glance. “What’s your excuse?”
Nathan walked over and thumped Troy on the back. “Wedding planning. We’re meeting with the florist. Like that one?”
“Jeez, what is up here?” He laughed harshly. “You guys can’t pass gas without permission now?”
“Dude, we have stuff to do.” Nathan left the court with the others, leaving Troy alone, feeling like the dorky kid ganged up on in the playground.
Chad gave him a withering look. “This from the guy who when Debby ordered, ‘Jump,’ said, ‘Into what pile of crap and how deep, dear?’”
“I’m not that guy anymore.” Troy dribbled the ball a couple of times, ashamed of his outburst. Something deep and angry was being triggered by this conversation, and he needed to get it under control before he damaged friendships.
“Oh, wait a sec, wait, I recognize these symptoms. I get it now.” Nathan held up his hand for attention, grinning wickedly. “Two questions. What’s her name and what did she do to you?”
“Whose name?” Troy knew exactly whose, but he’d gotten locked into the sulky tough-guy act and didn’t know how to break out.
“The woman who’s got you so scared.”
Troy dribbled the ball again. He had two choices: deny the obvious truth and dig himself deeper into being a bitter jerk, or come clean.
“Darcy Clark.” There. He still felt like a jerk, but a more noble one.
“Darcy.” Nathan let out a silent whistle. “No wonder. You’re juggling torches, chainsaws and open gas cans.”
“This still the same woman?” Chad looked disgusted. “Another manipulator bitch?”
Troy stayed silent. He didn’t want to go into the problem, didn’t want to hear told-you-so from Chad, or you-should-date-Bev’s-boring-friend.
Nathan put his hand on his hip. “I don’t know Darcy well, but she doesn’t strike me as the type you want long-term, if you know what I mean.”
Troy laughed bitterly, which was probably as good as saying “yes.” He wanted to shout, “She’s not like that,” but he wasn’t even sure of that much.
Chad shook his dark head in despair. “Here we go again.”
Kent walked back toward Troy, held out his hands for his basketball. “I have time for a beer.”
Troy tossed him the ball, feeling even more like a jerk in the face of his friend’s graciousness. “You don’t have to if you’re busy.”
“I have time. Lucy will just have to deal with my hairy legs.” He rolled his eyes, smacking Troy’s shoulder. “Come on.”
Troy followed him off the court toward Nathan and Chad and gave them a quick nod. “Sorry for the crap.”
“No problem, man.”
“Forget it.”
Fist-bumps and back slaps cemented the apology, then Nathan and Chad went off to their cars, while Troy and Kent drove in Troy’s Camry to Wolski’s, where they ordered beers and settled into a booth. After a few uncomfortable comments about Milwaukee’s sports teams and the unusually cool weather, they sat in awkward silence. Not drinking.
Finally, Kent pushed aside his beer. “Look, I suck at talking about this feelings stuff. I hung out with people like Steve for so long I bought into their macho bull about women. Then I met Lucy, and it was like…I dunno, a goddamn thunderbolt.”
Troy didn’t know whether to laugh or groan. “Let me guess. She lit you up the second you laid eyes on her? It was as if your nerve endings were coming alive for the first time ever? Like a life heat?”
Kent looked astonished. “Yeah. How did you— Oh, Darcy?”
Troy nodded grimly. “Yup.”
“Man, it’s like some chick flick. I hate chick flicks. But she changed my life. This feeling changed my life. I can’t deny that. Everything I thought I knew about women and about me…” He shook his head in awe. “Steve didn’t have a clue. Making Lucy happy isn’t about weakening me, because what makes her happy makes me happy.”