"And, you're going to give it to her," I said flatly.
"What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't help out a woman in need?" he asked, smirking. When we were just getting to know each other, I had thought the cocky thing was an act he put on. It wasn't. He really did think he was God's gift to women. Because he did, they thought so, too.
"You're doing the Lord’s work, Don," I said wryly.
"So what's going on?" he asked. I paused as he asked a passing waitress for a couple beers and two shots.
"Nothing much."
"After Afghanistan? I'd be making up for lost time."
"That means something a little different when I'm doing it, Don," I said, laughing.
"How's it look with football?"
"Called my old coach. He said he and I could talk when summer session starts."
"That's good. That was what you wanted, right?"
"That depends on what he ends up telling me." I was confident in my skill, but I knew how much of getting into the league was politics and luck. I also knew that this wasn't my only option. It wasn't unheard of for guys to work their way up the minors, and if that was the way I'd have to do it, then I would. I took a long drink of the beer that appeared in front of me.
"You’ll get it. I have a good feeling," he said philosophically.
"Somehow, I think football's going to be the easy part."
"What's the hard part?" he asked. I looked at him pointedly. "Don't tell me it's her."
"Okay. I won't," I said, downing more beer. It was already half gone. I needed more. A lot more.
"What did you do?"
"I told her I wanted to talk to her, time and place to meet me and everything."
"And, she didn’t show?" he asked. I shook my head.
"You gotta tell me what it is, Rome. Her pussy better be gold plated or something."
"I love her, that's what it is."
"You sure she feels the same way?" he asked.
"I know she can, she just doesn't want to," I said.
"Then maybe you should stop fighting her on it," he said. I signaled for another beer.
"It's been a year, and I haven't stopped thinking about her."
"That's because you're not trying hard enough; you're still trying to go out with her. Stop talking to her and let time and distance do their thing. You'd be surprised how well you forget when you don't give yourself the responsibility to remember." I rolled my eyes.
"I'm not fucking someone else."
"Sometimes you don't have to. Good head gets you off the hook for almost anything," he told me. I laughed, shaking my head. There were a good number of beautiful girls at the bar. That girl Gina and her friends had been looking over every so often. One of them was a blonde, so that alone drew my eyes to her when she looked over here. Her look was wrong, but not bad. She seemed tall, built more athletic than Ron was.
"I'll leave that to you."
"I'm serious, man," he said. "Is she even still single? Did she wait for you this whole past year?"
"She's seeing someone, but it's not serious," I said, not knowing really whether I was right about that. He hadn't come up the last time we talked, but even if he had, I didn't want to give Don more ammo than he already thought he had.