"You're right. I don't."
"One day, when you meet the right girl, you will." He snorted.
"The girl who's gonna make me give up my dream just to be with her? No thanks. Wherever she is, she can stay there."
"I'm hopeful for you," I said, laughing.
"I'm not. You just had to go find her again after last year," he said.
"It would have happened sooner or later."
"Yeah. Wish it was later. You're really doing this?"
"Tonight. I'm calling the coach and telling the offer is great and all, but I can't take it."
"What will you say when he asks why?"
"Why the hell would he ask me that?"
"To talk you out of it. Maybe you'll listen to him if not to me."
"It won't work," I said simply, having another drink.
"You're an idiot," he said.
"You told me that already."
"I swear. Don't tell anyone we know each other. I can't be seen with you," he said, smirking at me. I knew he was kidding. It didn't matter what he thought. He wasn't the one who this was going to affect.
"Good to know I have your support," I joked.
"Do what you have to do, man. I just don't want you to end up regretting this."
"It's her. I know it is. Right now, this is where I have to be. I can't imagine a future without her. If football's still meant to happen, then it will. I'm not giving her up. That's not an option." Don sighed.
"You know what? If that's how it's gonna be, then I can't wait for the wedding," he said.
What was Don like when he was in love? The last girl he had been with was back when we were in high school and after the two of them broke up, he wouldn't even look at her anymore. I figured he could, for the right person, change and actually make them happy, but I knew he wouldn't appreciate the psychoanalysis.
"Oh, you're not invited. So you can fuck your way through Ron's bridesmaids?" He laughed.
"You know that's the only reason why single people go to weddings," he said.
He offered me another beer but I passed. I wanted to get home. Ron was coming over and I was cooking dinner that night. He tried to give me a hard time about blowing him off, but I ignored him.
It wasn't a competition, Ron did things for me that he didn't and couldn't do...and stuff I didn't want him to do, if we were being honest. I thought about maybe setting up double date or something where the two of them could meet. I didn't talk about Don to Veronica as much as the other way around, but something like that could be fun.
I had left all the groceries that I needed to cook the meal in the car. I passed by the store to buy the last couple things, wine, and dairy that would have spoiled if I left it in the car while I was at Don's, and went home. I could cook, if by cook you meant make oatmeal, ramen, rice...basically things you just added water to in order to make them not raw anymore. I was just making pasta, but I was making the cheese sauce from scratch. I had bought a rotisserie chicken at the same time as getting the wine, which I'd just carve up later.
The goal was to make it edible, and I was mostly confident that was what it was going to be by the time she got here. I wanted to be able to tell her that I was making the decision to turn down the deal before I made the call. Maybe she could be in the room as I made it. I had kept it to myself since my mind was made up already. I didn't want to take the deal. Tonight, I'd tell her everything. Nothing was standing between us again.
I was just slipping the chicken into the oven to heat up when I heard her at the door. She had a key and was walking in.
"Ron," I said, coming up to her. She gave me a small smile and let me kiss her.
"Hi," she said, pushing some hair back behind her ear.
"How was your day?" I asked. Her purse was still up on her shoulder, and her arms were crossed.