Offside

“Mmm…” I only barely heard her. “US and Brazil, right?”

“Yep.” Nicole said something else, but I missed it.

My head felt warm and fuzzy, and when she asked me something about the first goal of the game, I just grunted and nuzzled her hair. She smelled so fucking good.

I could hear the sounds from the television, but they weren’t really penetrating my conscious mind. At one point, Nicole was griping about the referee being insane and possibly smoking crack, but I didn’t hear or see the call. The only thing in my head was the feeling of her warm body pressed against mine. Despite the ache in my muscles, I was comfortable here with her.

I dozed.

My mind conjured up a new view of our picnic with the rain holding off until we were already set up in the back yard. We were munching on the bread and the cheese when the rain started pouring down on us, and we had to grab everything quickly to get it back inside. Nicole got soaked, and we both laughed as the rain covered us, and I covered her in kisses.

I heard her father’s voice, but my head was still full of fog.

“Did you wear him out?”

I felt Nicole’s body shake a little as she giggled softly. In my head, the three of us were sitting on the picnic blanket in the rain. I kissed the side of Nicole’s neck

while she and her father conversed.

“No, he came this way. I think he did a bit too much during his workout this morning.”

“So, no more pretending?”

“You think you’re pretty smart, don’t you?” Nicole snickered.

“I thought it was obvious from the first time I saw him over here, and you were yelling at him.” Greg laughed quietly through his nose.

“Whatever.”

“You kids are pretty oblivious sometimes,” he said. “I guess I could let you borrow one of the police detective handbooks to help you figure it out.”

“Very funny!”

“How was the game last night?”

“It was good,” Nicole said softly. “Thomas played really well—shutout.”

“Do you miss it?”

“I was there,” she said. “How could I miss it?”

“You know that’s not what I mean.” Greg’s voice darkened a little.

“Sometimes,” I heard Nicole mumble. “Not enough to play right now. It’s okay just having someone to cheer for, you know?”

“I guess so,” he said.

“He needs someone on his side,” she said so quietly, I thought I had probably dropped back into my dream. She shifted in my arms, and I felt her nose against my jaw.

“I have to admit,” Greg said, “he seems pretty different when he’s here compared to what I’ve seen of him in the past.”

“I wish I knew which one to believe,” Nicole said.

The warmth of her breath against my neck kept me comfortable and soothed as I continued to drift in this strange dream about Nicole and her Dad’s conversation—so different from the way my father and I talked. I suppose that’s what made it the most dream-like, since it didn’t really make any sense to me at all.

Maybe Shakespeare would have said I only wanted “to sleep: perchance to dream.” Somehow, their conversation was completely surreal to me.

Now how long could I just sleep here with her?