5
Ross
Between the busiesttime of year at school and my promise to myself to not throw myself at Dan, I hadn’t seen the man in three weeks.
I should have been happy that there was some separation between us.
But I wasn’t.
At all.
Not seeing Dan, one of my closest friends, especially after spending so much time with him, felt like I was wading through my days.
It was no surprise I regretted pulling away in the first place, but since he’d ended up helping with the firepit over the September break, I’d sort of pushed my original promise aside. We’d easily fallen back into hanging out, our routine of seeing each other practically every day no hardship.
But since then, nothing.
I’d given in last weekend to see if he wanted to come for a fish, but he’d said he already had plans. Since Craig had gone fishing with me, my imagination had taken on a mind of its own, wondering if he’d gone on a date. I’d even asked Craig what Dan was up to, and he’d shrugged noncommittally, which soured my mood something fierce.
The whole situation was pissing me off and getting me down.
Feeling needy was not a look I wore well. I hated it, in fact.
Needing a distraction, I went in search of Alec. The school day hadn’t long finished, so I hoped he was still in the PE office and hadn’t left. The department was notorious for never answering their phone, so I didn’t waste my time getting someone to pick up.
The sound of a ball slapping against the floor greeted me as I stepped into the large sports hall. Alec dribbled a basketball, moved a few paces, and took a shot. It sank in without touching the sides.
“Whoop!” I hollered.
His head flicked in my direction, and he grinned. “Coming to work up a sweat?”
The wrinkling of my nose was automatic. Sports and I were not friends. “That’d be a hard pass.”
“What? You want a hard pass… of this ball?”
“I’d prefer a beer.”
He stopped bouncing the ball immediately and bobbed his head. “A beer is a good alternative. You wanna meet me there or wait for me? I need maybe ten minutes.”
“I can wait. I need to turn the computers off in the library.”
“Sweet,” he said, releasing the ball and sinking it.
“Leave the ball here!” I called out as I turned to leave.
“I bet that’s not what you usually say to the guys!”
My chuckle joined his own as I headed back to the library.
Twenty minutes later, we were armed with drinks and seated in a quieter section of the pub. It wasn’t busy, since it was a Tuesday.
Quiet country music played in the background but was inoffensive enough to almost blend in with the clink of glasses and low chatter.
Ben, the owner, looked to be stocking the spirits, while his wife, Lynnie, chatted to a couple of women. The other handful of patrons were keeping to themselves. It was one of the reasons why I liked this place so much. It was friendly without people being all up in your business.
“You had a decent day?”
“Yeah, not too bad,” I answered. “Same old, you know? Busy with sorting all of the assignments.”
