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“Well, first off, it wasn’t that long ago I was in high school.”
“Almost twenty years,” Brody insists, “And that’s practically forever. Like ancient times when phones still had cords on them, and cars didn’t have A/C in them.”
A painful groan falls from my lips. “I’m thirty-five, Brode, not eighty-five. Cars had A/C in them when I was younger.”
“But phones were all attached to the walls, right?”
Sighing, I concede, “I guess, but not all of them. There were cell phones, but they weren’t as widely used as they are today.”
“My point is things have changed. Maybe dating has too.”
“I doubt it,” I state. “A boy likes a girl, a girl likes a boy, and they go out on a date. If they hit it off, they become boyfriend and girlfriend. Same as it was when I was in school.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right. So? What would you do if you liked a girl in high school?”
“Ask her out,” I reply, but I realize I’m not necessarily speaking from experience. Mostly, it’s what I wish I would have done back then but didn’t have a chance to before everything in life blew up in our faces.
“Did she say yes?” Brody asks, his eyes meeting mine from across the fire.
I open my mouth, but the words just won’t come. I won’t lie to him, so I stick with the truth. “Actually, I never got the chance to ask her. She started dating some asshole right when I finally built up the courage to take the chance, so I stepped back. I didn’t want to cause problems for her.”
“What happened?” he asks, leaning forward and giving me his complete attention.
I take a quick drink of water to wet my too-dry mouth and decide to go with the abbreviated version of the truth. “Well, they dated for a few months, and then he dumped her, leaving her high and dry when she needed him the most.”
A flash of anger moves through Brody’s green eyes. “What? That’s cold. I can see why you called him an asshole. Did you swoop in and rescue her?”
“No,” I tell him sadly, not even bothering to correct him on his use of profanity like I know his mom would have. “She had a lot on her plate by that point, and I decided it was best if we just remain friends.”
He studies me, and for a minute, I wonder if he knows I’m talking about his mom. “What happened to her?”
That dryness in my throat is worse, and it feels like I may choke on my tongue. “She made an amazing life for herself, and that’s all I ever wanted for her.”
He nods, taking a drink from his Coke can. “What if the girl I like is a little out of my league?”
“No such thing,” I tell him confidently. “You’re one of the brightest, kindest, most hardworking kids I’ve ever known. If she can’t see how amazing you are, then she isn’t the one for you. You’re not out of her league, she’s out of yours.”
We sit in silence once more, the sun having finally fallen completely behind the trees and the crickets starting to fill the night sky with the subtle sounds of chirping. I can tell he’s thinking, probably about the girl he likes and wondering if it’s the right time to ask her out. I hope he truly heard what I said. I wish I could tell him how I regretted not being a little quicker on the draw. Maybe if I had, she would have been dating me instead of that fucker who left her high and dry. Perhaps her entire life would have gone a little differently. Of course, she wouldn’t have Brody if that would have happened, and I can’t imagine life without him—hers or mine.
“Maybe I’ll ask her out on Monday. I sit beside her in one of my classes, and she likes to go to the football games. Maybe she’ll want to go for ice cream with me after the game.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” I tell him.
He looks up and smiles. “Thanks, Coach. I mean TD.”
“You’re welcome, Brode. You can always come to me to talk.”
He glances down before returning his gaze to mine. “You won’t tell my mom, right? I don’t want her to get her hopes up about Morgan. She’s always encouraging me to ask out a girl, and I just don’t want her to get all excited and then come to find out Morgan said no.”
Well, it’s good he finally confided in me who the girl he’s interested in is, even if I had already figured it out. “I’ll tell you what, B. I will keep your secrets as long as they won’t hurt you, your mom, or someone else, okay? I want you to trust me, and I know that trust has to be earned. I won’t say anything about girls or work or even school and football, as long it’s not something bad. Does that make sense?”
He slowly nods. “Yeah, I get it. I understand what you’re saying, and I appreciate you being willing to talk to me without running and telling my mom everything I said.”
“I’d never do that unless it was absolutely necessary, B. Promise.”
“Thanks, TD,” he replies with a grateful grin. “Speaking of my mom,” he starts, but doesn’t say anything more.
My heart rate spikes as worry grips my chest. “What’s wrong with your mom?”
