Rick and Sam felt the same way too and Channing felt blessed to have them both in his life as good friends.
‘Who wants to have a stuffie race?’ Rick squealed, rolling over and picking up his super-cute giraffe stuffie.
‘I think my Teto might win!’ Tommy giggled, parading his T-Rex stuffie with pride.
‘Naaaaw, good try but Billy will be the champ!’’ Channing smiled, before realizing that his diaper was fit to burst. ‘But first I think it’s time for me to call for Miss Applebottom to come change me. I’m all wet!’
The three friends giggled and cooed in delight as they waited for theBeach Babiesnanny to arrive to change them.
Excitement for the stuffie race was building, but first there were three sets of heavy, fluffy diapers that needed changing – and fast!
* * *
The seated area out front ofDrink Devinewas one of Channing’s favorite local hangouts.Drink Devinewas an all-purpose wellness space that covered everything from sound therapy to the comparatively commonplace yoga Pilates.
The fact that the café served up some of the tastiest and freshest juices in all ofLos Friscowas the cherry on top of the gluten-free cake.
But as much as Channing was in heaven atDrink Devine, evidently the same could not be said for his old college flame Max…
‘What the actual fuck?’ Max said, his impossibly handsome face all scrunched up as he just about managed to swallow down the wheatgrass shot that accompanied his berry smoothie. ‘I’ve tried a million different shots in a million different bars, but none of them tasted like…that.’
Channing rolled his head back and laughed.
It felt good to be getting a little enjoyment out of seeing Max suffer. After all, it was Max who showed up so abruptly and without and warning. It was only fair that Channing was allowed to indulge in a little bit of payback.
‘It’s good for you,’ Channing said, a big smile on his face. ‘But seriously, wheatgrass is genuinely incredible when it comes to healing aches and pains. I swear by it.’
‘It’s early evening, we should be pounding the beers!’ Max said, the disgruntled look on his face showing no sign of going anywhere. ‘Anyway. Dude, I probably owe you a bit of an explanation…’
At this point, Channing assumed that Max was going to explain why he had shown up unannounced in what looked to be quite a distressed state.
As reliably rugged as Max had looked, on reflection Channing had realized that there was something not quite right about him. There had been an edge, a slight haziness to Max that wasn’t how Channing remembered him at all.
But rather than explain what was going on right now, what Max wanted to set straight was something from a long time ago…
‘You know, I always felt bad about how we left things in college,’ Max said, taking a sip of his berry drink. ‘I know we’ve seen each other since, but it’s always felt like a cloud above us, you know?’
‘Yeah, that’s a fair comment,’ Channing said, a wry smile on his face. ‘I guess the last thing you needed was a Little clinging on to you…’
‘I figured you’d say that,’ Max continued. ‘Well, I want to own it. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for leaving without giving you a proper explanation. And I’m sorry for waiting until now to sit down and have this conversation. I fucked up. I failed college and knowing that you were so focused on your studies, I just didn’t want to drag you down with me. But rather than have an adult talk about things, I just cut loose.’
‘Yeah, but you were also afraid of commitment,’ Channing said, his voice quivering just a touch. ‘You knew how much I liked you. When you left town it hurt.’
Max nodded and appeared to be contemplating something.
Channing noticed that Max was still wincing a little if he moved his shoulder too much, but rather than try to press Max for any further details on his current situation, Channing decided that it was better to keep the conversation flowing.
‘So… tell me,’ Channing said. ‘Have you managed to find your Mr. Right since we last hung out?’
‘Hmmm. What do you think?’ Max said, a wry grin back on his face.
‘I think you’ve probably found plenty of Mr. Right Now’s,’ Channing said. ‘But anything longer than a weekend? I’m guessingnot.’
‘You’d guess correctly too,’ Max laughed. ‘And you? There must have been a Daddy to catch your eye’
‘Still single. Still working hard. Still…,’ Channing said, trailing off.
‘Yeah?’
