Page 41 of King of the Crease

“Doesn’t sound like our scene,” Bill says.

“Oh yeah. You guys are way too old.” Jack tosses a peanut into his mouth. “It’s going to be a bunch of drunk twentysomethings falling all over each other and finding bushes to puke in. It’s going to be awesome!”

“We’ll go, too,” Griffin says.

“Wait—we?” Bill asks.

“Yeah, if the Blades are going, then the Comebacks are, too.” Griffin nods defiantly. “I love bar crawls. We can drink your friends under the table.”

“Can we then take a nap under the table?” I ask.

“You want us to drink beer continuously for hours on end? Pass,” Des says.

“Come on, Des. We can go as hard as anyone.” Griffin turns to Jack, kisses him, and cups his cheek. “We’ll be there.”

“Childcare arrangements permitting,” Tanner interjects.

“Childcare arrangements permitting,” Griffin repeats. He points to Nick. “New guy, you in?”

“Hell yeah!” Nick cheers. I didn’t take him for a bar crawl kind of guy, but his energy is undeniably infectious.

“I’m in, too!” I say. Nick and I pound fists. “Bill?”

Bill groans. “I’m in, only so I can babysit you guys and make sure you don’t get wasted.”

“Bring Tate. Send Rowan to a sleepover. You can regale Jack’s friends with tales of boning your assistant.” I love teasing him about that. Bill stares his standard daggers at me.

“You boned your assistant?” Nick asks.

“It’s not like that. Tate and I fell in love one night in Chicago⁠—”

“Save it for bar number eight when we’re all smashed out of our minds,” Des says.

“You’re good with this?” Jack asks Griffin.

“Definitely. Carmen has the girls that weekend. You knew that.”

“I didn’t think you’d want to go. It’s not your scene. You didn’t seem that happy at the concert,” Jack says.

I think back on Griffin commiserating to me about the aftereffects of that concert experience when we picked up the tree.

“Why the fuck would you think that? I had a great time at the concert!”

“You kept covering your ears.”

“I…having one functioning eye heightens my other senses, so I really felt that music.” Griffin adjusts his eye patch. “I had fun then, and I’m going to have a great time at the bar crawl with my boyfriend. You think just because I’m slightly older than you, I can’t keep up?”

Jack studies his boyfriend’s face. I do, too, because Griffdog has officially gone crazy.

“Okay, then. Alright!” Jack lights up and hugs his boyfriend; a flash of panic crosses Griffin’s face when Jack isn’t looking. “This is going to be so awesome! We’ll see who the last man standing is. Get ready to get Elf’d.”

Griffin looks around the table at us, his teammates, his best friends for the last quarter century, as we all silently wonder what the fuck he got us into.

A while back, a Christmas movie was filmed in downtown Sourwood, and I totally understand why. The downtown area has the perfect small town vibe with cute storefronts and a town square complete with Christmas tree. Garland is strung around all the lampposts, and lights rim the storefront windows.

It’s too beautiful for words, and strolling down the street with Nick makes it feel even more special.

“What’s Baltimore like during the holidays?” I ask him.