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We all wait, although I bet I already know. I’m surprised he’s even telling us this, because we’ll be able to razz him forever.

“‘No, thanks.’” His face is straight, no emotion except disbelief. “She said no thanks.”

Chase laughs, like a full-on belly laugh, which spurs Miles and me to do the same.

“Fuck, guys, it’s not funny. I swear she was a gymnast or some shit, because I can’t stop beating off every time one glimpse of that night resurfaces.”

Chase continues to laugh. Brady throws the football at him, which he catches because we’re all awesome like that.

The room quiets and I’m back to thinking about Shayna again.

“What you need is a grand gesture.”

We all turn to look at Miles with different versions of confused faces.

“What the fuck is a grand gesture?” Chase asks.

“It’s where you do something really big and momentous after you fuck up.” Miles sets his beer on the table beside the beanbag he’s sitting in that’s obviously Brady’s son’s.

“Sure, send her, like, two dozen red roses,” Chase says.

Miles rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “First of all, I’m impressed you could even think that romantically.” Chase throws the football at Miles, and he tucks it under his arm. “But I said really big and momentous. Think something more like… renting out The Palace ballroom and sending her an invitation to an event, but when she gets there, it’s only you waiting for her.”

“With red roses,” Chase says, and Brady cracks up.

Miles glares at Chase. “Or hire a skywriter to write I’m sorry in the sky, or even something like whisking her away on a surprise tropical vacation but giving her none of the details beforehand.”

“She won’t talk to him. How would he get her to go on vacation with him?” Chase asks.

“I hate to be a buzzkill, but he’s got a point.” Brady cringes.

The football flies across the room at Chase, and he’s too busy laughing with Brady. He misses it and an assembled Lego set crashes to the hardwood.

“Fuck!” Brady puts down his beer and runs over behind the couch. “Theo is going to have a meltdown. It took us weeks to finish this.”

“You sound scared of your own kid?” Chase says.

“You would be too, if you saw his reaction to this.”

Chase rounds the couch and picks up the pieces with Brady. “Give me a half hour.”

Once we’re all back together, Brady brings in another round of beers. Chase is somehow putting together the Lego set without directions or a picture.

“Let’s get back to Miles being a closet romantic,” Brady says, laughing.

“Whatever, asshole. I heard my mom and my sister talking about it when they came to visit, so I asked them what it meant. Apparently it’s in all the romance books they read. Women eat that kinda stuff up.”

“Grand gesture.” I set down my beer and pace Brady’s large living room, hands on my hips. “What kind of grand gesture would fit us?”

Nobody says anything for a minute until Chase offers up his idea. “Maybe you get her box seats for one of the games and have something on the jumbotron.”

Miles shakes his head. “She’s not gonna want to hang out and watch a game of the team that just fired her.”

Chase shrugs and shows emotion when he finds the piece to go in a specific spot. Who knew we just needed to get Chase a Legos set for him to show some emotion?

“Thanks for the suggestion though,” I tell Chase. Then I look between all three of them. “Okay, what other ideas have you guys got?”

“You could fly her family in and profess your love for her in front of them,” Brady says.

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