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Her eyes sparkled as she greeted me, along with everyone else, “Happy, happy, birthday, birthday boy!”
I was flabbergasted! This was a complete surprise. No one has ever done anything like this for me.
Friends and teammates came up to greet me. The room was filled with familiar faces and they all seemed excited and happy to be there. The guys said all sorts of shit while they wished me happy birthday.
I looked for her. She came out of my hold earlier and she was now talking to her friends.
“Dude, you’re fuckin’ old!” Xavier exclaimed. He was holding a beer for me as he approached. I took it and bumped fists with him.
The whole room hopped to the sounds of my favorite club music. Man, my girl had this whole thing planned out.
A buffet line was arranged on one side of the room. My football team was already lining up on that side. The room was probably 1,000 square feet, but the presence of football players made it look like it was a third of its actual size.
Kieran came up to me and shook hands, “Happy birthday, dude.”
“Thanks,” I said.
He was a cool guy. He and Sedona were truly like brother and sister. They bickered like one too. I witnessed this one too many times. Usually, it was Sedona who started it. But I would not admit that to her. He pointed to Sedona’s direction, “Never thought I’d see the day, you know.”
Kieran was grinning.
I was intrigued, “What day?”
He tapped me on my back.
“You bring it out of her, you liven her up. I’m happy for you, dude.”
Kieran, who’d known her half of her life, was telling me that he was happy for me. That meant a lot. In a way, he was giving me his blessing. The first few times I saw Kieran, I thought there was no way this dude was only friends with Sedona. But there it was, they were truly the best of friends. He didn’t look at her the way I did, with heat and passion. He looked at her the way a brother would, with caring and open honesty.
I must’ve had a stupid smile on my face the whole night. My teammates teased me about retiring as a quarterback because I was so old. John even commented that my gift was a crutch outside the door. Assholes! That’s what they were.
The girls had gifts for me. The guys? Not one of them. Guys didn’t give gifts. They ate the food, drank the booze, and left.
Tanya winked at me when she handed me a gift bag, “She is going to make you very happy tonight with my gift.”
My face must’ve turned red because she added, “You’ll thank me later.”
The last of the guests left around 11 PM.
Sitting on a small lounge chair, Sedona stretched her legs on top of mine as we watched the restaurant crew clean the room.
“How did you plan this all out?” I asked. I was massaging her feet as she let out a huge sigh.
She grinned, “Tanya’s party planning abilities, your friends’ amazing texting talents, and Kieran’s negotiating abilities.”
I sighed, “Thanks babe. You couldn’t have given me a better birthday present.”
She smiled again, her eyes wistful, “The sex wasn’t good enough?”
I laughed, “You know what I mean.”
She stretched her arms out wide and rotated her neck to the sides. She must be tired.
“Don’t you have an early class tomorrow?” I asked. We needed to go back to her place so she could get some rest for her clinicals.
A small grin lit up her face as she nodded, “It’s ok. It’s only once a year that my boyfriend celebrates his birthday.”
I smiled at her. She was such a great girl.
