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Elias’s not-so-temporary roommate, Sarah dropped down next to him on the bleachers. She handed Zoe and me two sodas from a cardboard tray. Elias didn’t wait for her to offer him his, he just grabbed it. He didn’t saythank you.
Also very un-Elias-like.
Definitely trouble in paradise. But that wasn’t my problem.
“Mom! Carter! Did you see my home run?” Rex asked, running over to us.
“Yes, we did, honey. We’re so proud of you,” Zoe exclaimed.
“All that practice is really paying off,” I added.
“Totally,” Rex said with a toothy grin. “Can I go for pizza with the team after the game?”
“Of course you can,” Zoe answered. “It’s your dad’s week this week, so I’ll have him meet us at the pizza place and take you home from there.”
Rex smiled and ran back to celebrate with his buddies. I had no idea if they won or not. I don’t think anyone was really keeping score. Whatever. Rex had his whole life to learn about winning and losing.
But then, something Zoe said caught my attention.
“Wait… Rex is with his dad tonight?” I asked.
“He is. I asked Desmond if he’d pick him up early this weekend,” she confirmed. “It’s been a month, Carter. And I don’t know about you but I think things are going well.”
“I agree.”
“And I think we’ve been doing a really good job of getting to know each other.”
“Also agree.”
“And keeping our hands to ourselves.”
“That part hasn’t been fun,” I said.
“I… I know,” she stammered. She tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth in a way that tempted me. If we weren’t in a park surrounded by first graders, I’d have kissed her right there. “I just wanted to make really, really sure. You know?”
I nodded. “I know. And now… you’re sure?”
“So sure it’s driving me crazy.”
I took her hand in mine. “How long do we have to stay at this pizza thing?”
“Well, technicallyyoudon’t have to—”
“Of course I’m going to go,” I stated.
“Good. But after Desmond shows up to take Rex, we can head back to my place.”
I had a goofy smile on my face, but I didn’t care. I thought about what Old Carter would think of who I was becoming. Going to a kid’s tee ball game. Playing family man. Waiting for a woman. I shook my head.
“What?” Zoe wondered. “Changed your mind.”
“Fu…fudgeno,” I said, quickly catching myself. “I just… so much has changed. So fast.”
“Ah, I see. Missing your nights in a bar, being a player, hooking up with anything that moves.”
I knew she was joking, but I didn’t laugh. I kept my expression serious. Because lately, every time I walked into my condo, I smiled because I thought of Rex and Zoe hanging out on the new sofa watching TV. I thought of how I finally had stories to tell my friends about the people who mean the world to me. And I thought about how that feeling of emptiness and shallowness that had been bothering me for so long was now gone.
“Not at all,” I told her. “Not for a second.”
