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Dwayne grinned. “You know I’m here to help you drink your troubles away. We got enough bottles of good stuff from the Super Bowl party to last…well, a couple of months.”
They both laughed, and Jake said, “Lord, I hope longer than that. God, I need this night but not sure my liver does. But Idamnsure do! Thanks, dude. At least I’m not drinking alone.”
“Pizza is here. I got three because we’re going to need to soak up some of that alcohol. And for the record, no chicks here, so keep those pants on.”
Jake nodded, setting the bottles on the counter. “I swear I’m cursed in that department. The one I’m crazy about…like I fucking crave her… This week has been hell, but damn I don’t think we’re ever going to…”
“Dude, you make this relationship thing too complicated. What happened to us just having fun?” Dwayne said, handing him a glass of whiskey and sliding a plate toward him as he opened one of the boxes. “Dig in.”
“Yeah…I’m thinking I may not be cut out for the happily ever after thing.” Jake grimaced before taking a swig of his whiskey. “This is rich,” he commented, looking at the goldish-orange liquid.
Dwayne raised his glass, clinking Jake’s. “To the good stuff, and that means you, buddy!” He lightly grabbed Jake’s shoulder. “You gotta relish this shit right now. This won’t be our life forever, so we gotta…”
Jake swallowed the small knot in his throat. This guy and their crazy history—mostly off the field—ran like a home movie through his head. “I know, you’re right. For such an asshole, you’re so damn kind, you know that? It’s confusing…” Jake chuckled, finally feeling the tension ease that had his shoulders glued to his ears. There was still no solution in his mind, but he’d be present right now to celebrate with this guy who’d been there for him so many times.
“Just keeping you on your toes. Hey, what do you think about the power tool commercial with you and me? Brian keeps saying they want to offer us a deal, have us both on the commercial. You showing me how to build stuff,” he scoffed. “It sounds goofy, but the money is good.”
“I like the idea…but I know it’s not really your thing. The life insurance commercial wants you to…”
“That’s a hard no for me, Jake, not promoting life insurance.”
“Okay…” Jake said, his eyebrows drawing in at the vehemence in Dwayne’s tone.
“Brian’s a great agent, but I want to represent stuff I’m interested in. You’re the builder, but it could be a funny bit…I’d rather link with the custom suit company. I’ve used Christian Scarborough, and he does players right. So us modeling and promoting his suits makes sense to me.”
“Yeah, he wants to pull Coach Mark and Coach Easton into some of the commercials…Coach Easton says he’s out; it would mean too much working out and getting in shape.” Catching Dwayne’s eyes, Jake added, “His wife looked really tired at the Super Bowl party, and when I went to hug her, it sounded like she was struggling to breathe…maybe just me, but…”
Dwayne nodded, his dark eyes growing big. “I thought the same thing, but honestly, Coach Easton has said that a winning team takes a toll on families…I thought that was such a fucked-up thing to say, but I see it. The longer season, the interviews, the media snooping around. They just did big stories on his two boys who had kinda stayed under the radar, just enjoying high school and college ball. His oldest is at Michigan, now everyone is watching the kid, wondering why he doesn’t play more, comparing him to his dad… Even the high school boy is being scrutinized…blah, blah, blah. The media thinks every little thing is a story.”
“I know, I hate the media analyzing me, but there’s a catch for us. If we do it right, we can garner some pretty sweet endorsements, that’s key to leaving the game early. So I’m working with Brian to figure out the social media angle.”
“Hey Jake, that smile, those eyes, the way you work a camera, or better yet, the interviewers…I see how Sylvia coos at you…”
Jake guffawed. “First of all, she’s married, second she’s always trying to school me, says I need to come across as more humble…and not lead with so much swagger.”
Dwayne swallowed a gulp of his drink. “That’s BS. You are humble. Honestly, you’re one of the most down-to-earth egomaniacs I’ve ever met.”
“Damn, dude, that was a compliment, right? You’re one of the most simultaneously sweet and annoying jerks I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.”
Both laughed, clinking their glasses together before taking a long sip.
“Can’t turn on the charm all the time, gotta save it for the ladies…”
“True, you definitely have that mastered.” A wry grin appeared on Jake’s strained face. “…Jezus, Miami, you were only twenty…Flavia and…”
“Julia…” Dwayne chimed in with the other girl’s name. “Shit, you were only twenty-one. We were babies, and they were like thirty. Took advantage of us.” Dwayne rippled his body in an overexaggerated shiver, remembering back to the weekend they’d met and bonded. “But neither of us willeverforget that…Julia riding you…Flavia sucking my cock. I already thought we’d died and went to heaven…. watching a live porno with a hot girl’s mouth around my cock. I hadn’t ever done anything like that.”
Jake slid his glass toward the bottle, and Dwayne poured him another full one. Jake swallowed down half the glass. “Yep, I’ll never forget how Julia leaned down with that husky accent in my ear, ‘I want your friend in me, too.’ I had to focus to keep going and process that at the same time…she wanted both of us, then I heard Flavia’s thick accent saying to you, ‘She wants you both inher at the same time’…That was a rush of adrenaline, but I was still thinking, how the hell is this going to work?”
Dwayne exhaled with a soft whistle. “You're telling me. I asked her to repeat it. The whole night was crazy. Butdamn, it was one of the hottest nights of my life, well, besides that wedding when you invited Chris and I as your date…Jenae’s friend from high school…”
“Yeah, you, me, and Chris with Penelope, the maid of honor. Jenae suspected something…don’t think we were quiet, but a chick asking for three…hell, now Penelope and Chris are married …that was shocking,” Jake said in a rush of air. “Don’t think I could…”
Dwayne slapped his glass down on the counter, grabbing the half bottle of whiskey and pouring himself a heavy one. “Why…why not?”
“Dude, she took all three of us…like that’s pretty much porn star material…I want…” His words trailed off, feeling the weighted stare of the person who knew most of his secrets. Who had shared women with him, who…Fuck, he knows me.
“So she was good enough to enjoy but not…and wait, didn’t you join those two in a little surprise birthday treat for her?”
