He nods like he understands. On some level he does, I mean football is football. There are just degrees. And money.
“Hey, enough about me. I’m more interested in what you assholes are up to.”
“Bullshit,” Stu says, “who wants to hear about the life and times of a financial advisor, restaurant manager, and car dealership owner?”
“Me.” It’s true. I’m interested in literally anything that doesn’t make me think about my injury, being cut from the NFL, and what my life is going to look like going forward. I’m not going to tell them I got cut, but I’m sure they googled it. They’re being nice because they’re my best friends. And I appreciate it.
A waitress makes her way over and hands me another bottle even though I’m not even halfway done with this one. She’s cute and she knows it with her short red hair and perky tits.
“Bill said to bring you this,” she says with a flirty smile.
The guys are smirking at me. She hands me a cocktail napkin too, and I can see the blue ballpoint numbers on it. “Thank you, darlin,” I say, winking at her and then I watch her walk away before turning my attention back to the boys.
“What the fuck was that?” Stu asks.
I line up the second bottle of beer next to the first. “What?”
Jimmy sets his beer down loudly on the table. “Are you married or something that we don’t know about?”
“No, why?”
“Then why the hell aren’t you going to go try and fuck that waitress?”
It’s a good question. Last week, I’d have been all over that situation. What the hell is wrong with me, anyway? It’s the whole Angie situation that’s holding me back. Shit.
For so long, I’ve been able to get any woman I want. I haven’t had a challenge in forever. But all I want now is Angie. So now I have the mother of all challenges. A childhood friend who’s fucking pissed at me and hates my guts.
“Well, maybe I’m tired of playing the field.” The words are true. And they spill out before I can take them back. “I mean, you guys are settled down and happy, right?”
The boys nod agreeably. They have wives and kids and shit and what do I have? A couple of condos and parties every weekend. And now that I’m not there, those people don’t even miss me.
Just to be sure, I pull my phone out of my pocket and glance down at it. I’ve got zero messages.
Jimmy puts a hand on my shoulder. “It’s all right, buddy. I’m sure you’ll settle down. You just haven’t found the right girl, yet.”
I take a long pull on my beer. That’s the problem, though. Maybe I did find the right girl, but I lost her.
Chapter 13
Angie
Another morning, another moment staring at the broken coffee maker I forgot to replace. I give it a good glaring at, even though it's not its fault it's broken.
And with all of the pirate, Jake, and paparazzi drama yesterday I completely forgot to buy another one. I could buy a really good cup of coffee every day for a month for what it would cost for a decent coffee maker, anyway.
And the one I'm staring at can be called a lot of things. Burnt, old, gross, noisy. But decent isn't one of them. Maybe life’s just too damn short to live with a crap coffee maker.
Plus I have to deal with Jake today. Again. I take a deep breath and head out the door, deciding to get a good cup of coffee today for sure, and then figure out the rest of the coffee maker situation later.
That decision made; I head out to Ocean Wave again. I realize how much I've missed it. So much of life depends on getting the day off on a good foot.
As I arrive and throw open the happy door with the pretty blue Ocean Wave logo on it, I find a moment to reflect on why this particular routine means so much to me.
For one, there's the ritual of it all. The cool hipster location, the delicious aroma that assaults my nose as I enter, and the fact that I'm surrounded by nice working people. Not asshole, cocky, stupid, handsome, famous ex-ballplayers.
The smell alone makes me happy. That intoxicating fresh ground coffee smell that mixes with the tangy, buttery smell of still warm pastries.
And don't get me started on the taste. And the caffeine. Okay, so I've missed fancy coffee-house coffee. It's the little things in life that make all the difference.
The line this morning isn't too bad, and a few minutes later I'm walking out caffeinated, happy, and ready to deal with anything. Maybe even Jake.
I pull into my work parking lot like I always do, only something weird is going on.
For one, all the parking spots are taken.
Huh, I haven’t seen this strip mall so crowded since they had that 5K last year. Is another 5k going on? I glance around, but the official Pirate Festival 5k is not until this weekend.
And anyway, none of these people are dressed as pirates. Or have running gear on. Or matching shirts. They're all in shorts and flip flops. As usual.
And some of the people lining up outside my door actually have their pets. Could it be? Is this crowd really here for the meet and greet with Jake and to try out my clinic?
I assumed they'd come to meet Jake, get his autograph and then leave. I was prepared to be completely ignored as usual while sitting in my office curled up in a fetal position thinking about the limited time I have left in the building.
But what I'm seeing out of my windshield is nothing short of a miracle. Exactly the kind of miracle I happen to need, as it turns out.
Since all the parking spaces near my office are taken, I park in
