“I know, but I have to focus on the last season of ball. I just have to get through this fall. Plus, she has a boyfriend.” My excuses sound idiotic, even to my own ears, but somehow, last October, they were important enough to break Lily’s heart in the first place. So, they must still be important now even though I’m having a hard time convincing myself of that at the moment.
“I got it!” Ben jumps up before swaying and falling back to the couch, holding his head. “Bad idea. Bad idea,” he mumbles.
We watch Ben cradle his head before he leans to the side of the couch and closes his eyes.
Jerome turns back to me. “Well, number one, you go back home and make nice. Forgive her. Be her friend. You’re the douche who drove her away and made her jump in bed with someone else.”
“Jerome!” I snarl.
He holds his hands up in mock surrender. “Calm down. All I’m saying is, you got this ball rolling, and then you got all pissy on her and stormed off because you didn’t like the consequences. Ben’s right. It was bound to happen. It’s not her fault. You two were broken up. She wasn’t in your head. She didn’t know how hung up on her you still were. It was all so clear to you because you were living it, but she wasn’t.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “I must not have explained myself well enough.”
“Dude, it doesn’t matter. Even if you had, she probably didn’t hear it. Once a girl’s heart gets broken, she stops listening anyway.”
“Next,” Ben slurs, “you be her friend.”
“Yeah, we’ve established that. Thanks, shitface.” Jerome laughs.
“How much did you have to drink?” I ask Ben. “I thought we had the same amount. You’re a lightweight, dude.”
“No, I had more!” he shouts.
“Stop yelling.”
“I’m not yelling. You stop talking,” Ben says with his eyes still closed.
I turn back to Jerome. “Anyway, go on.”
“Okay. So, you’re friends. She has a boyfriend. You know she’s not serious,” he says.
“How do we know that?” I question.
“’Cause it’s Lil. She loves you. Anyway, she probably still feels hurt and more so now because of your reaction to her boyfriend. She’s probably all like, Why is he so mad when he was the one who broke up with me? Isn’t this what he wanted? He doesn’t have the right to be mad.” Jerome does his best impression of a girl’s voice.
I laugh. “You sound nothing like Lily. You know that, right?”
He waves me off. “Anyway,” he continues. “So, you can’t go in there and demand she drop her boyfriend when you aren’t going to step up to the plate and be the kind of boyfriend she needs. You will have to wait it out until football or whatever other commitments that are in your way are over. Then, you can make your move. But the key is to stay in her life—in a positive way. Go back to the way you were a few weeks ago—as best friends. Don’t make her feel bad about the douche-bag boyfriend because she will just get resentful, and stay present so that you can constantly remind her of what she loves about you. When the time is right, confess your love, beg for her back. And done.” He brings his hands together in front of his body with a loud clap.
“For being one of the biggest players on campus, you give decent advice.” I chuckle.
“Just because I don’t want to settle down with a woman doesn’t mean I don’t understand them. I grew up with a single mother and four sisters, dude. I get women for sure.”
“You’re right. It’s not Lily’s fault. I need to go home tomorrow and make nice.”
“Yes,” Jerome agrees.
“She’s coming over to my house for my mom’s barbeque tomorrow.”
“There you go. That’s your in. You got this, man.” He claps me on the shoulder. “Now that my work here is done, I should get back to Casey.”
“Beth,” I deadpan.
“Oh, yeah. Beth.”
Ben, who I thought was passed out, yells from the other side of the couch, “I got it! First step of the plan, be friends!”
I laugh. “You are a genius.”
Despite heavily drinking the previous night, I get up early. Ben snores in his bed across the room. I shake my head, chuckling under my breath. He is going to feel like shit when he wakes up.
After a warm shower, I get dressed and throw some of my favorite clothes into a bag. I have