behind me, but he doesn’t leave the track and he keeps a watchful eye on me.
When I’m done running I make my way to the uneven bars and start my pull up routine. Fifty in all. I drop and do over one hundred push-ups. After that, I turn over onto my back and start in on my abs but have to abort that part of my work out the minute my scratch marks hit the ground.
My life as a soccer player had ended, but I still trained as if I was competing in the world nationals. I still keep in shape as if someone is going to call me and ask me to join their team and bring them to victory. I still train because blood is blood and flesh is flesh. I am still my father’s son.
“You done killing yourself?” Reed sits next to me, sweat running down the sides of his face.
“She jumped me.” I’m sitting, my elbows resting on my knees.
“Addison?” He looks over, curiosity swimming in his eyes.
“Yep, We got really drunk, and she jumped me, begged me to take her to bed. And I did.”
“Oh Fuck, man. You really know how to pick ‘em. Hop up, let’s go grab a beer and you can tell me all about it.” Reed stands up and reaches his hand down to mine. I grab it and let him help me to my feet.
“So now what?”
I shrug. “Hell if I know. She slipped out early this morning and the moment I saw her she couldn’t wait to tell me how big of a mistake it was.”
“And you?”
“Reed, I have scratch marks a foot down my back, a raging hard on when my mind so much as drifts in her direction and a pain in my heart the size of Texas. That was no mistake.”
“A little too much information, Dude.” He flinches and takes a swig from his bottle. “Why don’t you tell her?” He looks at me like it’s the easiest thing in the world.
“Like you said, she doesn’t know what she wants. It’s not going to matter what I say.” I take a few gulps of my beer.
Reed nods in acknowledgment. He sighs and takes a sip of his beer, as he sets the bottle down he looks at me.
“If you’re sure she’s your girl, don’t give up on her.”
I give him a curious look. An hour ago he was telling me to run the hell away.
He looks to the side, then back at me. “Remember when I disappeared last year for a few days and you had no idea where I went or why?”
I nod. He’d scared the crap out of me. Fell off the face of the earth for an entire weekend. When he finally surfaced, he looked at me as if it was no big deal he’d simply disappeared. I asked once where he’d been, and he wouldn’t tell me. I hadn’t pushed the issue, he was back, safe and I could once again sleep at night.
“I was chasing a chick. Leslie Sutton. Do you remember her?”
“Blond hair, big blue eyes, and a Texan twang?”
He nods, his eyes going somewhere else for a minute remembering exactly what this girl looks like. “The day before I skipped town she and I spent the whole night together. I was sure it was love, she was sure it wasn’t.”
He suddenly has my full and complete attention. I had never heard this story and had no idea how he’d kept it from me for so long.
“She left the next day for San Diego, had just accepted a job at a small pharmaceutical company. I followed her. Found her in downtown San Diego and begged her to give us a chance. Even long distance. I’d been pining for this girl for so long and every dream I’d ever had about her came to life in the six hours we’d spent together.”
“So what happened, why aren’t you with her?”
He shrugs, “She said no.”
“That’s it? She said no and you just let it go?”
“And that, Damian, is my point exactly. Sometimes I want to kick my own ass. Don’t make me kick yours.” He takes another swig of his beer then fixes his eyes on mine. “I know I’m skeptical of Addison, but I was the one who had to pick your ass up off the ground three years ago. I don’t want to do that again.”
I sit there silently taking in what he just said. “I’m not that same person Reed.”