did.”
“Damn, one more and I think that means you are official,” he said. “I knew you liked her.”
I wasn’t afraid to admit it. “I do like her.”
“Are you going to tell her?”
“Tell her what?”
“That you like her,” he answered.
The conversation was very strange. It felt like we were in the sixth grade, talking about a girl. “I think she figured that part out all on her own.”
He crumbled up a sandwich wrapper and tossed it at me. “Not like that, asshole. You guys were supposed to be doing this casual thing. Whatever you have going with her is not casual. Have you had the talk? You know, the talk about where is this going, and blah, blah, blah.”
I slowly shook my head. “No. Not yet. I don’t think we need to ruin things by trying to put a label on it. It’s cool just the way it is.”
“Maybe for you, but she’s a woman.”
“No shit. Well that explains a lot.”
He shot me a dirty look. “You know what I mean. Women think differently. She’s probably already picking out China patterns and redecorating your house. You better figure out what you want before you wake up one morning with two kids and a wife.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t think that’s quite how that happens. We aren’t there yet. We aren’t even close to being there. It was a sleepover. I’m not going to be proposing anytime soon.”
“That’s what they all say, and then one day, they are wearing a tux and being dragged down an aisle to be shackled forever.”
“You have a very twisted view on marriage. You should get therapy.”
“I don’t need therapy,” he said, finishing his second sandwich. He was already looking a little better. The greenish hue had faded and now he just looked pale and washed out.
He got up from the table and returned five minutes later dressed and ready to go. I drove him to the docks and popped open the trunk to pull out my prototype. His dark sunglasses shielded his eyes, but I knew he was glaring at me. “You dragged my ass out here to play with one of your toy boats?”
“No, I want to see if my theory will work.”
“What are you planning?” he asked, sounding a little more enthusiastic.
I put the boat in the water and used the remote to steer it while I explained my idea to improve speed that would allow better control. We messed around with the boat for a couple of hours. Each of us took turns controlling it.
“What do you think?”
He smiled and handed me the remote. “You are a genius. Do you think it will really work on a large ship?”
“I don’t know. In theory, it should. But there are a lot of details to work out. It isn’t just the rudder. It’s the propeller and the thrust—”
He held up a hand. “I get it. I trust you to work it all out, though.”
“I am going to keep working on it. I’ve been running it through my program, and every time I put it on a large ship, it fails. It’s frustrating.”
“You’ve been down this road before. You know there is going to be a lot of trial and error. You know you are going to have a lot of failure in your future. But just like before, you know it’s going to work out. You know you are going to make it work.”
I grinned. “And hopefully, you will be out of a job.”
“Never going to happen. I’m going to be the guy making this new invention you’re creating.”
I clapped him on the shoulder. “I hope so.”
“If there is a chance you put me out of work, I wouldn’t be sad. I’m ready to retire.”
“Retire?” I parroted. “You’re thirty. You don’t get to retire at thirty.”
He shrugged. “My job pays well. Really well. I could retire. I’ve invested. I’m good.”
“You are not going to retire.”
“When do you think you’ll have this ready?”
“I just told you I don’t have any idea if this will work.”
“Yes, you do,” he insisted. “This is like before. Five years from now, you are going to be mega rich and getting another award.”
I groaned. “I don’t want another award.”
“Yes, you do. It’s why you do this.”
“Not even close,” I muttered.
We headed back to my car. I put the boat in the trunk and drove him back to his place. “Thanks for the free preview. I’m looking forward to seeing the final plans.”
“I’ll let you know.”
I drove back home and locked