“And Addy?” he asks, not hiding the twinge of hopefulness in his voice.
Fuck, is he asking because he wants to ask her out? Back home for a hot second and he’s already trying to get with Addy?
I shake my head and admit, albeit regrettably, “She’s single, too.”
“Wow. Totally expected her to be off the market by now. How’d that happen?”
“Yeah. Anyway, listen, I have to get going so text me and we’ll meet for a beer or something.”
“Well, I don’t drink alcohol anymore, four years sober now, but I’ll join you with a soda or coffee.”
I don’t ask for details on his sobriety, instead, I just say, “Congratulations, man, that’s great. And, yeah, whatever works for me. Hell, I’d be down for talking over a six pack and a pound.” Back in the day, we’d go to Taco Johns and order their six pack of tacos and pound of potato olés often. Sometimes, though, we’d each get one.
“Holy crap, that sounds good. Is Taco Johns open right now? Man, tacos and potato olés sound freaking amazing.”
I’m not even surprised that he asked that. I think our huge appetites is one of the things that we bonded over when we were growing up.
Tyson gets out of his car and I do the same. He pulls me to him and hugs me tightly. It’s a little surprising at first, but then again, Tyson has always been a hugger. Though, that was back when I knew him a little better. Now it almost feels like hugging a perfect stranger.
“I missed you, Beau.” He steps back. “What I did, I know it doesn’t deserve forgiveness but I’m going to ask it anyway. I’m sorry for betraying our friendship.”
“Turns out, you did me a favor. Seems to me, you screwed yourself over in that venture more than me,” I remind him with a smirk. Lizzy followed him around for years, attaching herself to him in hopes of becoming a rich baseball wife.
He chuckles and scrubs a hand over his chin. “Yeah, it was a little wild for a bit. She wanted a lot more of me than I wanted of her.” As soon as he realizes the words that came out of his mouth, his eyes widen. “Shit, man. Sorry.”
I lift my hands. “I already said there’s nothing to be sorry for.”
“Still.”
“It’s in the past. Got it? I’m over it so you might as well be, too. Why the fuck would I give a shit about that anymore? We were eighteen.”
“I don’t know, but I still feel bad.”
“Get over it,” I say gruffly but he notices my lip twitch.
“Hard to do that,” he admits.
Then an idea hits me. “You want to make it up to me? Help me move.”
He throws his head back in laughter. “You’re a shithead. You only ask those you hate most to help you move.”
“Or those you consider like family.”
“I’m going to assume you think of me as the latter, then. Besides, look at me,” he says, showing off his much larger build with a grin. “I’d be a huge asset, pun intended.”
I shake my head and scoff. “Cocky as always.”
“Did you expect anything else? Thousands of fans screamed my name when I’d step up to the plate. Women had me signing their boobs and kids wore my name on their backs. I’m famous, you know.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Never mind. I don’t need you around,” I say, laughing and shoving him away from me.
My phone starts ringing in my pocket and when I pull it out, I see that it’s Addy. I lift a finger. “I gotta take this, okay? We’ll talk soon?”
“Yeah, sure.”
He watches me closely as I take the call and doesn’t move to climb back into his car.
“Hey, what’s up?” I greet Addy as I open the door and sit down behind the wheel of my pickup, noticing that Tyson is still standing outside, next to me.
“Hey. Sorry to bother you, but I was just wondering if you were coming over tonight?” Her words come out as a rush and my spine goes straight. The tone of her voice puts me on edge and I can’t stop the worry that flows through me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong. Just… will you?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there. I have to meet Grant at the bank to get shit sorted out this morning but that’s it.”
“It’s really happening, huh?” she asks, voice quiet, almost timid.