“Calm down. So you like, like her?” I asked.
Yes, I was being a jerk, but I wanted him to say it.
“Yeah, I do,” he admitted.
Of all the guys I knew, Tim would be the one I would trust the most with Tami. I did have another slight impulse of wanting to claim her as mine, but again, that boat had sailed. I was over the whole ‘someday’ bullshit and realized I was actually okay with this. At least with Tim, it wasn’t some random dude to be worried about. Tim had a big heart, but he was more than a little inexperienced. Tami would eat him alive.
The other problem was he had to build up the intestinal fortitude to tell her he liked her. If his performance telling me was any indication, he needed to up his game about a thousand percent. His only hope would be her taking pity on him. If he started on such an uneven footing, he would never be equal in their relationship. I shook my head sadly.
“You’re so screwed.”
“Why?” he asked in a panic.
“First of all, I’m fine with you dating Tami. I’ll give you one piece of advice: don’t tell her you asked me if it was okay to date her. She might not take that in the spirit you did it in,” I suggested.
“Probably not. I just didn’t want this to be a problem between us.”
“We’re good.”
“How do you think I should tell her?” Tim asked.
I chuckled.
“Look, I said I’m good with it, but trust me, Tami doesn’t want me involved in her love life. Talk to Wolf about this one,” I suggested.
“He said I should just show her my junk,” Tim said.
I just blinked as my brain wrapped itself around that.
“Okay, don’t talk to Wolf,” I said, and then considered who he might talk to. “Call my brother. He can give you advice on this.”
“Will he tell me the Dawson secrets to dating lots of girls?” he asked.
“Not if you plan to date Tami,” I said as my eyebrows shot up.
He held up his hands in defeat. I kicked him out of my apartment so I could finish getting ready. I wished I could be a fly on the wall when he finally got up the courage to talk to Tami.
◊◊◊
“David! Come help me with the boys,” Peggy called from downstairs as Duke bounded up the stairs to say hello.
I took Little David and the diaper bag while she parked the stroller and carried Coby upstairs. Peggy looked exhausted. The boys were ready for naps, so we put them down.
“They’re getting big, and my back is killing me,” she complained.
“I can fix that,” I offered.
“No funny stuff,” she warned.
I sighed.
“You say that now.”
I took her into my bedroom and had her strip down to her panties. As I gave her a massage, I found that her back was tight. I must have done my magic because she was soon asleep.
I stepped into the living room and found Coby was still awake, so I picked him up and held him. He was such a good baby. Just looking into his blue eyes made me melt. This was my son. I’d imagined what that would mean to me before we had him, but nothing prepared me for how he made me feel.
Having a child really does change you. I hated to be away from him while making movies or playing baseball. I felt selfish for letting my parents and Peggy take on the burden of raising him. Deep down, I realized it was for the best. He was safe and secure with them. But it made me feel like a part-time dad. I guess that was exactly what I would be until after college graduation. It reminded me that most young dads didn’t have that option, and that was why I loved my parents.
Coby drifted off, so I put him in his crib. Duke took advantage of my empty lap and jumped on the couch so he could lay his head on it. I rubbed his ears to assure him that I still loved him too.
◊◊◊
I was watching The African Queen, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, when Peggy finally got up from her power nap. She looked a lot better.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Watching one of the movies Rita gave me. I never realized some of these old ones were so good. I would’ve loved to act with Katharine Hepburn. She really was bigger than life.”
“When do you leave?” she asked.
“Tomorrow. Moose, Coach Haskins, Coach Herndon, Paul, and I will leave first thing in the morning. I’ll be staying with a host family while I’m there.”
“You’d better be careful if they have daughters,” she teased.
“If I get lonely, I can just update my Tinder account.”
“Didn’t you take that down?”
“I could reactivate it.”
Peggy decided that idea had merit. I got my phone and let her look at the app.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m off to Cary, North Carolina. It’s in the area they call ‘the Triangle’ with Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill. It’s close to Duke, the University of North Carolina, and North Carolina State University.”
I was amused that Peggy had the two-thumbs typing down. I struggled with one finger.
“Okay, how’s this? ‘Only in town for a week. Looking for NSA fun.’”
“What the heck is ‘NSA’?” I asked.
“No strings attached.”
“I don’t even want to know how you knew that.”
She hit enter. Matches began to pop up. It seems girls like picking out dates for you. Peggy started to reject most of them; I thought some of those she rejected looked to be exactly the right amount of slutty. I wondered if you could go back and change them from a ‘no’ to a ‘yes.’
Duke told me he wanted to go out. After he was done, I walked into the house to get something to eat. I found Tami there, talking to my mom.
“Is Peggy in your apartment?” Mom asked.
“She’s finding me a girl for when I go to baseball camp,” I said like it was no big deal.
That got their attention.
“Tinder,” I explained.
“Oh, I’ll go help her,” Mom said.
Tami laughed at me when she saw my expression. Of course, that wouldn’t stop my mom. She left us as I made myself some soup.
“What were you two up to?” Tami asked.
“Peggy needed a nap, so I watched the boys.”
“Did you figure out what Tim wanted?”
“He stopped by today, and we talked. I took care of it,” I said, unwilling to give her details.
“Well, I’m sorry about last night. I was in a mood.”
“Guess I didn’t notice. Do you feel better today? Tim said you seemed upset about something.”
“No, I’m fine.”
I just nodded.
“You’ll do great, by the way,” Tami said.
“What?”
“Baseball. You’ll do great.”
“Oh, yeah. I’m ready.”
We were silent for a few minutes while I ate.
“I wanted to thank you,” she said.
“For what?” I asked.
“For Chicago. Jack and Bev are great. They like you a lot. I’ve also enjoyed getting to know Tim and Wolf. I can see why you decided to be friends with them. They’re both great guys.”
“Any problems?”
“Besides them being overprotective, no. We’ve gone exploring on the weekends. Chicago has a lot to offer. Last weekend’s excursion was to the zoo.”
“Did the moms come up for their shopping trip?” I asked.
“Yeah, that was fun. Brook, Zoe, Tracy, and Pam joined them. Jack took the dads golfing. Everyone had a great time.”
“That sounds like fun.”
“David?”
“Yeah?”
“I miss you. I love that I get to do the internship, but I miss our time together.”
No way was I getting into that conversation. I gave her a wan smile. It seemed like all my childhood best friends were gone. Alan and I essentially hadn’t spoken in nearly two months. Tami and I simply weren’t as close anymore. Maybe Coach Haskins was right: when you left high school, you left your friends behind. It made me a little sad to think that might happen.
I tried to think of whom my parents still hung out with from high school. The only person that came to mind was Mrs. A. I’d always believed that Tami and I would be forever, but lately could tell that was changing. I needed to decide if I was okay with that or not.