Page 108 of Drop the Gloves
Surprise washed away any chance he got to analyze whether this was better or worse than Riley showing up, and he walked over to answer the door.
“Hey, Dalty,” he said.“What’s up?”
The wind was nearly knocked out of him as Dalton pushed a heavy box into his arms.
“Merry Christmas!”Dalton said, nudging Evan back into his room and closing the door behind him.“Open it!”
“Thanks,” he said.Shit, he hadn’t gotten Dalton anything.They’d never gotten each other anything, in fact, even when they were roommates.
“Don’t worry, I won’t be mad if you didn’t get me anything,” Dalton said, as if he could sense Evan’s hesitance.“Yet.I accept Amazon gift cards and bottles of wine.”
“You don’t drink wine.”
“No, but Jennie does.”
“Fair enough.”Evan hesitantly tore a corner of the wrapping.Once he got a peek of golf balls and putters, he tore the rest off in record time.It was an indoor mini-golf kit, complete with a putter, a putting green, golf balls, and little obstacles you could set up.“This is literally the best gift anyone’s ever gotten me,” he said in awe, staring at the box and worried he was about to cry.
“Right?”Dalton beamed at him.“Now you can mini-golf whenever!C’mon, let’s set it up.I’m dying to try it out.”
They pushed as much of the furniture aside as they could and set up a mini-mini-golf course.Dalton grabbed a couple of drinks from the mini-fridge (“Part of your gift to me, Abs.Duh.”), and they played.They took turns with the putter and setting up different holes, and it was only after he’d finished his first beer that Evan realized something inside him had unclenched.He was relaxed for the first time in weeks.
And he hadn’t thought about Riley once in almost an hour.A record!
“How are things going with your guy friend?”Dalton asked, the damn mind reader.And he asked it just as Evan had lined up a shot; he missed so badly the golf ball veered off the green and rolled under the bed.Dalton whistled.“That bad, huh?”
Evan knelt down and used the putter to corral the ball into reach, giving him time to figure out what the hell he would say.Would Dalton figure out his Barczyk-troubles and guy-troubles were the same, Riley-shaped problem?
“We’re taking a break,” Evan said as he got back to his feet and set the ball back at the beginning.
“Shit.Sorry, bro.That sucks.”He watched Evan valiantly try to regain his inner calm.At least he waited until Evan had taken a slightly better shot before asking, “Think you’ll get back together?”
“I hope so, but I think I messed it up.”
Dalton frowned at him.“You’re giving up?You seemed really into this guy.”
“No, I just?—“
“Have you tried, like, sending flowers?”
Evan gave up on mini-golf.He leaned the putter against the bed and sat down heavily.“To a guy?”he asked.
Dalton leaned against the wall across from Evan, arms crossed over his chest.“Guys can like flowers.Besides, it’s not about the flowers.It’s the gesture.Showing you care and that you’re thinking of him, even though you’re apart.You could also send a card, chocolates”—he started counting off ideas on his fingers—“a watch, a care package with his fav snacks, a houseplant?—“
“Ahouseplant?”Evan asked incredulously.“How is that different from flowers?”
“Flowers die.Houseplants need to be nurtured.Like a relationship.It shows you’re invested in a future, but it’s not as intense as, like, getting a pet or moving in together.”
Evan stared at him.“Who the fuck are you, and what have you done with Eddy Dalton?I lived with you for a year and a half, and you didn’t know shit about relationships.You getonegirlfriend, and suddenly you’re an expert?”
“Am I giving you bad advice?”
“No, that’s why I’m having trouble here.”Evan rubbed his temple.“I need to think of a gesture.”
“Gestures don’t have to be things, BTWs.But if you’re on a break, that’s probably your best bet.Especially with us being on the road so much and the holidays coming up.”Then with a smug grin he said, “My advice should count as a second gift.”
“Don’t push your luck.”
They played a little longer, but once they ran out of overly-priced beer, Dalton helped him pack everything back into the box and left him to his now too-empty and quiet hotel room.Since paper and pen were working for him, Evan took the pad of paper from the desk and the cheap pen and started writing a list of ideas.He wrote everything he knew about Riley’s likes, from his style of clothing to the beer he drank to the movie posters he’d seen scattered on Riley’s bedroom wall.He Googled gift ideas, starting with romantic ones and then more broadly when those didn’t suit Riley.
