Page 100 of Mine Forever
I squint over at him when Al slides the soda in front of Nate. “You come to a bar to get a Coke?”
He shrugs. “Not usually, but someone has to drive your sorry ass home.”
I shake my head. “Whatever, dude,” I grumble, sipping my beer.
“So…want to talk about it?”
“Not really.”
“Okay, that’s cool.” He sips his soda.
Christ, why the hell doesn’t he drink a beer with me?
I squint at him again. “You know what? I don’t like you.”
He just grins. “Well, now that’s too bad. I’m pretty fond of your grumpy ass.”
“No, I mean it.” I swallow another swig of beer and start back in on him. “You got it freaking all, man. A woman that loves you, a family. And your career didn’t end in disgrace..”
“True. But that’s just one part of you. You can have the woman and the family too. We aren’t all that different in that area.”
I shake my head. “Oh no. We’re totally different. You have the woman you want.”
Holding up a finger, swaying slightly, I continue. “And you’re a fucking model for sports clothes. I mean, seriously?”
Nate leans back and gives me the side-eye.
I think.
In my inebriated state, it’s a little hard to tell what he’s doing. “You could have the woman too if you’d get your head out of your ass. You know, a lot of guys would give their left and right nuts to be sitting where you are right now.”
“You mean a lonely drunk guy in a bar?”
He rolls his eyes at me. “No, dumbass. I mean,”—he leans forward on the bar and drops his voice like he’s telling me a secret—“you’re a baseball legend. You’ve broken long-standing records. You have multiple houses, cars, every toy known to man.”
I scoff. “Those are just things.”
“Exactly. Don’t forget all the good you do here. You donated money to repair baseball fields. You’ve paid for the high school baseball team to get new uniforms. You give your time to them and your money whenever they need it. People around here love your grumpy ass.”
“They wouldn’t if they knew me.”
Nate’s brow furrows. “What do you mean if they knew you?”
I drain the last of my beer and signal for another one. Al purses his lips but pops the top off another amber bottle. “Last one, Hanover.”
I wave him away. I point at Al’s retreating back with my thumb. “Think Al loves me?”
Nate chuckles. “Maybe not this very moment, but it’s only because you’re being a dick on purpose.”
He stares at me as though waiting for me to spill my guts. When a few moments pass and I don’t say anything, he says, “So what do you mean, if they knew you?”
I sigh and rub my hands down my face. “Look, I’m toxic, okay? When I was fourteen, my mother died. Want to know how?”
“How?”
“From the flu. She had an undiagnosed rare lung condition. Her body couldn’t recover from the virus.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
