“I’m sorry too.”
“Don’t be. It was good motivation.”
He stopped outside Dom’s. Gibson nodded at the doorman, who let us right inside. Once we stepped in, the hostess recognized Gibson and seated us immediately at a table in the back.
Two guys were already there. Hynes I knew, and Drinkwater I had only ever seen from afar. He wasn’t as tall as I had expected, but he was strong. His friendly smile made me feel instantly comfortable.
“Drinkwater, this is Avery,” Gibson said.
He shook my hand. “My real name’s John, but call me Drinkwater if you want.”
“Good to meet you, Drinkwater.”
We all sat down and got menus out.
“So, how’d this asshole convince you to come out?” Hynes asked.
“Just invited me, I guess.”
“That’s all?” Drinkwater said. “You’re far too hot for this guy.”
I felt myself blush. “That’s not true.”
“It is true,” Gibson said, “but you should see the girls these two have been with.”
“What do you mean?” Hynes said. “Only dimes for this man.”
“Dimes? Man, more like pennies,” Drinkwater said.
I laughed and Gibson smirked.
“I’ll get out Facebook, man,” Gibson said. “I can show Avery some pretty sketchy looking girls you’ve both been with.”
“Okay, man,” Drinkwater said, holding up his hands. “I get it. No more jokes.”
The waitress came over and we ordered some food. The guys fell into a comfortable conversation about practice. I didn’t know most of what they were talking about, but I didn’t mind one bit. It just felt good to be outside the apartment, and the friendship between the three of them seemed incredibly stable and healthy.
I could tell people kept looking at us, but nobody came over, which was good. It took a lot for me to ignore the looks and the whispers, but I tried my best. This was going to be my life if I was going to be around Gibson at all, or at least if my child was. I couldn’t let it bother me.
Gibson clearly didn’t. He dominated the conversation, smiling and laughing and making jokes. People were looking at him, but he didn’t care one bit. Gibson probably would have stared right back if he even noticed. He was so confident, so attractive. He made the whole room seem less dim.
“So, what do you do?” Drinkwater asked me. “We’ve been talking about football for too long.”
“I’m a bio major,” I said. “I want to go into sports medicine, or maybe do sports research.”
“She’s been doing some research on our boy here,” Hynes said.
“Oh shit. I mean I figured, but you didn’t have to say it,” Drinkwater said, laughing.
“No, man. Like, actual research,” Hynes said.
“What?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’ve been taking his vitals, tracking his progress over the season so far.”
“She’s at my place every morning, bright and early,” Gibson said.
“Yeah,” Hynes said. “For real. Bright and early.”
I laughed. “Sorry, Hynes. You’re a good sport.”
“I try.”
“So wait. What are you looking for?”
“Changes in blood pressure, heart rate, that sort of thing. I want to see what the highest level of athlete’s vital signs are like throughout a season.”
“Huh,” he said, nodding. “That’s really interesting.”
“It’s not bad,” Gibson said, “except sometimes I feel like a piece of meat.”
“Oh yeah? You hate being used by her?”
Gibson grinned at me. “No. Not at all.”
I blushed and looked away. “It’s not like that. It’s just simple stuff.”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Drinkwater said.
“She mostly makes me take my shirt off and pokes me with shit,” Gibson said.
“Are you guys just going to make jokes all night?” I said, smiling.
“Basically, yeah.” Hynes said. “He didn’t warn you?”
“No. Not at all,” Gibson answered, laughing.
“Damn. He walked you into this unprepared? Brutal,” Drinkwater said.
“It’s okay. I can take it.”
Gibson smirked hugely. “I know you can.”
The boys all cracked up, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “I walked into that,” I said.
Gibson smiled at me. “Yeah, I know.”
The waitress came with our food not long later, and I felt really good. Gibson was making me laugh, talking to me, flirting with me, bringing me into the conversation. I felt so comfortable with these guys, and things just felt really natural. We ate our food and continued talking, mostly about the season, but also about my life.