Alan stiffened up. I think he was afraid of how I might react to a discussion of that night because I’d made it clear I didn’t want to talk about it. I suspect Tami had purposefully brought it up so I could get past it. Still, I felt my stomach tighten at the memory of seeing the two of them in bed together. Rationally, I knew it had been staged, but that didn’t mean I was happy about it. I remembered Tami admitted that she’d kissed Alan. I realized they weren’t in their right minds at the time, and I should cut them some slack. But the old Alpha Male in me didn’t seem to want to let it go.
“It still pisses you off,” Tami stated.
I looked at both of them and nodded. She could always read me; that hadn’t changed. Alan looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there.
“David, if I could do it over again …” he began.
“I know, Alan. I understand what happened, and I realize that neither of you intended to hurt me. And I also understand that I have no right to be upset. Tami made it clear she wanted to explore without me.”
There it was, the root of everything. The feelings of betrayal almost overwhelmed me. It was as if I were right back at my apartment after Tami walked out of my life when I gave her the promise ring. I thought I’d gotten past all this, but obviously not.
“David …” Tami said, but I held up my hand.
“Give me a minute,” I warned.
They both knew me. I would flash angrily, but if you gave me time, I calmed down quickly. I just needed to work it out.
So much had happened since that day. I’d become involved with three wonderful girls in Halle, Brook, and Zoe. Pam was having our baby, and Tracy had become a good friend. Jim, Tim, Wolf, and Yuri had become my best guy friends. Alan had been around, and the two of us had come to an uneasy truce. I’d gotten to the point where when I saw him, I didn’t immediately think of that night.
More importantly, I’d come to grips with the fact that Tami wasn’t destined to be my one and only. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
What did I really want? The simple answer was that I missed my best friends. The problem was that Tami had hurt me over and over again. It had started in middle school when she told me she never wanted to see me again. I understood I had been a little jerk, and my drinking and taking drugs were the cause, but it still hurt when she took the tough-love route with me.
I mentally shook myself. No need to go down that rabbit hole again. Tami and I had worked through all this last summer. I pushed all the old hurts down and reminded myself that we’d shared the blame for much of it.
Six months had passed since I’d made my final gesture to get us together. Enough time had gone by that I could look back at it with a fresh set of eyes. If I were honest, Tami had been immature and selfish, as far as I was concerned. God only knows what teenager wasn’t, sometimes. The problem was, in many ways, she was right; we weren’t ready for a serious relationship. How Tami had gone about it, though, had guaranteed that we would never have one.
That thought made me sad, but it freed me. I felt the hurt and anger drain from my body. I looked up at Tami and could see the concern on her face. She recognized that I’d come to a decision, and for once, she had no idea what that was.
“So, Alan’s a good kisser,” I said with a straight face.
“Aw, shit,” Alan moaned as his face turned bright red.
Tami blinked a couple of times to process what I’d just announced and then smiled.
“You’re so mean,” she said, which made me laugh.
Alan looked at me and then at Tami, and she gave him a reassuring smile.
“Jerk,” he mumbled.
“What did you say?” I asked with a mock scowl.
“I didn’t stutter,” Alan shot back.
That made me laugh. When I finally stopped, I looked at them both with a smile on my face.
“Friends?” I asked.
Tami shook her head.
“No, best friends,” she amended.
“Okay,” I said and nodded.
“You’re still a jerk,” Alan said, but I could see a smile creep onto his face.
We all relaxed and just acted like we’d been friends forever, which we, in essence, had been.
“Jim called me,” Tami said.
“I don’t think I want to hear about this,” I said.
“About what?” Alan asked.
“Jim is plotting some payback on Mike,” Tami explained. “He wants me to invite Harper to a party after your game.”
“And Jim thinks Mike will show up because the party’s at his brother’s apartment,” I said.
“What party?” Alan asked.
I let Tami fill him in. My curiosity got the best of me.
“What does Jim plan to do?” I asked.
“Kevin offered to serve Jell-O shots made with Everclear. He calls them ‘panty droppers.’ Jim’s asked him to make some with no alcohol. You know Mike; once he’s had a few, he gets handsy,” Tami said.
I raised an eyebrow to ask how she knew that, but she just ignored me. I guess it wasn’t really my business. That didn’t mean that Mike wouldn’t die, though.
