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I found Tami in the house, people-watching, and joined her on the couch.

“Tim’s acting weird,” I said and then told her about what had happened.

“I have no idea,” she said with a shrug.

I think my head almost snapped off when I did a double-take. Had Tami Glade just said she didn’t know what was going on? Was I in some alternate universe?

“Seriously?” I asked.

“Not a clue. Want me to find out?”

“No, no … no, no … I’ll figure it out,” I said.

“How’s Trip?” she asked, getting serious.

“It brought back a lot of memories of Jeff,” I admitted.

“I miss him, too,” she said as she put her hand on mine.

We each sat there in our own thoughts. Finally, I broke the silence.

“You know I want you to be happy. I won’t freak out if you start to date someone,” I said.

“Please. Since when could you ever handle that?” Tami asked.

I just nodded because I deserved that. I didn’t feel like fighting with her tonight; instead, I got up and walked away. Suddenly, I felt tired, so I found Cassidy and told her I was going home. She and Brook decided to stay. They assured me they could get a ride.

◊◊◊

Chapter 11 – What the Heck is NSA? Saturday June 18

I was in my apartment, packing, when there was a knock on the door. When I opened it, I found Tim standing there, looking nervous, so I invited him in.

“I need to talk to you about something personal,” he said.

I wondered if this was what made him so nervous last night.

“What did you say to Tami to make her cry?” he asked out of the blue.

“What are you talking about? When did Tami cry?” I asked.

“Last night, after you left.”

“Did she say I made her cry? Because I don’t remember doing anything that might’ve caused her to,” I said.

“Oh, I just assumed,” Tim said.

“Let’s call her and find out,” I said and started toward my bedroom to grab my phone off the charger.

“No!” Tim said in a panic.

“If she was crying, I want to find out why,” I said.

“Please. I said too much. Don’t.”

I looked at him and decided he looked stressed enough. I could always wait until he left to find out.

“Okay, calm down. Now tell me why you came here this morning,” I said.

“Couldn’t I just be here because we’re friends?” Tim asked.

“You could, but you told me you needed to talk to me.”

“Oh, that.”

“Yeah, that. What’s up?” I asked.

“You see, it’s … uhm … I … ah, shit!”

Something had him tied up in knots.

“Dude, it’s me. Just tell me,” I said.

“I don’t want you getting mad at me, and I’ve tried to tell myself it’s no big deal, that you wouldn’t care. But see, I would care if I were you, and I feel like such a shit that I would even consider it. I figured if I came to you and we talked, you’d be okay with it. But then I realized that I was being insane and you would never talk to me again. This is such a bad idea. I should go,” Tim said, and he suddenly stood up.

“Sit!” I ordered, and Tim almost fell back into his seat. “Whatever this is, it’s causing you to act crazy. I thought we were friends. Just tell me.”

“We are friends. That’s why this is so hard. I need to ask your permission.”

I suddenly felt like the Godfather from the movie.

“Tim, I’m gonna make you an offer you can’t refuse,” I said, channeling my best Don Vito Corleone persona. “Tell me, my friend, what bothers you, or I will feed you to the fishes.”

That got a smile out of him.

“It’s no big deal …” he began and then looked at my death stare. “I like Tami.”

At least he looked me in the eyes. There was a twinge from my Alpha Male, but I tamped that down. That train had left the station; no longer was there any claim there. I could handle this.

“I like her, too,” I said to tease him.

It was amusing to see him flush.

“See, that was what I was afraid of. I don’t want anything to hurt our friendship. I realize you two have a history,” Tim said.

“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.”