Reed pulled me away from my thoughts as he grabbed my hand and led me out to the dance floor at Cooler’s. The place was really a dive bar, but it had such a huge following and was always packed. The dance floor was a giant stretch of polished concrete; the graffiti that decorated it had been sealed in place by the glaze on the floor. I wondered if you would actually reach anyone if you dialed the 1980s phone numbers that were barely legible but still there.
Sarah started dancing the moment we entered the bar, already snuggled up against some tall frat guy that Reed nodded an okay to—just to let Sarah know he was safe. Reed wasn’t much of a dancer, but he liked the slow songs. So did I. Slowly swaying in his arms, with my ear pressed against his heart, was the best place in the world. We stayed like that for two or three songs in a row before Reed kissed my head and led me back to a table so he could hit the restrooms.
I caught a glimpse of Sarah out on the dance floor with Amy. The two of them looked like professionals, twisting and grinding in sync. With their curves and exposed skin, it was no wonder that they drew the eyes of most of the males at the bar when they danced together. And it wasn’t a surprise when Trig had to step in, and, on occasion, throw a punch or two to get Amy back to himself. Sarah thrived under the attention, and I was constantly worried about her getting in over her head. She had a knack for going home with the wrong guy.
“So, you tell him yet?” Sarah said, a little too loudly, as she slid into the chair next to me and reached for her beer.
“Uh, no…and I won’t need to if you keep shouting shit out loud like that,” I scolded her.
“Pfft,” she took a big drink, set the bottle down hard and leaned in to me. “I’m sorry to be tough here, Nolan, but you can’t be a chicken about this. It’s a sucky situation. But it’s not just going to fix itself. And it’s not just about you.”
I knew everything she was saying. And I knew she was just dishing out her own brand of tough love. It was the only kind of love the Perez sisters knew how to serve. But add that to the fact that she was working on a pretty good buzz, and it was starting to get obnoxious.
“Yeah, I hear you,” I said forcefully, hoping she’d get the point and drop it.
She stood and pushed her empty bottle at me. I tensed a little as I saw Reed walking up behind her. “Sure you do, Nolan; you hear me,” she said, slamming her chair back into the table and taking off for the dance floor.
“What’s her deal?” Reed asked.
“Who knows; some guy’s not paying attention to her or something, whatever,” I was flippant and lying. It made my stomach hurt, because deep down I knew Sarah was right. But I kept up my façade anyhow.
I didn’t feel much up for dancing after my tiff with Sarah, and I was pretty sure she was done with me for the night when she came up to the table to grab her purse and told us she’d just meet me back at home to drive back to campus Sunday. I watched her leave with Mr. Tall Frat Boy, admonishing her a little in my mind for giving it up so easily. “Hypocrite,” I thought to myself.
“Hey, where you at tonight?” Reed asked, pulling my hand to his lap and rubbing my palm with his thumbs.
“Sorry, I feel bad that I was grumpy with Sarah, that’s all,” I said, a half-truth.
“You wanna call it a night?” Reed said, standing and stretching. His beautiful broad body doubled my size, and when we were out and he was dressed in his snug jeans and tight, black T-shirt I felt defensive, ready to fend off the dozens of college co-eds drooling and begging for a chance to take him home.
“Yeah, I think so. Trig okay with us leaving him?” I asked, looking over to where he was dancing with Amy, his hands roaming her body for the world to see.
“Uhm, I’m pretty sure Trig couldn’t care less where we go,” Reed laughed.
The drive back to Reed’s was quiet. I knew why I wasn’t talking, and I had a guess what was on Reed’s mind, too. He was really battling not to bring up his draft options with me before we had a chance to really talk about things. I felt like such a terrible person. Here he was, pausing his own dreaming just to make me happy, and all I could do is think about how I was going to ruin it all anyway.
Reed cracked open the window in his dorm room when we got there to let a little bit of the breeze in. It was still warm at night, but the desert air smelled sweet, and it made the concrete walls Reed was living in seem a little less cold and stuffy. Reed turned the lights off and slowly walked to me. He reached for the bottom of my shirt as he pulled me closer, until I crashed into him a bit, and he fell back, sitting on his bed with me on his lap.