We drove separately to the sub shop just down the road. I ordered a ham and cheese and Tyler paid for everything before I could stop him. We talked about normal things over dinner. His brother was a senior at ASU, majoring in engineering. Tyler was hoping to get a scholarship for diving somewhere in California. His parents were both lawyers. He asked about my family, and I talked about my dad’s long days driving deliveries. I mentioned how Mike was a coach at Eastern and how I grew up knowing football because of him. Well, that and everyone in Coolidge was taught football from a young age.

For a moment, I was having fun.

We refilled our drinks and left the restaurant to head to the parking lot. The heat from the nearing sunset was burning my shoulders some. It was amazing how evening held so much heat in Arizona. As promised, Tyler kept our dinner very platonic. He clicked his car button to unlock and held his drink in his other hand and nodded goodbye to me. “See you tomorrow?”

“Yep, see ya then,” I said, opening my door. I stopped and yelled over my roof at him. ”Thanks for today.”

“You got it, Nolan. Anytime,” he smiled, got in and drove away.

The rest of my shifts were mornings, and I was able to avoid Reed all week. I managed to work a break for the end of every shift so I was in the locker room whenever Reed arrived. I suspected Tyler had a hand in that since I knew he checked the schedule every morning.

I was able to make a few open practices at the school gym, too. I was working out hard, and I was hitting the ball harder than I ever had before. The coaches were impressed and told me to keep doing whatever I was doing. Ha, just get called a slut by your first love everyday, Nolan, I mused to myself.

Days had passed since I had seen my friends. I think they were giving me space, but I was starting to feel a little lonely. I was surprised, then, when Sean was sitting on the bleachers during my open gym session on Friday. I waved a few times and he motioned for me to come by to chat when I could. Between games I grabbed a drink and stopped by to talk.

“What’s up? What are you doing here?” I said, breathing a little hard from my last match.

“Just getting in some weights. We have workouts tonight, nothing formal. Not allowed,” he smiled.

“Ah, that’s right,” I looked down knowing that meant everyone else would be here soon, too.

“So, Buck’s having a BBQ for July 4th,” he looked at me, almost expecting me to say I’d see him there. I just nodded and smiled. “Yeah, I know you won’t be there. I just know he thinks highly about you. He’ll miss you.”

“I like him, too. And if you could promise that his son wouldn’t be there, then I’d show up. But we both know how stupid that is,” I said with a small laugh.

“I know,” he stopped, pausing for a long while. I could tell he had more to say. I kicked at his shoe a little getting him to look up.

“Spill it, cowboy,” I tried to make light of it.

“Noles, Tatum’s making this whole thing up,” he just stared at me, waiting for me to react. All I could do was laugh.

“Sean, you’re reaching for anything,” I said.

“No, I know it, Nolan. I know it,” he had the straightest face. “Look, Devin and Cole saw her out drinking at a club in Tempe the night of the desert party. She was with some of her girlfriends. She’s registered for ASU and is going there this fall. All of her plans are still the same. Now don’t you think if she was having a baby she’d be making a few changes? And drinking on a fake ID would probably be off the table, right?”

I sat down now, deciding to skip out on the next round of games. I just waved a few of the girls off so they could start without me.

“What are you going to do?” I asked, my heart speeding up a little with my anger for Tatum and what she could do.

“I have to tell him. We’re hanging out tonight, I’m staying over to help him set up at his dad’s for the BBQ this weekend,” he said. “Nolan, he’s in a bad place. His drinking is out of control, and he’s missing practices. I don’t want to see him f**k things up. I love that guy like a brother, you know?”

I grabbed his hand and smiled at him, nudging his shoulder with mine. “I know. You’re a good guy, Sean.”

He stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder. I followed him out the door to the hallway to the locker room entrances. My mind was tumbling between this new information and the anger that still brewed in me over Reed’s words and behavior. No matter what my tangled heart was feeling, I still didn’t want to see Reed throw his future away. He was so gifted. And I didn’t want to see him disappoint Buck.