The knock on my door, promptly at seven, made my heart jump. I was really doing this. I was going on a first date with Greg. I could hear him on the other side of the door talking in hushed tones. I tried pressing my ear against it but couldn’t make out what was being said. Instead I went for jerking the door open which caused Greg to stop mid-sentence and hang up on whomever he was he was talking to.
I wasn’t sure if it was what I was wearing, or the fact that I had scared him, that had Greg’s jaw hinged open and him standing speechless at my front door. I had on a tight black dress with a peacoat to keep me warm— as I had no idea where we were going— and Alexa’s red pumps. She had said I needed to spice up my wardrobe a little more and had shoved them into my closet about four months ago.
“You look fucking gorgeous, doll.” I was beginning to grow accustomed to Greg’s newfound nickname for me, and I liked it. I liked that he had something just for me, that no one else could touch.
I stepped out of the apartment and reached in my purse to get my keys, but Greg had already beat me to the punch. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and made sure to lock the door behind me before leading me down the hall and to his car in the garage. I laughed to myself that I had totally forgotten Greg had a key to my place. It wasn’t just that he could have texted me over the weekend. He could have just come into my apartment and asked what the hell was up. I mean, I could have done the same, though, since my keyring held a key to Greg’s place, too.
We had decided long ago to make sure we had access to each other’s apartments, just in case anything ever happened, or if either of us ever needed to leave town for an extended period of time.
I felt Greg’s hand linger on the small of my back as we made way to his car. I was ready for him to leave my side but he stayed there, and even opened the door for me. Surprised didn’t even begin to explain how I was feeling.
He remotely started the car before ushering me into my seat. “If I didn’t mention it before, you look fucking amazing.” He leaned in to whisper in my ear and then leaned across me to buckle my seatbelt. Just as he came around to his side, the phone in the car started to ring. The dash displayed “Mom,” so I hit accept before Greg could reach my hand to swat it away. The glare on his face was one of death.
“You don’t ever hang up on your mother again, do you hear me, young man?” Margaret’s voice filled the car and I sunk back into my seat realizing it had been his mother who he had been on the phone with when Greg knocked on my door. “You are coming to dinner tonight and there are no ifs, ands, or buts, about it.”
“Mom,” Greg tried to plead as he put the car in reverse and made his way out of the parking garage.
“Don’t you ‘mom” me, don’t even mother me next. You are coming to family dinner. This is not something you just miss because of some girl, son.” She released a sigh and continued her rant. “I don’t care who she is, she’s not more important than we are. And that’s final.”
Greg looked over to me for approval, just before he pulled out onto the main road. I had no idea where we were headed, and I really didn’t know if I wanted Margaret to know we were going on a date. But hell, someone would find out sooner or later, and I didn’t want to be on the yelling end of another Margaret conversation like the one that was happening in this car right now.
I placed my hand on Greg’s arm and squeezed, letting him know I would take over. The look in his eyes was hopeful and I wanted to know what he was thinking at that exact moment. I wanted to know if he was thinking what I was. That even though we were married now and just going on our first date, I had been a part of this family for a long time. I had been his and he had been mine. We were both just too stubborn to do anything about it, and now was the time to do something about it.
“Margaret.” I waited for her to register who was talking over the phone.
“Lilly, darling, is that you?” I laughed and saw Greg’s shoulders release tension that was big enough for the both of us.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“Will you please tell my son that he doesn’t need to be going on some date when he should be here with his family?” I started to answer, but she continued. “Oh! And darling, make sure that you come, too. Oh, I just love when you’re both here. It just feels like a real family dinner when we have everyone.”
I looked over to Greg and knew he could see the tears starting to form in my eyes. He grabbed for my hand and intertwined our fingers, while I prepped to tell Margaret what was actually going to happen tonight.
“Well, Margaret—”
“Don’t tell me you agree with him not being here. Seriously, you kids don’t know what the meaning of family is. Some little hussy isn’t worth not spending a night with your parents.” If there was anyone in this car who knew the meaning of family, it was Greg. He preached family dinner every week and talked to his mother at least two times a day and saw his brother every day. It just wasn’t every day that Margaret’s little boy was finding family outside of her house.
“Margaret—”
“No, you both will be here tonight, and that’s final.”
“Margaret…” I paused to see if she was going to try to interrupt me again. “I’m the hussy you’re speaking about.”
Greg’s laughter filled the car and I couldn’t help but join him as silence filled the other end of the conversation. I could just picture Margaret standing in her kitchen reaching for the nearest bottle of wine, trying to figure out what was going on.
“Excuse me?” Margaret’s voice had become small and cautious.
“Mom, Lilly and I are going on a date tonight.” We were stopped at a red light, and Greg looked over to me. My heart tried to skip a beat, but it felt impossible, because the beat that my heart was working at was one of a symphony that didn’t plan on stopping until the wee morning hours.
“Oh.” Margaret’s initial response was short.
Greg pulled in at Finnagin’s, one of our favorite bars, just as Margaret decided she wanted to talk more.
“Well, it’s about goddamn time that the two of you got together. I was sick and tired of always seeing you two dance around everything. And the fact that she hadn’t been to our house in over a year had me worried sick that you two would never figure out how much you feel for each other.”
She took a deep breath and tried to scold us more, but Greg tried to stop her.
“Mom.” His voice was stern, normally how Margaret’s voice sounded when she was scolding her children.
“You can’t ‘mom’ me at a time like this Greg. You just told me that you are going on a date with Lilly. The same girl you have loved for years and don’t try to disagree. A mother knows her son.”
“Mom, we have to go.”
“Why don’t you come here for your date?!” I held my hand over my mouth at Margaret’s suggestion, trying to hide the laugh I wanted to let out. She was a crazy woman, but this was just insanity.
“Not tonight mom.”
“You’re right son, next week. We can do dinner and board games and catch up. I’m so excited to see where this is going to go. You two are seriously the cutest couple, except for your father and me. No one can beat-” Greg pressed the end button on the phone call and the car became silent again.
“I’ll take the yelling later when she finally realizes the line is dead.” Greg shot me a wink and got out of the car and jogged over to my side and opened the door before I even had the chance to. He reached in again to unbuckle my seatbelt and held his hand out to support me in maneuvering out of the car. “Tonight’s about us.”
Once again, he leaned down to whisper into my ear, but this time I was prepared and had a response.
“I look forward to it.”
I took my hand from his and led the way into the bar, knowing that if we were here, Greg had already made a reservation and our favorite booth was available. I walked into the chaos of waiters running around and tables full everywhere. I eyed our booth in the very back corner with a reserved sign on it. I caught eyes with Tony, our regular waiter, and he motioned us through, causing quite a few moans from other patrons who were waiting for a table to free up.
I had no idea what game was on TV until I looked up and saw the pregame set up for the Hellions, my favorite football team. I looked around and saw other customers decked out in Hellions’ and Snakes’ gear, which happened to be Greg’s favorite team.
I turned my attention back towards Greg, who had a knowing smile on his face.
“Shit, I forgot tonight was the rival game.” I said as I marveled at the TV screens. I shrugged out of my coat and sat on the good side of the booth. Greg made himself comfortable right next to me.
“I didn’t.” Greg shot back and gave me another wink before he waved down Tony that we were ready to order. From where we sat, we got a view of every single TV in the bar. This worked to our advantage, because they set the TVs to all the different channels that were broadcasting the game. So, if we missed something, we could always look to another TV. “I felt like this made for a good date, since we haven’t watched a rival game together in some time.”
Greg grabbed for my hand and lifted it to his lips, giving the knuckles a light kiss before Tony reached our table.
“Well, isn’t it nice to see you two here again.” The smile on Tony’s face brightened the second he eyeballed our hands intertwined. “The usual?”
“Please.” I answered for both of us. Once upon a time, Greg and I used to come here at least three times a week and, when it was football season, I would say more than that. We didn’t always come alone, but when we brought friends, we still made sure we used our booth, and only our booth.
I checked back to the TV and saw that the game would be starting in five minutes. I could feel myself getting antsy.
“Relax.” Greg placed a hand on my leg and I cooled instantly. “You know it’ll be a good game. I know it’ll be a good game. So let’s just watch, have fun, eat, catch up a little, and make it seem like old times.” I tried to take in what Greg was saying, but all of this wasn’t like old times. Greg wouldn’t have put his hand on my leg before. He wouldn’t have told me I looked gorgeous in this dress. Hell, I wouldn’t normally have worn something like this around him unless it were for a work function.
“Okay.” I stopped bouncing my leg and shifted my attention toward him.
“How’s the Howard account turning out?” A client whom we used to represent decided six months ago that they wanted to “spread their wings,” and, after not being able to perform as well on their own, decided to come back to us. But their three-month leeway had already expired, so we were in negotiations for a new account.
“Max and I are considering doing a test launch to see if the traction is still there. We’re drawing up the contract this week and pitching on Monday.”
“I think that’s for the best.”
“We thought so, too.”
“I figured we would start with light drinks before the game begins.” Tony interrupted us with two glasses of sweet tea and a plate of teriyaki wings. “The extra ranch is on its way out.”
Tony shot a wink over to me.
“Thanks.” Greg’s response was clipped. He moved so that he was blocking a majority of my body from Tony’s view.
I laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. “What’s your problem?”
“I didn’t like the way he was looking at you.” I looked down to what I was wearing and smiled. I never thought I would want someone to be jealous over me, but the way Greg was becoming agitated amused me. He made a grab for napkins, setting one on my lap before taking a few wings from the basket onto a separate plate. He served us both as another waiter came over with two bowls of ranch dressing. Greg and I would clean those bowls spotless by the time the game was over tonight.
I reached over to touch his arm and his left hand immediately covered mine.
I tried to distract him with something fun. “Why don’t we make a bet, for old times sake?” We used to bet on something every time we watched a rival game. We had bet dinners, desserts, who got to choose the music to play in the office for a day, so many random things, but it was always in good fun.
“I think we should make it a little more fun than what we typically do.” Greg pointed to the TV, where the game was starting. Hellions were first to kickoff. “Whatever team wins, that person pays for dinner.”
“That’s not fair!” I laughed at him. “Look, Darryl already tackled Johnson, and we both know when that happens, the Snakes don’t even have a chance!”
Darryl was the Hellions’ best linebacker and Johnson was the Snakes standing-in quarterback. Ricky was out until next week for an injury, and by all that was holy, I thanked God that he wasn’t playing this game, or I knew for sure the Snakes probably would win.
“Let’s just watch and see what happens.” If I hadn’t been looking at Greg directly, I wouldn’t have seen the sparkle in his eye at that exact moment. He was enjoying this a little too much and I almost thought of him being the Snake right now, and not his team up on the screen.
We watched in full focus, devouring our wings, going into half-time. Two touchdowns for the Hellions and one for the Snakes. I never had much faith in the first half of the game, because, once the boys got done with halftime, it was almost always a completely different game. They were either charged up and ready to go, or they dropped the ball from getting too cocky. And as much as I wanted my team to win, I didn’t want to pay for dinner.
“Do you guys need another order?” I was grabbing for the last wing when Tony popped up with his question.
“Cleary.” Greg laughed at me and then, ripping open a towelette, he took hold of my hands and cleaned them off. I loved the buildup of sauce on my fingers and pouted once I looked down at my clean fingers. “You’re like a child sometimes.”
“Admit it, you love me.” I laughed off the expression because we had said it a million times. It was something we always joked about, that no matter what we did, we would always love each other for our differences and weirdness. I just never expected that, when I said it right now, it would cause butterflies in my stomach to flutter wildly. I didn’t expect that Greg would look at me with dark eyes and lick his lips, causing me to take in a deep breath and contemplate what I would say next.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. It just kind of slipped out.” I continued to ramble on. “I’m just so used to saying it with us, and I feel like it made it awkward now and I don’t want it to be awkward, because I like how tonight is going and I don’t want us to close off again—”
“Stop.” The smile on Greg’s face was what made me stop, not because he was telling me to. That smile was exactly when I knew it. That look in his eyes was no longer full of lust or desire, but pure adoration. It was a look I had been starved for and for the first time in all of this mess, my heart knew it was true. The look on Greg’s face was filled with love. I knew in this moment I had to stop running, I felt it in my heart that this was going to work. We were going to work.
“You’re fine.” He leaned over and kissed my forehead.
“Here you go.” Tony announced his presence a little louder than needed to be as he slid the basket of wings onto the table. Greg and I didn’t break eye contact as we waited for him to leave so that we could continue our moment. We hadn’t even noticed that the game was back on, until the bar erupted into cheers.
I looked up to the nearest TV and then back to Greg, who still hadn’t moved from looking at me.
“Touchdown.” I poked him in the chest. That had him more aware now. He looked over to see what I was talking about.
“Shit.” We were tied now. The last time a rival game tied, we ended up staying at the bar until it closed because we couldn’t settle the bet at all. I think the period after that night was the longest Greg and I had gone without talking. It was a week of silence, but when I brought a green and black cupcake the following week and put it on his desk, he quickly forgave. I did not want a tie, even if that meant I won.
Greg picked up a wing and devoured not one but two in a single minute. I had to pull the basket away from him, but he pulled it right back and I knew there was no stopping him and his stress-eating. I quickly joined in as the Hellions made it to the one-yard line. The whole bar was on edge at the back and forth, waiting for the outcome of this game.
We downed our second basket as the clock read ten minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. This was it. Ten minutes would decide a lot of things. Who would win this bet? Who would get to gloat for the rest of the year? But, most importantly, what would happen after this date? It was almost ten at night and my leg was already bouncing with nervousness.
We were literally going back to the same place and Greg would have to walk me to my door, but would he come in? Would he invite me into his place? This was only a date, so who said there had to be more, but wasn’t there always more?
“Fuck yes!” Greg pumped his hand into the air. Apparently, I had zoned out for too long to see that the Hellions had made a touchdown in the last two minutes of the game. The whole bar was in chaos of people booing and cheering. Greg pushed at my shoulder in excitement and I watched him watch the rest of the game.
He was leaning over the table, slightly lifted off the chair and hands flat on the table. I didn’t care if the Hellions won, because I was pretty sure I was the one winning tonight. The man sitting beside me was everything that I had ever wanted and, when I heard the buzzer and cheers come from the TV, I knew I had lost the bet. Greg swung around and looped an arm around my shoulder, as he cheered. It almost seemed like he was the one who was the Hellion fan, not me.
“That was such a great game!” he shouted, as the bar grew louder with everyone doing a play-by-play of their favorite parts.
“Whenever you guys are ready.” Tony slid the check onto the table, but as I went to reach for it to settle the bet, Greg snatched it up and handed over his readied credit card to Tony before he left the table.
“Wait!” I tried to wave to Tony to come back, but I knew he couldn’t hear me over the ruckus. I smacked Greg in the chest. “I was supposed to pay that!”
“You can find another way to pay the bet.” He leaned in and kissed my nose and then my lips. I took his meaning to my core and launched myself into the kiss. The whoops and hollers got louder and, when we pulled apart, all eyes were on us. I giggled and tried to hide my face, but Greg pulled me from the booth. I grabbed for my purse and coat without a word and we walked over to where Tony was finishing up with check.
“Thanks, man.” Tony handed back the card and threw me a wink before Greg effortlessly dragged me from the bar as people who were also regulars at Finnagin’s cheered us out the door.
“That wasn’t awkward at all,” I mumbled to myself when we hit the quiet outside air.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” Greg pretended to play dumb. He once again helped me into his car and we made our way back to the apartment.
My hand was in his and the way his thumb circled my wrist had me already wishing we would continue that kiss from the bar right now. Greg barely made a yellow light, and I knew then he was thinking the same thing.
We needed to get home.