I drove home from the party in a haze of confusion. What had the girls told Laney before I got there? Whatever it was, it couldn’t have been good.

When I got back to the apartment, I wandered around the complex, looking for who was around. Hammer was in his living room binge-watching ‘Luke Cage.’

“Let’s go outside and throw the ball around,” I said, sitting on the couch as I looked at Luke Cage on the giant flat-screen TV. He was fighting a large group of bad dudes. And he was outnumbered, but Luke Cage was Luke Cage with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin. I needed unbreakable skin and an impenetrable heart. I used to have an impenetrable heart. What happened to me?

“Nah, man. I’m on episode 6.” He threw a piece of popcorn into his mouth.

On the outside, Hammer, Josh, looked like the stereotypical jock: dark buzzed cut hair and tall with huge imposing muscles, but inside he was a typical geek. “Come on. I need to let off some steam.”

Hammer paused the video. “Okay.”

The courtyard was outfitted with bright surrounding floodlights in case anyone wanted to come out and throw the ball around in the middle of the night. I found the light switches and flipped them on. The lawn filled with intense light.

Hammer squinted his eyes and cocked his head to the side with an expression of ‘Really?’

“You’re right. We don’t need that much light,” I chuckled then flipped off one of the light switches. The lawn was bright enough for us to see the ball but not bright enough to give us migraines.

I tossed Hammer the football. “Okay. So what happened tonight?” he asked, catching the ball. “Tell me.”

“What makes you think something happened?” I asked noncommittally.

He gave me that look again and sighed. “Okay. All right. Laney dissed me, man. It was terrible. You remember, Jane?”

Hammer shrugged.

“Samantha?”

Another shrug.

“Teresa? Sadie?”

Yet, another shrug.

“You don’t remember any of these girls from earlier this year?” I asked.

He threw his hands up with that ‘Really?’ look on his face again. “I can’t keep track of your girls, Gun. I’d need a computer program to do that. Frankly, I’m impressed you even remember them.”

“Okay, fine. True. Anyway, these are all girls I’d gone out with and dropped once I realized I didn’t like them as much as I thought.” I sailed the football to Hammer.

He caught it and asked, “What’s new about this story?”

“Well, these chicks were at the party. They cornered Laney and told her what an asshole I am.”

Hammer laughed. “I don’t remember these girls, but I can only assume that you were a complete and undeniable asshole to them. Correct?”

I challenged him. “Maybe.” He gave me the look that told me he knew damn good and well I had been an asshole to each and every one of them. “Fine! Yes! I may have done some things that many would consider unscrupulous,” I said. Hammer sent the ball over to me in a nice arched spiral. Catching it, I admitted, “Ya. I was an asshole.”

Hammer shrugged his shoulders. “You can’t change the past.” He put his hands up. I sent the ball back over to him. “What did Laney say?”

“That’s the thing, man. She didn’t say anything.” I took out my phone and checked it again, making sure she hadn’t called, and I’d missed it. Nope. I shoved the phone back in my pocket. I continued, “I basically humiliated myself. In front of everyone, I asked her to be my girl. Then she just ran out.”

“What do you mean she just ran out?” Hammer lobbed the ball high to me.

I jumped up to catch it. “Exactly what I said. After I asked her to be my girl and promised her a full-on commitment, she straight up bounced. Houdini’ed out of there.” I tossed the football back to him. “I couldn’t find her.”

He caught the ball. Twirling it in his hands, he said, “I know you like this girl, but dude, you gotta forget about her and move on.”

I held my hands up. Hammer sighed, throwing the ball to me. I caught the ball, wondering if he was right. But would I be able to forget about her? After her, could I just move on to some other chick like I’d done before? I sailed the football back to Hammer while my thoughts raced. It seemed unlikely. It would take a long time for me to get over her.

Out of nowhere, Brick House stepped out into the light. “Why do you want to break Laney’s heart so damn bad?” he shouted at me.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I asked, looking around me startled. He literally appeared out from the shadows like a ghost.

“How did you get in here?” Hammer roared.

In the bright floodlights, Troy looked maniacal. His fists were clenched at his sides. He paced quickly back and forth into and out of the light. In the shadows, he looked like a large hulking beast. Speaking quickly, he asked, “Why do you want to break Laney’s heart so bad?” He repeated the question a few more times until he screeched, “Answer me!”

"Troy, you have no idea how I feel about her. Just get lost, okay? You're pathetic," I said watching him pace and clench and unclench his fists. "She doesn't want to be with you. I can see it as plain as day in her eyes. Man, she just doesn't like you like that. Why can't you see that?" Troy stopped pacing to look at me. Half of his face was in the light. The other half in darkness. The lit half of his face began to twitch. "You should stop trying. Go for someone else," When I said that, the side of his face in the light transformed into a blaze of rage.

He charged toward me and tried to nail me with a right hook, but I ducked out of the way. I landed an uppercut on his chin, sending him stumbling backward. He squeezed his eyes tightly, grabbing where I’d hit him with both of his hands. The blow only served to infuriate him even more.

He came charging back toward me with his head lowered and body centered low, tackling me to the ground. As we rolled around in the grass, I hit Troy in his ribcage with my fists. Troy pinned me down with a knee and rained his fists into my face. I pushed my hands on his chest as hard as I could. Troy fell backward, so I scrambled up.

Just as I raised my fist up to pummel Troy’s face, Hammer pulled us apart. “That’s enough!” he yelled at us.

Troy sat up with wrath still in his eyes. I could tell he still wanted to fight. He picked himself up, blood running down his face then lowered his head, getting ready to charge us both. Hammer held his massive arm up. “I don’t have to remind you both the consequences for fighting, do I?” He pointed at Troy, “Do you want to be kicked off the wrestling team?” Troy relaxed his stance. Next, he pointed at me, “You have a chance at getting drafted. You want to ruin that?”

I heaved an exasperated sigh. The NFL was my dream. What was I doing jeopardizing my chances? “No.”

Hammer continued, “The two of you need to get your shit together. This chick is making you lose your damn minds.” He shook his head. “Listen, I’m sorry.” He indicated to both of us. “But, she doesn’t want anything real with either of you. You guys need to move on. Seriously.”

I sat down in the grass. Troy turned away, crossing his arms. I noticed my bottom lip was puffy and bleeding. I touched it gingerly with my fingertips. “Ow…”

Hammer watched the two of us moping. “See what you’ve done? You two pretty boys have fucked your faces up.”

I laughed, but Troy looked so distant. He acted like he hadn’t heard Hammer. Slowly, he walked out of the courtyard without saying a word.

When he was gone, Hammer said, “At least, you’re not that guy. Damn. He’s worse off than you. He’s clinically insane for that chick.”

I nodded. I was crazy for Laney too, but I showed it differently. Acting like a crazy violent stalker wasn’t my thing. I am the type to be silently sad, missing her while trying not show it.