Billy said, “If you move too slow, he’s gonna get away, buddy. You need to strike while the iron is hot. You talked to him, and you didn’t ask him out. What’s up with that? You have a limited number of strikes before you strike out.”

“At the moment, it just didn’t quite feel right. Haven’t you ever been tongue-tied or decided at the last minute that you just couldn’t say what you wanted to say?”

Billy tossed his long hair back over his shoulder and said, “I usually have a tougher time keeping my mouth shut. Just ask my mother about that. She says I’m a born talker. If you need anything to fill the silence, she says you just need to ask me to enter the room.”

I laughed and said, “I guess that’s true. You always do seem to have something to say.”

Billy pulled into the parking lot at the mall, and he said, “I’m going to talk now, too. It’s Becca’s birthday in two days, and I need to come up with something really good for a gift. There is always the possibility she’s the one for me for the long term, but I’m not in a hurry to tie the knot. I just don’t want her to have any ideas about flying the coop. I want her to open the box and say, ‘Ooo Billy, you shouldn’t have.’ Then I can say, ‘But I did,’ and 30 minutes later be going down on her for a birthday surprise.”

I sighed and said, “Oh man, Billy, could you just leave out those details?”

He said, “It’s worth it just to see you cringe.”

We walked through the doors of the mall together and 45 minutes later we’d looked at laptop computers, Lego buildings, baseball caps, and jogging shoes but nothing remotely close to a birthday gift for Becca.

I said, “You’re a lot of fun to shop with, Billy. We need to get out of the house more often and just hang out doing guy things.”

He asked, “Guy things? I guess shopping might be a guy thing for you. I know I’m fun to be with, but there’s a goal here Marshall. You’re supposed to help me stay focused. Now, next we’ll go to the store with home stuff. She likes kitchen stuff and she likes decorative junk to set on the coffee table or the fireplace mantel in that rental house. She has dog stuff all over the place, and she needs something that looks nice that’s just for her.”

It didn’t take long in the new store for me to get distracted. I said, “Hey, Billy, come over here. I’ve got something to show you.”

“Something for Becca?” he asked.

“No, unless she’s a big coffee fan. This machine makes coffee with the little cups or you can do it with coffee grounds and a filter, too. It’s so cool and so efficient.” I pointed at the machine and said, “It comes in chrome, black, and red, too.”

When I turned back around, Billy’s smile had turned into a flat emotionless stare. He said, “Marshall.”

I asked, “What?”

“Buddy, you’re not helping.” He poked at my head and said, “Becca. One way thoughts until we’re finished. Becca.”

I was really stumped, but ten minutes later Billy found what he really wanted. I had to admit both things were pretty, but I didn’t think of them really as gifts. When I got presents, I wanted it to be obvious that I could make things with it or I could play with it. Maybe I just didn’t understand women. I was willing to fully agree with that assessment.

Billy bought a beautiful throw blanket. He said it would match Becca’s sofa and even compliment the colors of the walls. Then he decided on a picture frame in silver chrome. He said that it could hold a photo of the two of them together on the coffee table while they were cuddled under the blanket watching TV.

I asked Billy, “Aren’t you getting a little soft about things?”

He raised his arms and said, “Who doesn’t like to cuddle, Marshall? Besides, it often leads to other even more enjoyable things.”

“You’ve got a point there.”

The store wrapped the items up together at Billy’s instruction in wrapping paper with multicolored stripes. He chose a huge gold bow to stick on top. I said, “It’s a little like an ice cream cone with sprinkles threw up, but it’s nice, Billy. I’m sure she will love it. It’s really nice.”

He elbowed me in the side, took the bag from the store clerk, and headed for the exit.

As he drove us back to his house, Billy asked, “So when do you see Jordan next? Is it our next softball game?”

I said, “I expect so unless I unexpectedly run into him along the street.”

“Then you’re going to ask him out after the next game, Marshall. I’ll make this deal with you. When we get to the game, you give me the keys to your car, and I won’t give them back until you’ve asked Jordan on a date.”

“Damn, you play hardball, Billy. I don’t know if I really want to…”

“I’ll let you do the same for me sometime. I’m just trying to be helpful.”

I thought it through realizing I would still have my cell phone to call for an emergency ride if necessary. I really did want to ask Jordan out, and the worst he could say was no, so, reluctantly, I agreed to Billy’s scheme.

He poked at my chest and said, “See, I bet you feel better already, because you know you’re going to get to go on a date with Jordan. There’s no way he will say no to my buddy Marshall. It’s unthinkable.”

---

It was another winning softball game, and I could feel Jordan’s eyes on me all through the seven innings. Fortunately, we were playing an easy team, because we fell back into some of our typical mistakes. We didn’t play at the top of our game.

I hit two singles, but I didn’t come close to sending a ball soaring over the fence. In the fifth inning, while we watched Reggie stride up to the plate with his bat on his shoulders, Billy asked, “Do you have your speech ready? I noticed he’s out there. That’s probably why you’re fumbling around a little today. You’ve got your eye on the cute guy in the stands.”

I said, “This is at least partially your fault. You’re the one that insisted on today. You haven’t lost my keys, have you? I’ve got my eye on him, and he’s got his eye on me. I can feel it.”

“Why don’t you get out there and hit another home run for him then? Show him what Marshall Easterling can do.”

I said, “Because I’m not as nervous as last game.”

Billy turned to look me in the eye. “What? Are you serious? You play better when you’re nervous? I need to be relaxed. It’s when I’m almost in a Zen state that I really pick up my game. Pay attention to that sometime.” Billy pushed his hand out on a flat plane and said, “You just watch for it. If I’m hitting balls out of the park, in between I’ll be sitting here on the bench like a happy Buddha. Not a fat, happy Buddha, but a happy Buddha, still the same.”

I laughed and said, “And if I’m doing really well, my stomach will be full of butterflies, and I’ll probably be pacing up and down here in the dugout.”

“So I need to make you nervous? Is that what you’re saying Marshall?”

I scooted slightly away from him. “No, please don’t, Billy. I really shouldn’t have said anything.”

Billy scrunched together his eyebrows to approximate an evil stare. He said, “I should get a cattle prod to fire up at home and go after you with it if you don’t do well in the game.”

I shook my head and said, “Yeah, you would be the kind of guy who would follow through on something like that.”

He chuckled softly and said, “I just might. I don’t get it, though. You have to talk to cute guy Jordan out there. I’d think you would be a nervous wreck about that. What gives?”

Relaxing again, I scooted close to Billy and said, “He’s been watching me the whole game. That means he’s interested. It will be a lot easier to talk knowing that he’s interested, too.”

Billy threw an arm around my shoulder, “Well, you know I’m on your side, buddy. Now go out there and hit a home run. You’re on deck.”

I failed to hit the home run, but I did launch a long fly ball into the outfield that turned into a sacrifice fly scoring a teammate from third base and giving us an insurance run. In what felt like a few short minutes, the game was over, and we were celebrating another win.

I joined the team huddle at home plate, but when I saw Jordan begin to head toward the parking lot with his viewing companions, I broke from the group and jogged in their direction.

When I was about ten feet away, I called, “Jordan! Hold up!”

He stopped, and they all turned their heads. Jordan said, “Marshall, hey, congrats on the win!”

I pulled up and breathed in deeply twice to try and catch my breath. Then I said, “I had something to ask you.”

Jordan grinned and said, “I had something to ask you, too, but I was going to give you a call later. I hope you don’t mind that Blake shared your number.”

One of those golden moments happened next. Simultaneously, we both asked, “Would you go out with me?”

I smiled broadly and said, “Absolutely, yes. Why don’t you give me that call later and we can work out the details.”

Jordan said, “It sounds like a plan.”

I said, “Until then, here’s a preview,” and I opened my arms wide.

Jordan stepped forward into my arms, and I hugged him tight. His strong chest pushed against mine. We felt well together. It was really good. I hoped he would call to make plans for that date to happen sooner rather than later.

Jordan turned to the high school guys and asked, “By the way, do you know Shane and Joey?”

I said, “I don’t think we’ve formally met.” I shook hands with each of them.

Jordan said, “I’ve had them both in my classes, and they play on the high school baseball team. They are charter members of the Blake Powell fan club.”

Laughing, I said, “Well, he is a great player. I’ll have to make sure that he hands out trading cards when he’s a real star.”