Chapter 8
A few hours after he'd seen Amanda, Cole headed out with some of his old college buddies. He was looking forward to having some time to catch up with his friends, instead of being hounded by people from around town who he barely knew. He hadn't seen some of his old college teammates since graduation. Most of them hadn't gone on to play professionally, and instead they'd moved on to living normal, simple lives. A couple of them were even married, and one or two had kids already. Cole couldn't imagine being a father at his age. He was only in his mid-twenties. Though when he thought about it, he realized that his parents had already had kids by his age. He couldn't get his head around that.
Cole sat at a table with half a dozen of his old teammates. They had a few pitchers of beer, and some nice greasy cheesesteaks, and they were telling stories about the glory days. Cole made sure to push the conversation away from his own recent success; he'd had enough over the last couple of days of people raving about his football fame. Whenever one of his friends asked about his time in the NFL, he made his answers as brief as possible, then quickly responded with a question about how their lives were doing. He learned that one of his friends had become an accountant, another a bank manager. One was still working as a cook in the same restaurant he'd been in during college. And while their mundane jobs sounded boring, Cole felt a bit of jealousy at the simplicity of their lives. Especially when the conversation came around to their romantic lives.
“Yeah, we'll be coming up on our third wedding anniversary this May,” one of his friends said. “I gotta tell ya, I never thought I'd be married. But you know how it is, when you find 'the one.'”
A few of the guys shouted teasing taunts at him, throwing pretzels and booing. “Aww, come on, man,” another of Cole's friends said. “No one wants to hear about you settling down with two-point-three kids and a dog. Now, my man Cole, I bet he's just rolling in pussy, am I right?”
The guys grinned. Cole felt his face heating up. He shook his head, staring into his beer. “Hey, guys, being a playboy isn't all it's cracked up to be. I wouldn't mind settling down and finding the right girl.”
“Oh, come on. You're really telling me you'd give up all the free pussy that lines up after every game.”
Cole shrugged and looked away. “I'm just saying, maybe there's something more to life than that. Something more satisfying.” His thoughts drifted to Amanda. He knew he was probably being foolish, pinning all of his hopes and emotions on a girl he'd barely known since his college days. But she was on his mind more and more, especially after he'd finally seen her in person again.
“Well don't look now, Cole, buddy boy, but there's a couple of hotties looking your way.”
His friend nodded towards the bar. Cole glanced over and saw a couple of hot young girls standing there, sipping at some fruity drink concoctions and giving him the eye. They looked too young to even be in the bar, probably a couple of eighteen or nineteen year olds sporting a pair of fake IDs. When they saw him looking, they leaned together and whispered. They giggled, then crossed the bar and came over to his table.
“Hey,” one girl said. She had bleached blonde hair and she was wearing a top that barely held her in.
“You're Cole Lockheed, right?” the other asked. She had short, dark hair and a sultry look.
“Yeah,” Cole said, avoiding eye contact with either of them. “Sorry, I'm not doing autographs or anything. Just here to have drinks with my buddies.”
“We don't want autographs,” the blonde said, smiling at her friend. “We were just wondering if we could join you.”
“Absolutely,” one of Cole's friends said. He pulled a chair over for one of the girls, and one of the other guys grabbed a chair for the other one. They sat down and the guys ordered them a round of drinks. Cole sighed and looked down into his beer, feeling like he'd rather be anywhere but here.
What he really wanted was to be with Amanda.
When he got tired of evading the girls' advances, Cole made his excuses and left. He knew he could have ended up getting laid back there, quite possibly in a threesome. But the meaningless sex just didn't interest him now. Well, he'd be lying to himself if he said he wasn't tempted. The girls had been hot, and more than willing. But the only appeal they had was physical, and he wanted something more.
He got into his rental car and started driving. He was drunk enough to know that he shouldn't have been driving, but he was also too drunk to care. He didn't feel like having one of his buddies drive him home, and he didn't want to call a cab.
He drove slowly through the back streets of the town, stopping a couple of times when he felt too dizzy to keep going. At one point a cop car passed him, but he managed to keep the car going straight and steady until the cop passed him by. He let out a long, slow breath, and a voice in the back of his head told him he needed to pull over and walk the rest of the way home.
He stopped the car and got out, then looked around blearily. He realized he had been driving in the wrong direction. He wasn't anywhere near his parents' house.
But he was pretty close to Amanda's.
He started walking towards her apartment, without letting himself think it through. By the time he stood in front of the apartment door, it was already too late to turn back. He jabbed the doorbell over and over again, peering through the glass door into the stairwell. He didn't know which apartment was hers, so he rang every doorbell for all three floors.
A minute later, one of the ground floor doors opened. An angry man in a bathrobe and pajamas came out, putting on his glasses. “Do you know what time it is?” he shouted through the door. He eyed Cole suspiciously, but he didn't open the door.
“I'm looking for Amanda,” Cole said, leaning close to the glass. “Is she there?”
Another neighbor opened her door and peeked out, asking the other man what was going on. Their voices were muted through the stairwell door, but Cole could hear the anger in their tones.
“Look, I'm just looking for Amanda!” he shouted. “Can you please let me in?”
Footsteps sounded from the stairwell above, and a moment later, Amanda appeared. She was dressed in pajama pants and a tank top, and her feet were bare. She peered through the glass door at him. “Cole?”
She opened the door and let Cole in, while her neighbors angrily asked her what this was all about and if she had any idea what time it was.
“I'm sorry, Mr. Johnson,” she said. “I'm sure he didn't mean to wake everyone up.”
Mr. Johnson tugged his bathrobe belt tighter, his jaw set in a stern glower. “You should think more carefully about the company you keep, young lady.”
Amanda rolled her eyes at him. He turned and went back into his apartment, as did the other annoyed neighbor. Amanda crossed her arms, staring Cole down, and angrily whispered, “Cole, what are you doing here? It's after midnight.”
“I wanted to see you,” Cole said. He felt foolish, but he wasn't quite thinking straight. When it started to settle in what an ass he was making of himself, he turned towards the door. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you. I'll go.”
Amanda grabbed his arm. “Wait. Cole, did you drive here?”
“My car is...” Cole gestured vaguely with one hand, pointing first in one direction, then the other. “I'm not sure.”
Amanda rubbed her hands over her face. “God...you're such a pain. You can't drive like this.”
She looked at him with a thoughtful frown. Then she sighed and said, “Come upstairs. You can sleep on the couch.”
A smile spread across his face.
“But no funny business,” she said.
“I promise,” he said. And he meant it. As much as he was attracted to Amanda, and as much as he knew he'd be more than willing right now, he knew he couldn't put the moves on her in this state. It would ruin whatever chances he had with her. If showing up on her doorstep drunk hadn't already ruined it.
She led him upstairs. The apartment was dark, and the living room was littered with children's toys, junk mail, and empty soda cans. Amanda steered him over to the couch and sat him down.
“You need to be gone first thing in the morning,” Amanda said. “I don't really want to have to explain to my son why there's a strange man sleeping on the couch.”
“I'll leave as soon as I sober up,” Cole said. “I promise.”
He was vaguely aware of Amanda helping him lie down and take his shoes off. She covered him with a blanket and he started to drift off. In the darkness and through his blurry vision, he thought he saw her standing over him for a minute, looking down at him. But the next thing he knew, he had passed out.