****
When I got back to my place, I felt a headache setting in and I was feeling a bit nauseous. I pounded a glass of water, which was helping, but not enough to make it completely disappear.
Just as I was turning off my shower, I heard a banging at my door.
“Aye, man! You ready yet?” I heard Trent’s voice booming through my lodge and rolled my eyes. I grabbed a towel, wrapped it around my waist and went to open the door.
“Of course, I’m not ready yet. That was hardly even a half hour,” I groaned. They always rushed me when it came to going out. I mean, yes, I was always the last one ready, but that was mainly because I was usually the last one to know about our bros’ nights out in the first place.
“You really need to cut down on your prep time, man. You’re a guy. Guys are supposed to get ready quickly.”
“Yeah well, I’m not feeling too good all of a sudden. I have a headache and my stomach’s a little queasy.”
“You’re just saying that to try and get out of going.”
“I’m serious!”
“It’s supposed to be chicks like Hannah and Blanca who take forever to get ready.” Trent rolled his eyes, ignoring my statement, and plopped himself onto my couch.
“Speaking of Hannah and Blanca, what are they going to be up to tonight?” I asked, heading back to my room to get dressed. Hannah was Knox’s girlfriend and Blanca was Trent’s, and they were just as good of friends as Trent and Knox were to me.
“Chick flick movie marathon or something. They practically threw us out.” Trent laughed. “Hey! Make sure you wear something presentable!”
“Why?” I yelled from my room, examining a grey short-sleeved shirt. I heard Trent come into the room, followed by Knox; good thing I already had my boxers on. I laid the grey shirt on the bed and towel dried my cropped deep brown hair.
“Because we are going to find you a lady tonight!” Trent proclaimed.
“Oh no. Not another one of those nights!” I complained. Trent liked to set up these bro nights to try to get me to approach women. I always felt so much pressure that I’d up saying something awkward, or I’d be a complete clutz. And then they’d ultimately laugh at any of my dismal attempts to recover and never let me live down any of my mishaps.
“Oh, come on, last time was hardly a try. You slipped on a spilled drink before you even got to the last girl,” Trent said with a smirk.
Here we go…
“And there was no way for us to tell that the first girl was waiting for her boyfriend to come meet her. Who goes to the bar to meet their boyfriend, anyway? And the other girl? Well, she just wasn’t all that hot, honestly. Must have been a case of beer goggles in the first place.”
“I’d really rather not have another night of misfortune, hombres. If there happen to be any girls there that catch my eye, let me handle it,” I warned, pulling the grey shirt over my head and grabbing a blue and red flannel to wear over it. I decided it would be enough to keep me warm in the forty-degree March weather, and besides, we’d be in Knox’s Jeep—not to mention, shifters had higher body temperature than humans. I still liked to pretend I would be cold, so I didn’t get weird looks walking around in frigid temperatures with a tank top on.
“Alright, fine, I’ll stop giving you advice. I’m just happy your coming out, honestly. But for real, you need to find a girlfriend. You’re the only one of us who hasn’t settled down yet and even Knox is getting a little worried about you.” Trent pointed at Knox who nodded in agreement.
“You’re drowning yourself in your job, leaving no time for yourself, Ramon. You have an amazing work ethic, but you also need to stop and enjoy the simple things in life.”
“Like a woman!” Trent exclaimed, and I rolled my eyes. Sometimes, he acted like such a frat boy, just like the stereotypes played out on TV and in movies. Trent would be the one chugging a beer keg and getting wasted every night, failing all his classes except anything that involved physical activity. Knox would probably have been in the ROTC program. I don’t even think we would all have been friends if we had gone to the same college.
“I just don’t like to rush things like that. If there is a woman out there for me, she’ll come. I’d rather not force the universe. It all worked out for you guys in ways I’m sure you least expected.” Knox and Trent looked at each other and both nodded in agreement. “Maybe the same will happen for me.”
After saying those optimistic things, I really believed them. It wasn’t like I didn’t want a girlfriend or anything. I did. But, I would know when there was a girl who was worth it. I just hadn’t found her yet. I couldn’t say I was optimistic that tonight would be the night that I would find her, but who knew? The night was still young, after all.
“Hurry up, man!” Trent and Knox had headed back into the living room and I sighed, taking one last look at myself in the mirror.
It’ll do. I didn’t look particularly well put together or anything, but whatever. We were going to a bar and I doubted the girl of my dreams would be found at a lowly pub.