Scarlet's face took on a surprised look. "You want to have kids?"
"Uh, yeah, of course I do," I said, wondering why she acted so surprised.
"Usually guys your age aren't really thinking about stuff like that," she explained.
"I do have five younger brothers and sisters," I said. "My family has been my greatest blessing and something that I always imagined having one day for myself."
Her lips lifted in a half smile. "You're lucky to have such a great family."
As soon as those words left her lips, sadness crept into her eyes. I knew she was thinking about her dad. I didn't know how I knew it, but I did. She'd lost someone so important to her and wouldn't let herself admit it. I'm not saying that what her dad did was okay, because cheating for any reason is wrong, but was it worth her losing her dad completely?
"You miss him," I stated softly.
She blinked, coming out of wherever she'd gone in her head. "What?" she asked, surprise coloring her voice.
"You miss your dad."
She blinked a few more times, almost like she had forgotten where she was and possibly whom she had been talking to. I could see in her face that she was pulling away from me, from this conversation. She pulled her arms back from where they had been resting on the table and grabbed for her bag. "I gotta go."
"Wait," I pleaded with her again. "One more question."
Pushing this subject probably wasn't going to go well for me, but there was something inside of me that longed to help her, to at least help her see that it might be time to try to fix things with her dad. Getting her relationship back with her dad might be able to bring her that happiness that she thought she had lost forever.
I took a breath and went ahead with my question, figuring that either way she wasn't going to talk to me again. "When was the last time you saw him?"
She gripped the strap of her bag, which was now on her shoulder. "Rush, why are you doing this?" she asked, her voice quiet and her eyes shiny. "I don't want to talk about him."
"You obviously need to," I said gently. "He's your dad, and from what it sounds like, he was one of your best friends."
I must have said the wrong thing because her face instantly hardened. "And I'm supposed to talk about him withyou?"
I reared back, bumping into the booth wall behind me like she had slapped me. And she might as well have. I got it that I had no right to be the person she confided in and talked things out with, but it didn't take away the fact that I wanted to be, that I had hoped she might be willing to open up to me. It was obvious now that she wasn't going to. I hated how I kept messing up with her, but I was going to try and salvage this as much as I could. We'd had a good time together today, whether she wanted to admit it or not.
"Look, I'm sorry I pushed too much on this subject," I said. "I just want you to be happy, and from what I could see and hear, I thought maybe trying to reconcile with your dad might help you." I leaned forward, resting my arms on the table and looked into her green eyes, hoping she could see I was being sincere. "I'm sorry. That wasn't my place."
Her body relaxed ever so slightly, and if I hadn't been watching for it, I might have missed it. I hoped that was a good sign.
"I appreciate your concern, but I'm not someone you need to worry about." She slid out of the booth and stood at the edge of the table. "We aren't friends. We're barely acquaintances, and yes," she said, squaring her shoulders and taking a breath before continuing, "I had a great night with you a long time ago, but this interview and us talking today doesn't change anything between us. Goodbye, Rush."
And with that, she turned and walked out the door.
* * *
I could already hear the noise of people as I made my way up the stairs to Wilder and Slate's apartment. Tonight was game night, something Wilder's girlfriend Olivia had started, and it seemed like every week, more people came.
At first, we had come because Wilder had basically threatened us if we didn't, but now we came willingly. Olivia did a great job of making sure each game night was different from the ones previously.
The door opened, and Olivia stood there with a smile. "Hey, Rush. I'm so glad you're here. Maybe you can get Wilder and Slate to stop bragging about whose position is more important." She rolled her eyes, but there was no real annoyance there.
I laughed and shook my head as I walked in. The main living area was already filled with football players, a few girlfriends, and a few random girls I didn't know, but there wasn't a beer in sight. Olivia had instituted this night as a sober fun night, and Wilder made sure it was kept. Only waters, sodas, and lemonades could be seen, as well as plenty of snacks.
And right in the middle were Wilder and Slate trying to one up each other. I'd heard all their reasons before, but it didn't make it any less entertaining. They were both so competitive that everything was a competition between them. But they were also like brothers, so it was all in good fun.
"It's my amazing passing and smart decision-making that gets us the wins," Wilder was saying.
"It doesn't matter how many touchdowns you throw if the other team keeps scoring just as much or more," Slate said. "I shut the other team down so your precious arm doesn't have to do as much."
I broke through the small crowd. "Now wait a minute, boys," I said jovially, my voice breaking through the room. "Neither of you can possibly believe you are more important than the wide receiver. You could be throwing perfect passes all day," I said, pointing to Wilder, "but if you don't have someone like me with magic hands to catch whatever you throw at me, it won't matter. And you," I said, motioning to Slate, "you wouldn't get so much time on the field if I didn't get all those yards so quickly."
