"Me, too," I agreed, absentmindedly plucking at a piece of lint on the knee of my jeans. "When things like this happen—the game goes bad and you come out bruised—do you ever think that maybe the field is better during practice when it's all pretend, and it doesn't really count?"
"Who says practice doesn't count?" he asked.
"You know what I mean. Do you think maybe Vegas during the day is safer because it's easy? And Vegas at night might be prettier, but it's not worth the risk of getting mugged?" I asked.
He seemed to chew on that question. "I'm wondering if maybe they both have their place."
"You can't have the wins without the losses kind of thing?" I asked.
"No, it's not that. Because you can absolutely have the wins without the losses. I'm just thinking that only because it's day doesn't mean it's any worse than night. It's just perception. I can get bruised during the day, too."
"But at night, when you get hurt, everyone is watching," I said.
"That's the truth," he said, as his covers rustled in the background.
I missed him. Damn, but I missed him. I missed the half-smirk of his smile and the way he tried to get me to go outside when I didn't want to.
"I didn't go outside today," I said. "I mean, I did for the show and walking to the stadium, but…"
"You didn't see any deer," he finished for me.
"No, there are no deer in downtown Chicago, apparently," I said, kind of sad about that. "Didn't see a chipmunk or a bobcat or anything. Not even a super-neat boulder."
"When we get back home, I'm so going to take you to my special rock." He laughed low.
"That sounds like you're trying to turn me on," I said.
"Do I have to try?" He laughed. "Then I'm losing my touch."
He wasn't. Not at all.
We sat in silence for a long while, letting our quiet keep the other company.
"Hey, guess what I totally spaced?" I asked.
I didn't wait for him to respond.
"Jared's wedding is next week, and I've been so self-involved that I forgot. I can't believe I forgot."
"Jared?"
"My old friend? Served us chicken fluff at his engagement party before we drank questionable margaritas? I was going to stalk his cousin at the wedding but now I don’t have to?"
"Right. Jared."
"I totally forgot about his wedding," I said, again.
"You forgot, or you moved forward with your life?" Sloan asked, gently but with purpose.
"I think I moved forward," I said. Wasn't that the surprise of surprises… "I mean, I'll send them a nice gift from us."
"Nice, but not too nice," Sloan said with a chuckle. "A decent amount of nice."
The conversation lingered between us, a silent understanding passing through the phone lines as we held onto each other's words.
"I'm gonna go catch some sleep," Sloan finally said.
"Sure, yes, rest," I agreed, nodding even though he couldn't see me.
