Page 23 of Tiger Lilies and Tight Ends

“Has Lance been on this boat?” she asks.

“Yep. Casey and Cole, too. But it was a few years ago. Cole loved it.”

“I bet he did. What’s not to love?”

“Exactly.” I smile at her. I heard the expression once, “The best day in a man’s life is the day he buys his boat, it’s also the day he sells it.” Currently, I have no plans to sell this one. I love it too much.

“So lunch first and then what?”

“After lunch we can walk over to Shuffle. It’s a little over a half mile. You can handle that, right?”

“Of course I can. It may be hot out, but I don’t mind.”

“Didn’t think you would.” I smile at her.

I’m not going to lie, the walk was kind of brutal. It’s the middle of the day in July. What was I thinking? We finally arrive at the familiar building, brightly colored with graffiti and a single black-and-white sign that says Shuffle.

“I don’t know what I expected when you said Shuffle, but it wasn’t this,” she says, pulling off her hat and wiping her forehead with the back of her hand. She’s sweating almost as bad as I am, and I find this funny for some reason.

“Where did you think we were going?” I ask her as I pull open the door for her, and cold air pours out.

“I don’t know.” She smiles as she passes me. “Shuffle tends to lead the mind down all kinds of avenues, but I’m certainly glad to be out of the heat.”

Shuffle is short for shuffleboard. She shouldn’t be surprised that I brought her to a place where we play a game. After all, I love games.

I chuckle. “Me too. We’ll grab a rideshare back to the boat when we’re ready to go.”

“I’ll pay for it,” she declares, and my smile grows even larger.

Together, the two of us walk inside, and I’m met with three familiar faces at the bar. All of them perk up at the sight of us.

“Tyler, my boy! It’s nice to see you,” says Rick. Behind him, Gus stands to greet me with a hug.

“We see you brought some competition with you today.” Mack is the third of their trio, and he sweeps his gaze over Lily. “Some distraction competition.”

I glance at Lily, and the smile on her face grows even larger as she takes in the three grampas in front of her.

“Competition is still to be determined. Gentlemen, this is my friend Lily,” I tell them as I place my hand on her lower back. It was reflex to do so, and the second time I've touched her today. I also realize my hand almost spans the whole width of her lower back. Of course I noticed that she was fit, but I didn’t really think about how she was also so thin as well.

“What is she doing with you? She’s way too pretty for you,” declares Mack. He stands to greet her, and he leans in and kisses her on the cheek. “It’s nice to meet you,” he says to her.

“Lily is my friend. She’s visiting and trying to decide whether she wants to make Tampa home.”

“So you brought her here?” Gus asks.

“Of course! One of the coolest places in town.”

And it is. This place has indoor and outdoor courts, a full menu, and a bar where they keep a ton of local beers. On the weekends, they have live music that plays on a stage outside. It’s super clean and trendy, and one of the few places I get to be myself.

“Darlin’, do you know what you’re getting yourself into with this one?” Gus asks.

She looks up at me. Her eyes scan my face, and I hate that my stomach dips a little under her scrutiny. And then she gives me a quick, evil smile before turning back to Gus.

“Actually, I do, and I can handle him.”

All three of them whistle.

We sit next to them at the bar and order a drink. The five of us settle in as they get to know Lily a little more. They pepper her with questions, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t soaking up every detail she gave about herself. She tells them how long we’ve known each other and briefly skims over several of our interactions through the years, including Lance’s wedding. She tells them she’s a writer, which I picked up on by how much time she spends on her computer. I have no idea what she's writing, and she doesn’t elaborate, but then she tells them how she went out of her way to make sure she watched me play in my first NFL game.