Page 83 of Rough

“No. Club rules say he can’t ride his bike without his vest on, and he didn’t want to wear his vest. So, we walked.”

He stared at me for a moment without speaking, and then swallowed hard. “He uhhm. He took it…you got him to take it off?”

“I didn’t get him to do anything. He took it off on his own.”

His gaze fell to the table. After a moment, he looked up. His eyes were wet and glassy. “I won’t call him a circus clown again.”

“Thank you.”

“God damned allergies,” he said. “Make my nose run, and my eyes water. Sick of this shit. Bad time of year.”

I shrugged. “Never had allergies.”

“You guys have fun?”

“We had a lot of fun.”

Hiding his pleasure was impossible. The words shot from his eager mouth. “Going again? On another?”

I nodded. “Day after tomorrow?”

“On a date?”

I grinned. “Yep. He asked me and everything.”

He let out a laugh, caught his breath, and then chuckled lightly. “See if you can get him to go in that car of yours.”

“Why?”

“Just see if you can.”

“Maybe one of these days I’ll ask him. I don’t want to piss him off just yet.”

He pushed his wheelchair away from the table with his foot, and then cocked his head to the side. “Was he polite?”

“Yep. He opened doors for me. And, we walked together with my arm through his. Hooked together, kind of.”

“I’ll be damned.” He reached for his letters. “Let’s get this one over with. Day’s about shot to shit, already. Haven’t got time to sit here and listen to you brag all damned day about your date.”

We played for another thirty minutes, and I ended up using all my letters, which was a first. After subtracting for his unused letters, I tallied the score. After I finished, I totaled it again.

Then, one more time, just to be sure.

I cleared my throat. “481 to 513.”

“Who’s on top?”

I stood, then raised my hands high in the air. “Me.”

“Fuck me running,” he howled. “No shit?”

I felt like I was on top of the world. “No joke. I won, finally.”

He grinned from ear to ear. “Come give the old man a hug.”

I’d love to.

“A hug? Really?” I let out a sigh. “If I have to.”