“Sure, should we just wait here?”
He looked up into the stands. “That your friend?”
“Yeah, that’s Helen.”
“She’s cute.”
“You want to date her instead?”
“No, silly, I was thinking I’d bring my friend Roddy, the catcher. Introduce them, you know, so she doesn’t feel like a third wheel?”
“That massive, bearded bear of a man?”
“Yeah, that’s him. He’s a gentle giant. Except up to bat.” He rolled his eyes, understanding the double entendre. “I mean, in baseball.”
“I knew what you meant. So where are we going? We can just meet you guys there.”
“Okay, yeah. Pints and Quarts is our go-to. Let me get the address.”
“I can pull it up on my phone,” I said.
“Okay, cool. See you in a bit then.”
“Good game, Seth!”
“Thanks, kid.”
I headed back up the steps toward Helen, who was wearing one of those shit-eating grins.
“Well?” she said.
I pulled her by the arm to follow me. “Come on.”
We headed toward the parking lot. “Are you gonna tell me what he said? I’m dying here.”
“Helen!” I froze, braced her shoulders, and turned her to face me. “He doesn’t know how hot he is.”
“Oh, I love those types.”
“Right?”
“Are you gonna see him again?”
“We’re going to meet him and his friend right now.”
“His friend?” She raised her eyebrows.
“Yes, the catcher, Roddy.”
“That big guy?”
Helen had a type. I didn’t, except that most of the guys I dated were bad for me in some way. Helen had a very specific physical type, at least when it came to the guys she dated for more than a week. They were usually on the darker side, small, thin, and foreign. She liked exotic men. Roddy was an all-American, redheaded, freckly, three-hundred-pound, six-foot-two catcher from Nebraska.
“We’re all just going as friends. It’ll be fun.”
“You wanna be friends with Seth?” she said behind me as we walked to the car.
“No, I want to be held captive by Seth. I want Seth to do very bad things to me,” I said.
When we arrived at the restaurant, the waitress seated us. We each ordered a glass of red wine and waited for the guys to get there. The door opened a few minutes later and in they walked. Several people at the bar clapped and cheered. It must have been a popular hangout for the players. Seth was wearing jeans and a plain T-shirt.
“Good lord, his forearms,” I said as he walked toward me. He had this goofy smile that made him completely approachable even though he was a god. It belied his boyish innocence; he was unself-conscious. His hair was longer on top and messy and going in a bunch of different directions.
He high-fived a couple of people on his way over. Roddy got held up at the bar behind Seth. Helen leaned into my ear and whispered, “He’s kind of geeky.”
“There’s nothing geeky about that body.”
“You have a point. Where’s the other guy?”
“At the bar.”
Helen looked over to where Roddy was grabbing two beers. “Oh, he’s not so bad.”
Roddy had a beard and a very serious hard-part hairdo.
“He’s like a giant hipster,” I said.
Finally, Seth made it to our table. When I stood up, he immediately leaned in and hugged me. “Hey, kid.”
“I should be calling you that. I’m older,” I said.
He let go and stuck his hand out to Helen. They introduced themselves and shook hands. Roddy came over with two beers and handed one to Seth. “Ladies.”
We all sat down and toasted. “To a great game,” Helen said.
“Cheers!”
After conversation picked up among the four of us and the drinks were flowing, Helen and Roddy were warming up to each other, and Seth and I were hitting it off, too. We agreed to come back that Saturday for a day game and then we would go out afterward.
At the end of the night, the guys walked us out to my little Honda Civic.
“You okay to drive?” Seth asked.
“Yeah, I only had a couple of drinks.” I looked back over my shoulder at Helen and Roddy, who were laughing at something near the restaurant entrance. Helen had matched tequila shots with her three-hundred-pound counterpart. After betting she could outdrink him, he finally made her stop after four shots. He was basically unfazed by the alcohol, but Helen was in goofy mode.
“She’s pretty hammered, huh?”
“Yeah, she’s okay, though.” We watched as Roddy bent and threw her over his shoulder like he was carrying a tiny sack of flour.
“They like each other,” Seth said as we watched them.
“Yeah, she’s great.”
Turning toward me, he said, “I had a good time.”
“Same here.”
He leaned in and kissed me on the cheek. “So, Saturday?”
“Yeah, I’ll see you Saturday.”
Roddy came strutting over while Helen hung upside down behind him and punched his butt. “Let me go, you big oaf!”
“You like it, Tinkerbell.” He chuckled from his chest, and it sounded like thunder.
When he set her down, she leaned up on her toes and kissed him on the mouth. Then they started making out right in front of us. Oh god, Helen’s in love.
I whistled “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay,” while Seth stared at the ground with his hands in his pockets.
“Come on, Helen, wrap it up,” I said.
Finally, they pulled away. “Okay, boys,” she slurred. She walked to the passenger side and pointed at Roddy accusingly. “You’re like a ginger Thor! That’s who you remind me of.” She was hysterical.
Roddy and Seth laughed. “See you later, ladies.”
I got into the car and started it, then saw Seth running back toward my window. I rolled it down. “Hey.” He took a deep breath. “Can I call you tomorrow, just to chat?”
“Sure,” I said.
“Cool.” He smiled.
My hands were gripping the steering wheel as I watched him jog away. “Go,” Helen said.
I didn’t move. “Go!” She repeated and then looked over at me as I watched Seth. “Ooh, you’ve got it bad,” she teased.
“Me? You were the one twisting tongues with Roddy.”
“I like that big bear. He’s brawny.”
“Brawny! Ha! You amaze me.”
Helen could love. Yes, she had a type but she found something intriguing in everyone she met, no matter what they did, how they acted, or what they looked like. She took all of these people that entered her life and she let each one touch her heart in some way. It made her beautiful because she was able to see the beauty in others. She took chances, she loved hard, and sometimes she fought hard and cried hard in the end. I had never been willing to let anyone see the real me until Adam, in that one night, under false pretenses. The one night I was just me. Maybe because I knew how that would end. But Helen was living her life and having fun, and I was just watching mine pass by from a safe distance.
Helen passed out twenty minutes after we left, so I blared the radio all the way home. As I drove, I tried to think of one negative thing about Seth but I couldn’t. Still, I didn’t feel that insane connection to him. I didn’t feel the same as when I was with Adam that night, so many months ago.
* * *
IN THE MORNING, Helen dragged her feet into the kitchen. “You look pretty,” I said. She had drool crusted on her face and mascara smeared down her cheek. Her blond hair was matted in the back and she was wearing flowery granny panties I recognized from when we were younger. “Why do you still have that underwear?”
“I don’t know,” she said through a yawn.
A minute later Roddy came out of her room, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs.
“Oh . . . um . . . what the hell?” I said.
He walked up to Helen standing at the counter, wrapped his arms around her from behind, and rested his chin on her shoulder like they were a comfortable married couple. “Morning,” he said to me.