Be My Friday Night (18 page)

Sam tucked her phone away and gladly stepped back into the studio, under the sea, to discuss plans for future fun things.

O
tto stepped
onto the porch of Sam and Layla’s house. Holly was still staying there, and he’d promised to escort her and Layla to the big game. Finally, it was time for the game against the Winthrop Wildcats. It was the first time Holly would have to see Ethan in person since he’d left Grover.

Otto liked the fact he could provide some comfort to his friend. Secretly he also didn’t mind any action that kept him moving. If he wasn’t careful he’d let time slip away from him while he sat at his desk at work or up in his apartment after he’d done all he could to help his aunt with the pizzeria for the night. If he stopped moving he’d let the worry that Sam wasn’t coming back seep into back his bones.

She hadn’t called. It’d only been two days, but it was killing him.

He’d rationalized he could always go to her if she took the job. There were high schools in Maine, plenty of cheap lobster too, and a harbor for his boat, but she hadn’t called, and this bothered him for some silly reason that Otto couldn’t shake. Also, in a way, saying no to Grover was in a way saying no to him too. He couldn’t exactly explain why, but it wouldn’t be the same if they moved away from here. He’d do it, but it just wouldn’t be the same.

He shook his head. He just couldn’t think about it any longer. He lifted his fist to knock on the front door. It was time to face off with Ethan again. This time it was the whole town versus Ethan.

It’s time to get this show on the road.

“Well hello there stranger,” said Sam’s voice.

He turned to see her standing on the end of the pathway.

Her hair seemed wilder than usual and it suited her. Her face also seemed more beautiful, if that was possible. He couldn’t put his finger on what it was, she just seemed calmer. He wanted to leap toward her.

You have no idea why she’s back. It might not be for you.

He took a casual step off the porch. He put his hands in his pockets.

“Hi Sam, how’d it go?” he said.

“Great,” she said, a huge satisfied grin spread across her face.

Otto felt his stomach drop. This was it. This was good-bye.

She took his hand, and looked up into his eyes.

“I said no to the job. I’m staying here, Otto. This is where I belong, in Grover, with you. It’s okay if you don’t, but I really hope you feel the same way,” said Sam.

Otto wanted to burst. He also wanted to drag her into her room and forget about the football game. The relief was overwhelming. He just wished he’d known her plans sooner.

“Why didn’t you call me and let me know you were coming back?” he said

Sam took a deep breath.

“I wanted to tell you in person. Also, once I decided to come back and make a life here I just needed some time to myself. Just some quiet time. You know, my last bit of quiet time before I came back here and life got hectic for good,” she said, grinning up at him.

Otto nodded. He couldn’t blame her. He knew Sam would need her quiet moments even while she was in Grover. He noticed she was getting teary, and for some strange way this gave him comfort. He knew he could help in this situation.

He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. He found her mouth and gave her a solid kiss. She returned it. They let time fly by them as they kissed and kissed again on the front porch.

Sam let being with Otto take over her.

I made the right choice.

She’d known it the moment he’d touched her. She hadn’t thought she could enjoy kissing Otto any more than she already did, yet standing in her decision to live her life here made everything sweeter.

The front door opened and Layla flew out the front door. She was wearing an orange and white stripped sweater. Orange glitter sparkled in her hair.

“Are you ready for some football,” she hollered before turning to see her best friend and her boss in a lip lock.

“What the hell is going on? Sam, you’re back! What happened? Tell me on the way to the game. We need to get to the game,” said Layla.

Sam looked Layla up and down. She had never seen her best friend this peppy, or spirited, ever.

“Layla are you okay? What's gotten into you?” Sam said.

Layla took Sam by the hands and swung her around in a circle on the porch.

“Tonight is the night Randy and Gus are going to bring Ethan down in front of the whole town and avenge Holly. It will be epic,” said Layla. She looked out into the night, her eyes shining full of hope.

Holly joined the others on the porch. She was cozily tucked into an orange and white knitted scarf. Her pants were orange. Her face was stoic. She broke into a smile when she saw Layla’s enthusiasm and her childhood best friend back from the East Coast.

“Layla is finding the whole thing quite Shakespearean. It’s nice to know someone is pumped. I can’t decide if I’m going to throw up, run back in the house and jump into bed, or run down to the field and scratch Ethan’s eyes out,” said Holly.

“I completely support you in any of your choices,” Sam said. She put her arm around Holly as they walked to the car.

“Everyone would support you and cheer you on if you scratched out Ethan’s eyes. I have a feeling though that watching your brother and Gus take down his team would be a tad more satisfying in a revenge sort of way,” said Sam.

Holly nodded.

“Hit him wear it hurts the most,” she said.

They piled into the car. Otto could only wonder if there was anyone on the planet as lucky as he was in that moment.

He wasn’t going to worry about the details of Sam coming back. Though all he really wanted to do was take Sam somewhere to ravish her for hours. She was back in Grover, and he was going with her to see the rest of the town cheer on their football team. It was second best thing and since he was going to ravish her later, he really couldn’t ask for much more.

* * *

O
n the car
ride over Sam was flushed with the excitement of the football game, but really, she couldn’t get her mind off the man in the driver’s seat. Sam wanted to run her hands under Otto’s sweater and never stop kissing him.

At the same time, there was something strangely appropriate about driving to the rival football game with her two best friends and boyfriend. Sam could only grin at the situation. She had the best of friends, the sexiest boyfriend, and she was about to start the business she’d always dreamed of. It was a feeling that finally put her soul at ease. She felt so lucky and almost couldn’t believe it all at the same time.

Now though, she needed to concentrate on the present. The matter of cheering her head off for Randy, Gus, and the team as they took down Ethan was the most important thing, and being part of this most important thing, in this moment, made Sam feel satisfied and excited. She belonged. Finally, she belonged.

“I think, even if we lose I’ll be okay,” said Holly, shaking Sam’s thoughts out of her head and truly placing her mind back in the car.

“In some ways it might even be a good thing. I’ve been imagining today since Ethan told me he was leaving. This was going to be the final closure. I would feel whole again if we won. Ethan would crawl away and my life could go on. I’ve been putting so much weight on tonight, and it’s not about tonight; it’s about me finding my own sense of closure,” Holly said, looking wistfully out the window.

The car was silent for a moment.

It was a collective recognition. Holly had simply stated something they’d subconsciously felt, as if a massive healing was supposed to take place when the game was won. That was a lot of pressure on something as arbitrary as a football game. It was a lot of pressure on a bunch of teenage boys. The desperate need for closure wasn’t part of the excitement; it was something more sinister.

“How are you feeling now?” said Sam.

“I’m going to cheer my head off and enjoy the game. I’m going to let myself feel the way I feel when I see Ethan, and I’m going to depend on you guys to make sure nothing happens. I have this awful feeling something bad is going to happen to me in all the chaos,” said Holly, still staring out the window.

In the backseat, Layla threw her arms around Holly and enveloped her in a firm hug. Sam turned around in her front seat and gave Holly’s knee a quick squeeze.

“You’re safe. Nothing will happen to you Holly, you’re so important to this town,” said Otto in a matter-of-fact tone that made every woman in the car swoon.

“Ok,” Holly said nodding her head.

“Too bad we didn’t bring Bob. He’s an excellent protector, and probably would’ve gone straight for Ethan’s eyeballs,” Layla said thoughtfully.

Everyone laughed.

Sam imagined Bob was on the couch where they’d left him, a snoozing curled up fuzzy ball. He could care less about a football game between the Grover Guanacos and the Winthrop Wildcats. Such rivalries had once cost him his freedom. He was now above such things.

The stadium felt jittery with nerves. They entered in front of the bleachers this time. People waved hello and called greetings to Holly. Holly and Sam both stopped to hug their moms who were sitting together.

While in Maine, Sam had called Rosalind to give her an update of events. This was the first time they’d seen each other in person since Sam had returned to Grover. Rosalind hugged her tighter than her usual WASP pedigree permitted.

“I just love how everything is coming together,” Rosalind said. Her green eyes sparkled.

Sam grinned back, thrilled at her new life, if not a little taken aback by her polished mother’s show of public emotion.

They said their good-byes and headed to their seats by the band. Before climbing the bleachers they caught the eyes of Randy and Gus.

The coaches waved, and the friends waved back. They both looked like there was electricity running through them, full of nerves and excitement. They looked like they were having the time of their lives. It only made the excitement grow for Sam. She could feel it on Layla, Holly, and Otto too. She was so ready to cheer on her team and kick some Wildcat butt.

In the bleachers, Sam sat between Otto and Holly. Layla sat on the other side of Holly. Layla had somehow come across a pair of pom-poms on their way up to their seats. She practiced different shaking routines as they waited for the game to begin.

Holly kept her eyes on the other sideline.

“There he is,” she said, pointing toward her soon to be ex-husband.

Sam looked out over the field. There was Ethan. He was carefully watching his players, every few seconds barking out precise instructions. He was handsome under the stadium lights in an All-American kind of way if maybe not a little severe.

Sam had always wondered if she had missed something when she just couldn’t find it in herself to become good friends with her best friend’s high school sweetheart, and now she just felt sour inside for not listening to her instincts. That there was something a little off about Ethan Cooke. It didn’t matter how good-looking he was; there always had been.

Sam wrapped her arm around Holly’s arm.

“How are you feeling?” Sam said.

“I kind of feel achy all over, but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. I’m still standing, and I would’ve been so miserable on those stands across the way. I wouldn’t have been able to do it. I’m happy here, and Sam, it makes such a difference that you’re back. I’m so happy you’re here,” said Holly.

Sam wrapped her hand around Holly’s shoulder and gave it a quick squeeze.

Ethan turned toward his new fans, and walked over to the away bleachers to the sounds of hoot and hollers. It might have been Sam’s imagination, but there was a mean spirited feeling coming from the other side. She wasn’t sure if an entire group of people could take on an emotion, but it certainly felt that way.

Sam spotted Casey as she bounced her way down to Ethan and pulled him in for a lip lock. There were cheers of approval from the away bleachers, and murmurs of judgment from the home side.

No one from Grover was going to flat out boo, but it felt like the entire town of Grover held its breath while Casey Dempsey, Grover’s femme fatale, kissed Ethan Cooke, Grover’s former golden boy.

“I can’t feel my face, and I’m not even sure why. I don’t want what she has over there,” Holly said.

Both Sam and Layla provided calming words and back rubs of encouragement. Otto offered to go buy nachos.

“And cotton candy,” said Sam.

“Sam and I could always corner her in the parking lot,” said Layla.

Holly laughed and shook her head.

“What hurts the most is that I don’t even know what I want. I let that guy over there make all the calls for me from the age of fifteen until three months ago. That’s almost half my life,” she said. She furiously wiped away a tear.

“That’s what we’re here for. It’s going to be so much fun watching you go out and get what you want,” said Sam.

Holly squeezed Sam’s hand.

“You’re going to have it all Sam. The guy, the job, and you’re living here just as I always wanted you to. Thanks for letting me see it’s possible,” said Holly.