Second Chance (38 page)

“
You’re nuts
,” Todd says
.
Bubba ignores him and continues with his theory.

“The
n, when they’ve got us latched i
nto their choke collars, they turn it all around

and call sex love and love sex and they screw with our minds so we don’t know the difference
.
It’s all a cruel conspiracy, man.”

I laugh out loud at this
.

“That’s really romantic,” Todd says
.
“It’s a wonder why you can’t maintain a healthy relationship.”

“Hey, virgin boy, we’re talking about sex right now
.
Something you know nothing about
, so you have no opinion o
n the matter.”

“I think
two
you should get back together
,” Miles says
.
“Dylan’s great
.
And she’s hot.”

“You think all women are hot,” I say
.

“Dude, Dylan is a fox
.
Are you blind?” Bubba interjects
.
I
raise my
eyebrows at this
.
Are we talking about the same
Dylan
?
My tall, gangly, hyper
—

“
The
hippie look
is hot
,” Bubba says.

“She could be a model,” Miles says
.
I turn to see Todd nodding
.

“And she has no idea how good looking she is, which is extra hot,” Todd
agrees
.

I look down at the floor, shocked
.
They’re actually talking about Dylan.
My
Dylan.
 
She’s always been too busy trying to embarrass me in social situations for me to see this
apparently
unanimous fact.

“Gray,
I’m telling you,
if you have sex
,
all it will do is remind you what you’re giving up
.
Sex always win
s
.
It’s a survival mechanism for all relationships
.
Why do you think people get married?”

“Because they’re in love?
”
I reason
.

“No,” Bubba says
.
“It’s so they can get laid on a regular basis
.
Why do you think Todd’s rushing into his wedding with Liz
?
So he can pick out lampshades with someone?”

Todd rolls his eyes, but I also notice he doesn’t argue
.

“Gray, if
you don’t want
anything to happen with Dylan, just say n
o
.
Pass on
the
ass
.
No love, not even with the glove
.
Block the cock.”

“Okay, I get it,” I
laugh
.
“No getting physical.” 

My phone beeps and I open
it find a
message from Kari
.
She asks me
if I want to hang out this weekend
.
I groan and wonder out loud why she’s
still pursuing this
.

Bubba frowns at me
.
“You’re dumping a girl after one
bad
date?”  I nod and he shakes his head
.
“
Dude, i
f you’re determined to get over Dylan, you’ve got to date,” he says
.
“Besides, first dates don’t count
.
They’re always lame, it’s like an interview.”

I stare down at my phone and think about this
.
“So what’s the second date going to be like?” I ask.

“Like a follow
-
up interview,” he says
.

“Sounds great,” I say
.
The memory of our first date still makes me shudder.

“My first three dates with Amy were painful,” Bubba admits
.
“But we ended up dating for over a year.” 

“What changed after the third date?” I ask.

“We had sex,” he said simply
.
I shake my head
and
think maybe I should
reconsider
taking any of Bubba’s relationship advice
.

DYLAN

“This is so stupid,” I say
.
“Can’t he see we’re
destined to be together?
”

Cat,
Lenny
and I are
hanging out
in Cat’s backyard
.
I’ve been trying to take pictures to get my
mind off
of
Gray
,
but nothing help
s
.
It
’s
been three days and I haven’t heard from him, s
een
him
.
K
i
ssed him
.

“
Sounds like a bad case of sexual tension
,”
Cat
offer
s
.
“Maybe you just need to get to the meat of this
.
Pun intended.”

I stop pacing and stare at her
.
“I need him to mildly like me first.
”

“What
exactly
do you want out of this, Dylan?”
Lenny asks
.
She watches me with a cigarette poised between her fingers
.

I slump down on the grass
.
“
I
want him to give me a second chance.
He
hasn’t told me to
leave, so
I know
he still feels something
.
It’s not over between us
.
”

“Here’s the thing,”
Cat
says
.
“You two have already been intimate
.
So, if he’s really over you then
the sex
won’t compare to what
it used to be
.
Either you’ll
realize your feelings have faded and y
ou’ll both be able to move on
.
Or,”
she continues
, “
The more likely scenario, y
ou’ll realize all the passion is still there and
you’ll
stop wasting time and
get back together
.
It’s a win-win situation.
”

I
curl my fingers around
thick
blades of grass
until I ri
p out a clump in each of my hands
.
“I can’t have sex with him if it doesn’t love me,” I say
.
“Is there an option B?”

“You could
hook up
with
someone else
.
My mom always told me the best way to get over a guy
is to get on top of another one,
”
Lenny says.

“
Your
mother
gave you that advice?
”
Cat
ask
s
.

“
Best advice she ever gave me.
”

“
Lovely,
”
I say.

“
Make out
with T
ravis
,” Lenny says
.
“
He thinks you’re hot.
”

I roll over on my side and glare at Lenny
.
“
I
a
m n
ot
touching
T
ravis
.
He’s a too
l
.
He probably has a mirror over his bed.
”