Mulligans

6. A Little Fun

"Don't expect an invitation from me anytime soon."

Chase looked up to see that a handsome black guy had walked up to the fire, a case of beer under his arm.

"You need to find a girl willing to wake up to your ugly mug every morning first," Tyler joked as he stood to give the new guy a hug.

"Who needs one girl when I can have a whole cheerleading squad?" The guy laughed, sitting down on the log beside Chase, opening the twelve-pack and tossing one to Tyler and one to Bre. "You almost done with that sports medicine degree? Ready to be my masseuse when I get drafted to the NFL?"

"When you make the draft, give me a call," Tyler promised, laughing.

"Beer?" The guy had turned to Chase, his hand extended with a bottle and his big brown eyes dancing like there was a joke forming in his head.

"Yeah, sure," Chase replied, taking notice of the muscles stretching the cotton of the new guy's T-shirt.

"Jarod, this is Chase. Chase, Jarod," Christie offered, snuggling into Chase's shoulder as if it was actually necessary to get that close to make the introduction. "Chase is a painter."

"No shit. I did that for a few summers with a cousin," Jarod said, twisting the cap off his beer.

"Not houses, silly. Chase paints on canvas. He's an artist," Christie explained, taking obvious pride in her date's talents. "It's totally different."

"Well, you get dirty doing either one. I just use a smaller brush," Chase offered.

"You're funny. And cute," Christie said, leaning even further into Chase's shoulder, if that were possible. "If you ever need a model...."

"I'm more of a landscape guy." Chase thought he saw Jarod chuckle as he took a pull of his beer. The conversation with Christie subsided for a while, allowing Chase to go back to obsessing without interruption. A light breeze drifted off the lake and swirled through the flames, causing them to snap deliciously around the wood. Looking up the beach, he could see clusters of other people gathered around beach fires. Huddled close, enjoying the warmth of the fire and each other. Chase felt a tap against his shoe and looked down to see a blue sneaker resting against his own white one. He glanced up at Jarod, who stared straight into the fire as he spoke.

"You watch football?"

"Yeah, sure," Chase lied. Did it count if Tyler was watching a game in their dorm room while he read a book?

Jarod looked over at him with a smile. "Who's your team?"

"Ummm.... Steelers?" Chase answered.

Jarod just nodded, the smile spreading farther across his face. "Oh yeah? Who's your favorite player?"

"Uh, I don't know, man." Chase silently cursed himself for not paying attention during at least one game. Jarod's knee brushed against his own, just for a second, and then rested there, a millimeter away. The sensation sent an electric current through Chase, up from the base of his spine, into his throat, and back again. He could feel it shooting between them as the tiny hairs on their legs danced against each other, barely touching but sending that roller coaster up through his stomach each time they did.

On Chase's right side, Christie still hung on his shoulder, feeling for all the world like a dead weight and one he'd do anything to get out from under. On his left side, Jarod continued to sit looking into the fire, drinking his beer and letting his leg accidentally touch him for all too fleeting moments. His left side was zinging with energy and his right felt unnecessarily burdened. He almost laughed at the absurdity but caught himself.