September.
A month that was always the start to back to school season but now it wasn't that anymore.
I mean for the last sixteen, maybe seventeen years, summer would end and school would start up but that wasn't a thing in my life anymore. It would never be a thing in my life ever again.
It was an odd thing but it just reminded me of my new responsibilities.
Football. Since I had been drafted a few months ago, I'd been training on my own. It was my main focus for months on end. And now, in just a few weeks I'd get to train with my new professional football team.
This had been my dream for as long as I could remember and now, finally, it was happening.
It was a great feeling but did make me a little nervous if I thought about it for too long.
The out of college life was great so far. Because my job didn't really start until the fall, I essentially had no responsibilities.
I lived with Calvin, Kiersten and Stella for the last year. They were fine with it and I was wanting to save money so I get a nice place of my own within a year.
I had a part time job so that was pretty much my only other responsibility. Other than that, I could do what I pleased. I could go out whenever and see whoever.
Life was going good so far.
I looked down at Beck and Mona's dog, he was rolled over on his stomach, tongue out of his mouth.
"Where'd you even get the name Pickles?" I asked Beck.
Beck sat up on the couch, "I heard a random lady call her dog that and took a mental note of it. And when we got back from grocery shopping, he tried biting on a jar of pickles."
He added, "Mona wasn't sold on it, whatsoever."
"Yup, I wasn't at all. Still kind of hate the name." She confirmed.
He leaned over and wrapped his long arms around Mona's torso, pulling her into a hug, "But she loves me so..."
"Mhm, whatever helps you sleep at night." Mona joked.
Beck shook his head and mouthed, "She totally loves me."
I smirked and mouthed back, "Oh, for sure."
Mona's phone buzzed and she looked down at it, "Hollis just said her and the baby should be here in twenty."
"Why's she coming here with the baby?" I asked.
"I wanna watch the baby for the honeymoon but Lis wants me to watch her beforehand to see how it goes." Mona explained.
I nodded.
I had only met the baby once when I was watching Waco. They had let me stay at the house for the three days that they were in the hospital so I could watch the dog. Mostly because it would take too long to commute back and forth and they needed a dog sitter on such a short times notice.
I didn't mind it.
Anyways, I met Flora the day they got home from the hospital. It was weird seeing Hollis as a mother. When I was eighteen, I always thought that would be me and her but that was in the past. I expected all those thoughts and imaginations were buried inside but they came back up when I saw her in that state.
It was even weirder seeing her at this stage of life, when I was about ten steps behind. The fact that we had been at the same stage at one point blew my mind.
She had really grown up in the last few years.
But Hollis and Luke seemed happy. They both absolutely adored Flora, they were practically attached at the hip. It was nice to see them so happy.
We talked for a while longer, laughing, reminiscing, and making jokes, when Hollis walked through the front door.
"Hi." Mona whispered, getting up and walking towards them.
"No need to whisper." Hollis laughed. "She's been up for awhile now."
I grinned. Then I got up and hugged Hollis, "Can I hold her?"
"She's all yours." She said right away, a little surprised.
I picked up Flora and sat down on the couch next to Beck. She was awake and looking around the room like crazy.
"Where's the baby daddy?" Beck asked.
"At home with the dog, he's trying to get the pool cleaned." Hollis answered.
"You have pool?" Beck asked.
"Yep. In ground, too." I answered, I had seen it covered up when I was dog sitting in July.
"Damn. I'll be coming over more often then." Beck said.
"Only if you babysit for me and Luke." Hollis told him.
Beck looked down at Flora, "Done."
Mona asked to hold the baby so I passed her over, she was practically swooning over Flora.
"Doesn't she make you want one?" Mona asked.
"No." Beck told her.
"In due time." Mona settled.
"In due time." He repeated.
I never understood baby fever. Like yes, the baby is cute when it's not yours but then you also have to consider all the hardships.
Sleepless nights, sicknesses, catering to the baby 24/7, putting it above you at all times. Not to mention, the baby would grow up and grow to be an even being handful, just no longer as cute.
All the hard parts of being a parent canceled the baby fever out.
This wasn't me opposed to having children, one day, it's just so much harder than what people seem to think it is.
I couldn't talk, though. It wasn't like I had a kid.
We talked for a fifteen minutes when Mona kicked me and Beck out. She said she wanted alone time with her best friend and niece. She wanted girl time.
Again, I didn't mind. Beck acted pissed and offended but I could tell he didn't care either.
We decided to just go to a restaurant and catch up there.
We got to a small local restaurant, fifteen minutes later. It was off all the main roads and a little hidden. Definitely not a good advertising strategy on their part.
Though, I'm sure this made all the locals and regulars love it. It definitely didn't come close to Enzo's in comparison.
We were seated almost immediately, there weren't many people in here so that wasn't much a surprise.
The whole place was dimly lit, the few small windows had curtains over them. I suppose that was on purpose in order to create some type of vibe.
I couldn't tell what they are going for with that.
The waitress came back a few minutes after we were seated. We both just ordered waters and appetizers to pick on.
We talked for awhile while we waited for the food to come out. Beck told me he was starting a new job soon and looking for places closer to Hollis, per Mona's request. He also mentioned how he'd ran into Liam a few weeks ago and how the whole group would have to get together soon. I couldn't agree more.
The food came out twenty minutes after we ordered it. Like I said, it wasn't too too busy in here so it was no surprise that the service was so good.
We continued talking and eating for awhile when Beck started looking around the place, analyzing everything in here.
Beck's wandering eyes fixated on something and he, now had a disgusted look on his face. He was looking right past me, clearly something was happening behind my back.
I turned my head and saw a girl sitting at a table and a guy leaning up against the small table. The girl looked about my age. She had blonde hair and brown eyes and was wearing just denim ripped jeans, white sneakers and a brown sweatshirt.
The guy was probably in his mid-twenties, maybe early thirties.
A normal sight at first glance.
But the more I looked, the more everything seemed off to me. She was clearly uncomfortable and irritated and he was just trying to get closer and closer to her. He seemed to be trying to flirt with her, he kept trying to touch her in 'casual/subtle' ways. Like brushing his body against hers or touching her back or hair.
The feelings weren't reciprocated at all, she was visibally uncomfortable.
"I fucking hate people." Beck said, shaking his head.
I tried to get back to my food but couldn't. It kept replaying in my mind, someone who didn't want the attention was getting harassed behind me.
I stood up, "I'm gonna go try to help her."
Beck nodded, "You do that. I'll be here."
I turned back and headed towards the girl. She was sitting at a cocktail table, alone. Well, I suppose she wasn't alone because the man was there.
What approach was I gonna take?
I ultimately decided that I was going to pretend to be her boyfriend and hopefully she'd play along with it. I figured if I just told him to back off, it would just make him want to bother her more.
"Was this what my life had come to? Protecting people who didn't even ask." I thought.
I had nothing exciting in my personal life that I'd try to fix other people's problems.
I tried to walk to walk to them confidently, not wanting to show any weakness towards this guy.
"Hey babe, sorry I'm late." I said, sitting down in the chair across her.
She had a confused expression for half a second but I gave her a reassuring look. She slightly nodded, she understood what I was trying to do.
"Thank you for keeping her company." I said, turning to the man, "I swear I'm always late, did you need anything?"
He didn't seem to know what to say, he just looked over at the girl.
"No, nothing at all. I didn't know you had a boyfriend." He said, looking at the blonde girl.
"Yeah, well I did say I had one, didn't I?" She responded, irritated.
She had a hint of a southern accent. Maybe she was from Georgia, North Carolina, or somewhere in that area? Nonetheless, I liked it.
"Yeah but-" He started.
"What are you still doing here?" I asked.
"I was just trying to talk, man." He said to me, there was a hint of aggression in his tone.
"Mhm, I'm sure you were." I commented.
"Can you leave now?" She asked.
I kept my gaze on the man, not wanting to drop my stare. He seemed caught off guard and intimidated by being caught.
"Yeah, whatever." He said, the he turned walking away.
There on the table was a slip of paper. I assumed this girl didn't just put it there, he definitely did.
"Thank you so much." She sighed, "He really couldn't take a hint."
I gave her a small smile, "It's no problem, really. I saw you across the room and it just didn't sit right with me."
"Well I really appreciate it. I'm Saylor." She said to me, holding out her hand.
"Owen." I said, putting my hand into hers.
We shook hands.
"You know, I hate guys who do things like that. Like if you came up to me and did something nice or strike up a conversation, kinda like what you did, then I might be interested. But no." Saylor rambled.
Was she sort of insinuating that she'd be interested in me? Maybe I was reading too much into this.
"I never understood it, either. Some guys are really stupid." I agreed.
"I'm gonna have to agree with you on that one." She laughed.
I started chuckling.
We talked for a long time after that. I felt kinda bad that I left Beck behind but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes.
I learned her name was Saylor Camden and she was twenty one, only a year younger than me. She was already graduated because she had taken her classes for not only the normal schedule but also through winter and summer breaks. She was, indeed, southern. She had lived in Virginia her whole life and moved down here for job opportunities.
And she didn't live too far from me.
We ended up exchanging phone numbers and Instagram's.
She seemed happy to do so.
And truthfully, so was I.
-----
GUYS. Wholesome lil story ahead.
I've been talking to this guy who I never expected to like but I do. Anyways, we haven't really talked all summer and he randomly texted me a few days ago and we talked. The next morning he tells me how he's in Disney for a family vacation and started sending me videos and pictures bc I've never been. Then he randomly asks what my favorite animal is and I tell him (its a giraffe). Five minutes later, I get a bunch of pictures of giraffes that he went out of his way to take for me. He's been so sweet today and keeps checking up on me now. My heart is melting <3