“I’d hardly say you’re average. You’re normal, which means you’re not crazy, and that’s a good thing.”
“Whatever,” he said. “Women don’t want to date normal. They want to date Maddox. And I look average by comparison.”
“So stop comparing yourself to him. Besides, it’s not all about looks. Give women a little credit.”
“I’m not the one comparing.”
“Meaning what? You think I compare you two?”
“I think you’re like every other woman who meets the two of us—blinded by the light of Maddox and nice to me, his sidekick, because I happen to be here.”
“Oh, please, have a little more self-esteem than that,” I said.
“I do. I think I’m great. It’s just my self-deprecating way of trying to get you to say something nice about me.”
“Maddox is the kind of guy women want to sleep with. You’re the guy they want forever.” I wasn’t lying, and I wasn’t trying to be poetic, but Josh looked genuinely touched, which made me worry I’d said too much.
“Thank you.”
“I mean, try to take an objective look at yourself if you can. Otherwise, you’re walking through life in the shadow of someone else.”
I looked away, but I could tell Josh was surprised at my emphatic remark about his desirability. I hadn’t meant to overstate the facts. I just felt obliged to prop him up because he’d been there for me so many times and it had been at least a year since a woman had given him a second glance, which I knew bothered him.
“Come on,” I said, “let’s try to score at least a few points this half. I won’t be able to take the trash talking later if we don’t make some sort of a comeback.”
“Always the optimist. Or just a hypercompetitive wench.”
“Whatever it takes,” I said, jogging back onto the field.
When I snuck a look back at Josh, he was retying his shoes, getting his head back into the game. Josh was not a born athlete, and it was all he could do to put a left and a right shoe on the proper feet, let alone worry about whether his natural duck walk slowed him down when he tried to jog. Yet he attacked athletics with the zeal of someone who’d trained his whole life.
I checked my own laces. I didn’t need an accidental trip and fall to add to my existing clumsiness.
We lined up at the center line and I glared at Maddox, willing him to miss a catch or slip on a weed. If nothing else, I wanted us to win for Josh’s sake. He seemed to really want it, and I felt like the conversation about Maddox had made him want it even more.