Page 12 of Rounding Third

“He stayed over last night,” I blurt out, trying to keep her interested.

“Yeah, see, thatsoundsgood, but your relationship is so weird. You stay at his house all the time, but you sleep on separate couches, not even in bed together. Try again.” She yawns.

“I slept in his arms? Then he told me this morning I was really tempting. That was after he made me straddle his waist and touch his bare chest and abs.”

“And I'm getting up!” There’s some movement on the other side of the line and the water turns on. “Start from the beginning while I get this coffee going. I'll need all the help I can get today.”

“It’s seven-thirty, Winnie. You act like I woke you up at three o’clock in the morning.” I roll my eyes as I take a bit of the pancakes Smithy made for me. “Holy crap! These are the most amazing pancakes I’ve ever had,” I mumble with my mouth still full.

“Where did you get pancakes?”

“Smithy made them for me before he left.”

“Did he eat any?”

“Uhhh…” I check the sink and find it is free from dishes. He couldn’t have eaten without a plate. “No. There aren’t any dirty plates in the sink.”

“Dang… Tell me everything.”

I spend the next thirty minutes recounting everything that happened over the past twenty-four hours. Winnie listens intently and doesn’t make a comment unless she has a quick question about something. I’m just finishing my story when I pull into the parking lot at work.

“I need to go into work. I have like three minutes, so tell me what I'm supposed to do.”

“You need to go on a date,” she says simply.

“With Smithy?” I practically shriek. A man walking past my car turns and glares at me. I offer him a little wave and sink down lower in my seat.

“No! Oh my gosh, Liliana! Warn a girl before you try to rupture her eardrum! Holy crap. I meant you should go out on a blind date with one of my friends. He’s really sweet and I think the two of you would get along.”

“So, your solution to me being in love with my best friend is to date someone else? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!”

“Will you calm your tits down and listen to me? Sheesh. I suggest you tell Smithy about this blind date. I guarantee he’s going to step in at some point. He won't like the idea of you going out with anyone.”

“But what am I supposed to do until this date? I mean you haven’t even asked this guy if he’d like to go on a date with me.” I roll my eyes even though she can't see me.

“First off, I’ve brought up the topic of a blind date with Kevin and he seemed interested. I’ve sung your praises and told him how amazing you are. I don’t think it will take much effort for me to convince him to take the plunge. Second, you need to act normal until everything is set up. You can't tell Smithy anything until a few days before your date.”

“Why?”

“Because he can't have time to prepare for this. You need to catch him off guard. If he has time to think about it, he might come to terms with it. If you blindside him, he’ll be more impulsive.”

“Ok, so I just need to stay calm and pretend everything is normal until we have a date scheduled. I can do that. I just have to blush and get flustered every time he flirts with me.”

“Exactly. Act like you’re a freshman and the cute senior quarterback is flirting with you.” I can hear the smile in her voice.

“Oh, shush! If anything, he’d be the star baseball player. He’d never play football.”

“Whatever! No one in high school wants the baseball player! We were too stupid to realize how amazing baseball pants are!”

I chuckle and think back to how Winnie and I were in high school. We went to every football game, but I don’t think weattended a single baseball game. I didn’t care about baseball at all… until college, the same day I met Smithy.

At that point, Winnie was dating Wheeler and she convinced me to go to a game with her. After the game, I met Smithy and we instantly hit it off. We started hanging out all the time without Wheeler and Winnie. We became inseparable and that’s never changed.

“Alright, I need to get inside before Bill fires me,” I sigh. “Call me after you talk to Kevin.”

“Deal. Later, Liliana. I'm going back to sleep.”

“Bye.” I chuckle as I hang up and gather my laptop bag out of my backseat.

---