Meanwhile, Casey worked on getting drunk and George scanned the crowd like a shark on the hunt. After about an hour, George slid out of the booth and told us, “I just spotted a honey at the bar. All of you stay here. I don’t need you cramping my style.”
He sauntered off in the direction of an attractive woman who looked like she was probably in her mid-sixties. We watched as he introduced himself and apparently turned on the charm. In return, the woman smiled at him and leaned close to whisper something in his ear.
Things seemed to progress well over the next few minutes, and Eden muttered, “Okay, this is officially weird. I can’t believe I’m watching my granddad hit on somebody.”
Casey asked, “Should we slip him some condoms? It’s not like STDs give you a skip just because you’re a senior citizen.”
“Oh hell, we probably should,” Eden said. “Whatever he’s saying to that woman seems to be working.” We all glanced at the bar. George’s companion was laughing delightedly, and she was resting her hand on his arm. “You’re the nurse, Casey. You should be in charge of the condoms.”
Casey shot his best friend a look. “What does being a nurse have to do with anything? It’s not like I’m going to check his vital signs when I give him the rubbers. Besides, I don’t have any on me. Do you?”
“Of course not,” Eden said. “Why would I have condoms? I planned on hanging out with my grandfather and you two tonight, not getting lucky.”
I pulled my wallet from my coat pocket and removed two condoms. Casey looked surprised, so I explained, “I didn’t plan to get lucky tonight either, but I always carry some with me. I don’t get why you’re not doing the same thing.”
He shot back, “When do I have time to date? Seriously. I’m always either working or recovering from work.”
“Excuses, excuses.” I took a drink from my beer bottle, then told him, “You could make time to date. I’m just saying.”
“And you could try reeling it in. I’ve lost track of the number of dates you’ve had over the last few months,” my brother said, in a weak attempt at redirecting the topic away from himself.
“At least Seth is trying to meet someone,” Eden said. “You’ve been making excuses for a while now, Casey.”
“Dude, you and Sarah broke up over a year ago, and you haven’t dated anyone since.” Casey was still deflecting. “Don’t talk to me about getting back out there.”
Eden pointed out, “It’s been longer for you. The last person I remember you dating was that guy with the Ferrari-logo jacket—”
“Who drove an eighteen-year-old Hyundai,” I added with a grin.
“Don’t make fun of Jeff. He was a perfectly nice guy.” Casey tried to look offended.
I rolled my eyes. “He was a douche. He used to say ‘Ciao, bello’ and call you his ‘principino.’ Who the hell calls someone their little prince?”
Eden and I chuckled, and Casey knit his brows and asked, “What’s wrong with that?”
“He wasn’t Italian! He was just a poser who thought saying shit like that made him seem sexy,” I told him.
Casey was about to protest, but just then George came over to us with his new friend. The woman looked a little like the actress who’d played Uhura on Star Trek, and she was elegant in her dark green silk suit, perfect makeup, and flashy jewelry.
“Boys, this enchanting goddess is Miss Flora Jones.” After introductions all around, George told us, “Flora and I are moving the party to her house, so you’ll have to continue on without me. Don’t just wimp out and go home. The night is young!”
I pushed my brother to get him to slide out of the booth, since I was hemmed in. Then I slid out after him and turned George to the side with an arm around his shoulders. “Have a great night, my friend,” I said, as I shook his hand and subtly passed him the condoms.
When he saw what I’d handed him, he winked at me and slipped them into his pocket. Then he and Flora said goodnight to us and headed for the exit.
“Wow, that old silver fox,” Casey said. “He sealed the deal in what, twenty minutes?”
“If even.” I reached across the table for the bottle and finished my beer. Then I said, “I spotted a pool hall at the end of the block when we were on our way here. Want to go someplace where we’re not the only people under forty?”
“Sounds good to me,” Eden said, as he slid out of the booth. “Lead the way.”
The next venue was a much better fit for us. Half of it was a lively bar with a dance floor, and the other half held several pool tables. We spent the next two hours shooting pool and getting pretty thoroughly hammered, and it felt great. Over the last couple of years, both Eden and Casey had started acting like they had the weight of the world on their shoulders, and this reminded me of a happier time.