The subject came up again the following night. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who had thought it over during a sleepless night. It was all fantasy, of course, nothing serious—at least none of us expressed any serious intention outwardly. But it was fun to dream.
I laughed. I had been so shocked when Alexa first told me about her unorthodox relationship. And here I was, a few months later, contemplating the same thing, albeit from a slightly different perspective.
“Hey, Axel,” said J.P. “You want to go down to The Bean Counter with me after morning exercises?”
“To see Gwen?”
He smiled and nodded.
“Great minds think alike,” I said.
“So, you’re in?” he asked. “We’ll jog down there straight after morning exercises.”
“I wish I could, but I’ve got detail.”
“Tough break.”
I got up and headed toward the kitchen, but I could tell J.P. still had something on his mind. I walked slowly in case he’d come out with it. When I reached the threshold of the living room, I turned to him. “She’s pretty, isn’t she?”
J.P. nodded. “Gorgeous.”
“With an infectious smile,” I added.
“And a fun, almost chaotic kind of energy to her.”
I chuckled. I knew what he meant. “Yeah, I bet she’d be a lot of fun to be with.”
J.P. looked at his hands and pulled at his fingers.
“Something on your mind, J.P.?”
He looked up at me. “Yeah, I was thinking of asking her out.”
“Good luck.” I gave him a thumbs up and turned to head into the kitchen.
“You wouldn’t mind, would you?” he called out.
I stopped and considered it. Contrary to my expectations, though I was attracted to Gwen and I would love to go out with her, when I said ‘good luck’, I genuinely meant it. I turned to J.P. “no, I wouldn’t mind. Would you?”
He seemed confused by my question. “Mind what?”
“Sharing her?”
3
J.P
Manny, Santiago, Nolan and I all went to The Bean Counter after morning exercises. It should have been a twenty-minute jog, but we’d decided the first one there would get to ask out Gwen. That pretty much guaranteed that Manny would get the honor. The last one there, however, would have to pick up the tab.
I came in last.
Manny beat us there by quite a margin. So much so that he was able to wait for us outside, and his breathing had returned to normal by the time we arrived.
“Oh, hi guys,” he said in an overly casual tone. “I was wondering when you’d show up.”
“Give us a minute,” I said between breaths.
“Order me a lemonade,” said Nolan, “and some cake; expensive cake, since J.P.’s buying.”
“I’ll have the same,” said Santiago.
Manny looked at me.
I smiled. “It appears that we all have the same tastes.”
“We all want the same thing,” said Nolan. “How appropriate.”
Manny returned my smile. “That bodes well.” He went inside.
We sat at the only empty table on the terrace, looking out on the street and farther still to the sea with the pier and the beach to the right. After five minutes, we had recovered from the run but Manny hadn’t returned. We stood from the table in unison and went inside.
Manny was at the counter chatting and laughing with one of the girls. We nodded to him and took a table in the corner where we could get a good look at the action.
“She’s cute,” said Nolan.
“That’s not Gwen,” I said.
After a few minutes, Manny and the waitress came to our table with drinks and cakes. “The bill’s for J.P.,” he said.
I thanked her and handed her two twenties.
“I’ll be back with your change.”
When she’d left, I looked at Manny and extended my hands, open palms up. “What gives?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, we’re here to see Gwen. You were going to ask her out, right?”
“Relax,” said Manny. “All in due time.”
As if on cue, Gwen stepped out of the kitchen. I elbowed Santiago. “There she is.”
“Damn,” he said. “I’m afraid she might be out of your league, Manny.”
“There’s no such thing,” said Manny. But I saw a flash of nervousness sweep across his face.
“Maybe, you’d better let me handle this,” said Santiago, and he stood from the table.
Manny, too, stood. “Woah, not so fast. A deal’s a deal”
Santiago motioned with a wave of his hand. “By all means. Be my guest.”
Manny strutted across the dining room. He stopped mid-way, turned around, and hurried back to the table. “What am I supposed to say?”
We all laughed.
“Try honesty,” said Nolan. “I hear girls like that sort of thing.”
“Honesty?” said Manny. “You mean like, ‘hi, I’m Manny. My friends and I, we made a bet: the first one here gets to ask you out. And I won the bet.”
Nolan nodded. “That’s as good a line as any. Good luck.”
Before I’d had the chance to say anything, Manny turned and headed back to the counter towards Gwen. I got very nervous, because I knew Manny. Manny was crazy enough to say exactly what Nolan had suggested.