5. Collie #3
“Love to.” He put down the remote, and we both shifted around so we were leaning against the arms of the couch. Our feet met in the middle, but I resisted the urge to play footsie.
I asked, “What do you want to talk about?”
“You’ve heard all about my love life. Now it’s your turn, tell me about yours.”
“There’s not much to tell.”
“What was your longest relationship?”
“I dated this guy named Kenny for almost a year and a half. He lived in Boise, and he was nice enough, but… eh.”
“Boring? Too quiet? Never wanted to go out?”
“No, the exact opposite. We always had to be going somewhere and doing something, usually with a whole group of his friends. It took a lot of effort for me to get away and come to see him, but once I got there, I always felt like an afterthought.”
“Who did the breaking up?”
“I guess I did. I felt like I was always the one making the effort, and always the first to reach out. So, one day I decided to see how long it would take him to text me, if I didn’t text him first.”
“How long did it take him?”
“It’s been two years, and counting.”
“Ah.”
“Yeah. I dated a few other guys, but it was nothing special. Since nobody was out in my town, my only chance of meeting anyone was when I drove to Boise, which took a little over three hours, round trip. But as my aunt got sicker and sicker, I didn’t want to leave her alone for long periods of time. ”
Miller asked, “Did you have any help taking care of her?”
“She had a couple of friends I could call. They’d come and spend a day or an evening with her, and my friend Jeannie would help out sometimes. But they all had families of their own that they had to get back to, so they couldn’t stay for very long.”
“You really sacrificed for her.”
“And she sacrificed for me before that, so it was the least I could do.”
“But now, here you are,” he said, “in San Francisco, with gays as far as the eye can see.” I grinned at that, and he asked, “Have you downloaded any hookup apps yet? It’s probably going to seem like an all-you-can-eat buffet, after the bread and water diet you’re used to.”
“That’s not really my style. I don’t need to be in love with someone to have sex with them, but I do need some sort of connection. Otherwise, it just seems weird and awkward.”
“I get it. I’ve always been like that, too.”
“Did you have any serious relationships before Butt Lift Bruce?”
Miller grinned at the nickname and told me, “I dated a guy for two and a half years when I was in college, but he dumped me when I injured my shoulder.”
“Was that literally why he broke up with you?”
“I think so. He was always talking about our future, and what it was going to be like once I was playing in the majors. But as soon as we found out my injury had ended any chance of that career, he made an excuse about us growing apart and ran for the hills.”
“He probably wanted to be a pampered sportsball wife and spend your exorbitant major league baseball salary.”
“You may be right.”
“Was he a giant blond Ken doll like Doctor Bruce?”
“He was a short redhead with glasses.”
“Okay,” I said. “Maybe I believe that you don’t have a type.”
“Told you.”
“Besides the gold digging, clout chasing fame fucker, did you have a lot of baseball groupies?”
“Not really. I was good at what I did, but I was never one of those guys. You know?”
“No.”
Miller fished around for how to explain it.
“Some guys on my team were flashy. Outgoing. The life of the party. They were golden boys, and there were always a lot of hangers-on who wanted to bask in their glow. I wasn’t like that.
I pretty much just showed up, pitched a good game, and went home again. ”
“Even so,” I said, “I bet there were plenty of people who wanted to get with you.”
“I don’t know. Maybe. All of that feels like a lifetime ago. When I think back to high school and college, I feel like I’m reliving somebody else’s memories.”
“That sounds like an episode of a sci-fi TV show. The X Files, maybe. Or no, The Twilight Zone.”
“I love both of those shows.”
“Me, too! I watched a ton of TV with Aunt Sue, because she couldn’t do much else. She was a huge sci-fi nerd, so we had DVD box sets of both of those series, and a bunch of others. Star Trek: The Next Generation was another one of our favorites. I’ve seen every episode way too many times.”
“Honestly, same.” Miller seemed happy to discover we had something in common.
We both launched into dueling Captain Picard imitations, trying to perfectly dial in Patrick Stewart’s accent and enunciation. This mostly consisted of cussing out Wesley over and over again, which made us laugh.
Miller ended up totally nailing it, and once I conceded victory, I muttered, “Man, now I really want to watch some Star Trek TNG.”
He reached for the remote. “Let’s do it.”
My mouth felt dry, so I said, “While you cue it up, I’m going to get a drink. Do you want anything from the kitchen?”
“No, thanks.”
I got up and crossed the room, but I came to a stop when my heart started to race. I braced my hand against the doorframe as my vision blurred.
The last thing I remembered before everything went black was Miller shouting my name.