Guy drama is sometimes very simple.

I had more plans for that same Tuesday afternoon. I went back home, made lunch for Isabelle and myself, and some time later I went out again. This time I was going to meet the guys at the park.

When I got to the basketball half-court, I saw Thomas, Kevin and Ben already there, playing and trying to get the ball from Thomas. He ended up jumping back as Ben tried to get the ball from him and shooting mid-air, scoring a three-pointer.

“Where do you buy your subscription to that aim bot?” I asked as I stepped into the court.

The three guys looked at me with blank, confused stares until Kevin asked the question.

“What’s an aim bot?”

I guess I’ve gotten comfortable enough with these dudes to crack jokes while forgetting I’ll be the only one to understand them.

“It’s nothing.”

Ben walked up to me, shook my hand and hugged me, bumping his right shoulder against mine. “It’s been a while, Oliver.”

“Yeah. How’s boxing life as a graduate?”

“Finally got my pro license. Now I’m waiting for my first match.”

“I told you, tell me when it’s happening.”

“I’ll buy you the ticket myself.”

“Hey, hey! What about us?” Kevin asked while Thomas nodded in agreement.

“You two assholes groan when I talk about boxing. Oliver here actually listens. Buy the tickets yourselves if you want to watch.”

“Oooh, he’s cranky,” Kevin teased.

“Let him be. Now that he’s a pro he has to stay on a diet,” Thomas said, grinning. “I bet he’s craving a hotdog with lots of mustard right now.”

“Ugh! Shut the fuck up!” Ben groaned and held his head. “I want a burger so bad I could kill you two!”

“Actually, what weight class are you in?” I asked him.

“Welterweight,” he said. “It’s the most natural weight class for me, but I still need to be careful not to go over 66 kilos.”

I nodded. Ben was only slightly taller than me and he had a bit more bulk than me, too. I could see how an unbalanced diet could mess with his weight.

I went up to Kevin and Thomas and greeted the giants, too. Honestly, seeing how tall they were gave me bad flashbacks to the dude at the resort, but I pushed those thoughts away.

“Mark couldn’t come?” I asked.

“Actually… I didn’t invite him,” Thomas said. “I wanted to tell you guys something and it’d be awkward if he was here.”

“Hm? What happened?” Kevin asked.

“Did you guys fight?” I asked him.

“What? No, no! We’re cool. Actually, we’re cool despite what happened.”

“Oookay?” Ben crossed his arms and tilted his head. “What did happen?”

“...” Thomas sighed. “Nothing much. Only that he asked me if I’d be okay with him seeing my ex-girlfriend Lyla.”

“Oh,” Ben, Kevin and I exclaimed in perfect unison.

“W-Wait, what the fuck?” Kevin asked. “He’s seeing Lyla?”

“No, not exactly,” Thomas said. “Apparently, the two got to talking during prom. According to him, nothing happened and I’m inclined to believe him, but not that it matters if it did.”

“Oooh, so no wonder he didn’t ride with us back in the limo,” Ben said.

I nodded. “I remember he was kind of conflicted because he was starting to get over Amanda but she was giving him weird signals.”

“And you rejected her invitation to prom,” Ben told Thomas.

“Huh. Two heartbroken souls finding comfort in each other’s company… The movie writes itself,” Kevin said.

“Lena has you watching romances again?” I asked him

“Yeah…”

“Still, good on him to ask you first, right?” Ben said. “Considering you’re seeing someone else, he didn’t ACTUALLY have to ask for your permission.”

Thomas nodded. “Right. Still, I told him it didn’t bother me and that it shouldn’t stop him.”

“But DOES it bother you?” I asked.

“Nah.” Thomas picked up the basketball and spun it on his finger. “I’m actually more worried that… Ugh, even I don’t like how this is gonna sound.”

“No, I think I know where you’re going and it worries me too,” I told him.

“Okay, love guru, why don’t you save Thomas the shame of saying it and tell us yourself?” Kevin said.

I sighed. “I hope Lyla is ACTUALLY over Thomas and isn’t looking for a rebound in Mark. Hopefully it won’t lead to comparisons.”

Thomas nodded. “It does sound like Mark isn’t rushing anything. He asked me if I was okay with him ‘seeing’ her. He could’ve meant dating, but I think he meant just hanging out.”

“Alright, I see it.” Ben crossed his arms and sighed. “Couldn’t have picked anyone else, huh?”

“Sometimes you don’t get to choose,” I told him. “Sometimes you just happen to find someone and… things click.”

“And of course, you’re speaking from experience,” Kevin said.

“Don’t mean to brag, but yeah.”

Noelle and Diana were like that for me. Alice too, to a lesser extent. Mila, Grace and Sarah… We kinda HAD to make it work at first. The person I was back then wasn’t the most compatible with who they are.

“I hate this kind of stuff,” Kevin said, arms behind his head. “The drama, the awkwardness between friends… Like, we were good friends with Lyla, but when you guys broke up we simply drifted apart. It’s obvious why, but it still sucks.”

“Sorry…” Thomas said.

“Not blaming you, dude.”

“If you ever break up with Lena, especially if it’s on bad terms, I’ll probably never be allowed to see you again,” I told Kevin.

“If we break up on bad terms, you’d probably have a hard time defending me, so yeah,” Kevin said. “Here’s hoping that doesn’t happen.”

“He knows it would be his fault…” Thomas muttered in shock.

“Is he growing up?” Ben asked.

“...You guys give Kevin too little credit,” I told him.

Thomas and Ben laughed. “Well, we’ve known him longer and have seen him fuck up. But yeah, you’re right. Lena’s probably the best thing that has happened to you, Kevin.”

“And I don’t have any plans of screwing things up,” Kevin said.

“So you planned your previous screw-ups?” I asked him.

“Hey, I thought you were on my side!”

“Watch how you say things, then!”

We played basketball for a while after that. It felt good. Hadn’t seen these guys since graduation, and thought it wasn’t that long ago, it felt like it. Despite that, we could still hang out like always. I hoped that would always be the case.

I love the girls and I really want them to be a permanent part of my life, but I need some male energy in my life.

Patreon.