Page 72 of Sportsball is for Lovers

Sullivan squeezes Sadie’s shoulder. “Be right back.”

Scooting my chair closer, I murmur quietly in her ear. “What’s the deal with that guy?”

“What do you mean?” She tucks a curl behind her ear and it immediately springs forward again. I smooth it back and she leans her head into my palm.

“He called you babe.”

“Oh. That’s just Sully.” She shrugs. “He’s my bestie.”

She’s mentioned him only in the context of the larger group. I didn’t know they were that close.

“You know how I feel about sharing…”

Sadie laughs loudly. “Don’t worry, our interests are not compatible,” she says. “Also, Johanna doesn’t share, either.”

I’m a little confused why she’s at the bar if she’s sensitive to noise and doesn’t want to socialize.

“Jo likes hockey, and so does Sully for that matter, but he’s here to hang out with the rest of the group. They compromise,” Sadie explains. “She prefers more intimate settings like the book club nights at the store. He likes the loud and raucous, always loves a good party.”

“So this way they have a little of both,” I realize slowly.

She nods. “It’s important to know your limits. She warns us when she’s getting overstimulated and needs to bounce. He’s good at supporting her and leaving her be when she needs space.”

“And you two have never…?” I raise my eyebrows.

Sadie makes a face. “Ew. No. He’s my drinking buddy. We go out and have a good time. In fact, he’s the one who told me about our app. His brother used to use it.”

“Oh? What changed?”

“He found his now husband,” she says simply.

“Ah. That would do it.”

I feel awkward and uncomfortable in my skin. We’ve talked about marriage, we’ve established that neither of us are interested in that, but while I’m not opposed to a long-term committed partnership, I know she’s still skittish. I don’t know how to get her to see that there are more options available for us to build a life together than a ring and a white dress that neither of us want.

In the circles both of us were raised in, there were strict parameters for how our lives were supposed to go. College, then marriage, then babies, and in that order. Any deviation from that invited public commentary on something that should have truly been a private matter.

She’s mentioned a few times that she’s happier with the distance from her family. She can love them and still want some space. I certainly don’t want my parents on top of me.

With Yoni, it’s different. He treats me like an equal. Even though I still want to take care of my younger brother, I’m trying hard to see him as a grown adult capable of making his own life decisions. I don’t want to infantilize him like my parents have done for so long.

Sadie gets a double dose of that from her family, being both the youngest child and the only one who deviated from the expected path. What her family can’t see—what she can’t show them, and what they aren’t receptive to acknowledging—is that she is perfectly happy with her life just the way it is. She doesn’t need a husband or babies to fulfill her. She doesn’t need a traditional 9-to-5 job to bring her joy. Despite what her parents think, there’s no shame in managing a bookstore.

Sullivan returns with a tray of drinks. He hands Sadie a water bottle and Johanna a shot of tequila, then passes Ceci a beer and two more down to the other end of the table.

Sadie squeezes my arm. “Let’s meet the rest of the gang.”

Bex is a busty redhead wearing a Philadelphia Whitney jersey. That’s right; the brawler is her brother. She’s working on her Ph.D. in ethical biostatistics, Sadie tells me proudly.

Beside her is Elsy, a plus-size blonde who sits first chair violin for the Boston Symphony. Rory, Hazel, and Leah are more engrossed in the trio of hockey players at the next table.

Vanessa and Sven sit between them, bridging the gap between the two groups. She gives me a smile and goes back to her conversation with Elsy and Bex.

Larsson gives me an up-nod. He seems like a decent dude. His beer is mostly full, despite having been here for over an hour, and his face belies his exhaustion. He played a heavy-hitting game. Although the team lost in overtime, it was a high-scoring, high-excitement game all the way through.

This is the kind of game I would have loved to pick apart and analyze. At two different points, the Grizzlies were up over the Storm, but at the end of the night, they couldn’t close the deal.

I like this job, working in the Logistics department. It’s fine. It’s a job.

But if the last month has taught me anything, it’s that I don’t want to do this full-time forever. I want to do the deep diving statistical analysis that makes me happy.

Now I just have to figure out how.