Spent and clean, I shut off the water and toweled dry. There was movement in the room, and I knew Asher was back. The smell of Greek cuisine drifted under the door and my stomach rumbled. I dressed with haste, my hair dripping wet spots onto my T-shirt, and returned to the room.

“I’m starving,” I said, seeing the stuffed gyros decorating two paper plates on the bed.

“Eat. There’s a case of beer too.” Asher pointed at the foot of the bed where he’d left a two-four of Coors Light.

“Sweet.” I grabbed one and delivered another to Asher’s extended hand.

We devoured our meals like the gluttonous young adults we were. Halfway through, Asher grabbed his phone and flipped through a playlist.

“Requests?”

“Whatever. I’m easy.”

“Yeah, but you’re not cheap. Do you know what this night is costing me?”

I laughed. “Costing Dad.”

“Fuck him. None of this would be happening if it wasn’t for him”

Wasn’t that the truth.

He scrolled more until he found something he liked and let it play. Candlebox’s “Cover Me” filled the silence.

For half the song, I busied myself eating and downing most of my first beer. Then I couldn’t take it anymore and peered up from my food.

“So. Date tomorrow night, huh?”

Asher licked tzatziki off his lips and played with a piece of seasoned pork that was falling from his gyro. “Yeah.”

“Someone I know?”

“Girl from my program.”

“Cover Me” ended and Stone Temple Pilots’ “Big Empty” played. Asher didn’t offer more information.

“Does she have a name?”

His gaze darted side to side. “Yeah. K-Kirsten. Her name is Kirsten.”

“Huh. Cool. Where are you taking her?”

Asher shrugged. “Don’t know yet. Haven’t figured it out. You wanna pass me another beer?”

And that was the end of that conversation.

I tossed my garbage and dug two more beers from the case. Asher was still eating, so I kicked back on the bed, leaning against the headboard and listening to the tunes while he finished.

It took him an exorbitant amount of time to choke down the last of his gyro like he was purposefully delaying the planned events for the evening.

By the time he basketball-tossed his wrapper into the garbage, I’d drained my third beer. The warmth of a mild buzz settling under my skin made me lazy-smile as I watched him root through the case for another round.

He sat beside me, a few inches separating us as we listened to one song after another, nursing beers and not bringing up our true purpose.

Time kept ticking away. It was close to midnight when Asher put aside another empty and tipped his head to look at me. “So.”

“So.”

“Are you drunk?”

“Nah. Loose.” I considered. “Relaxed. A little tipsy maybe.”

“Me too… We’re supposed to be practicing.”