y
touched slice of pepperoni pizza into the garbage。 Anthony came over； slung his thick…muscled
arm around Nate？s shoulders； and kissed him on the cheek with mock tenderness。 ？What？s the
matter； sweetheart？？
？Fuck off；？ Nate replied； jabbing Anthony in the ribs。
His friend refused to be shaken off so easily。 ？Will you just drink a beer with us and stop moping
already？？ An overgrown hank of white…blond hair swung over Anthony？s freckled face and he
brushed it away。 ？Dude； it？s party time！？
Nate laughed and allowed himself to be shepherded over to where the other guys were standing；
drinking beer and listening to the coach talk。 Jeremy hitched up his way…too…big dark blue Levi？s
and tossed Nate a bottle of Heineken。 ？Hey； did you hear this？ Every Wednesday after practice
Coach has been popping Viagra and meeting his wife at the Pierre Hotel。？ He cracked open
another bottle for himself and took a long swig。 ？Who would have thunk。？
Coach Michaels stuck his hands into the pockets of his ever…present red Lands？ End windbreaker；
looking pleased with himself。 ？Who says we can？t enjoy ourselves？？
Nate raised his bottle in silent answer to the coach？s question and chugged half its contents。
Coach Michaels had all the gruff； fatherly qualities a guy could wish for in a coach； but Nate had
never had much affection for him。 The coach had made him captain halfway into the season only
because the junior who was supposed to be captain went mysteriously AWOL from school。 And
the coach had yet to congratulate Nate on getting into Yale； Brown；and Harvard。 It didn？t surprise
Nate that the coach needed Viagra to get it on。 He was sort of a cold fish。