"Geeze, Ryan what's with the smile?" Connors asked as he and Richie began
to suit up for the game.
"We'd better win, man," Richie answered fishing for his shorts among the pile of clothes in his locker. "I got people here."
"Coach will kill you if he sees all that crap in there," Connors laughed. "Wanna impress the girlfriend?"
"Heather's not here." Richie sat down to tie his high tops. "But my dad is, and so's Mac, and Amanda, and Joe, and Adam." he listed off.
"Wow, got your own little cheering section, huh?"
"Yeah. So don't let me down, dunk it as many times as you can, dude."
Connors laughed. "Will do. And you stay the hell outta the key when you shoot, if you can make it don't waste it."
"Anyone ever tell you ya talk like a fortune cookie?"
Connors laughed again. "IBWAR."
Richie cocked his head to one side. "Huh?"
"I bed with a rope?"
"I repeat, huh?"
"We'll have to out for Chinese sometime and I'll explain it."
Both guys finished changing just as Coach Roberts entered the locker room from his office. "Alright men, listen up! I know it's early in the season, but we have to go into each game with the Final Four on our minds. Every game, every play, every point counts. Now I want you to remember what we've be practicing; keep the ball moving, keep the ball on our side of the court, make every shot. If you're not one hundred percent sure you can make it, make sure the rebound man is there and ready. Johnson, that's you. Sinclair, Foster, you keep their defense busy. Ryan, stay out of the key and go for the three pointers. Connors charge, remember if they don't get out of your way it's their fault, not yours. Now let's get out there, play our best and kick some ass!"
. . . . . .
In the stands Adam walked down the stairs to their seats with some beers and handed one to Joe who was happily chatting with Amanda and one to Duncan who was sitting nervously awaiting the last person of their party.
"Calm down, MacLeod," Adam sighed taking a seat next to him. "It's just another guy."
"Doesn't it bother anyone that this Masters guy doesn't show up until Richie was already immortal? That he didn't try to get a hold of him sooner?"
"He did, Duncan. But he saw him with you," Amanda pointed out.
"And still didn't say anything to him? If he really wanted Richie he would have said something."
"He was worried he wouldn't have anyone to teach him when he died," Joe pointed out. He didn't fully trust Greg Masters, either, but Richie only needed two fathers fighting each other at once.
"And he hadn't yet. If Richie was still mortal and I saw him with Greg, I'd still want to be the one to teach him. And Greg's immortal. If he can fake a doctoral degree and create a phony specialist to take Richie to when he hurt his arm, why couldn't he look up Richie's school records to find him?"
"You've got a point," Adam consented still wondering why he had agreed to this little road trip.
"Do you always think of the right thing to do at the right moment, Duncan?" Amanda asked. Personally she was thrilled that Richie had found his father again.
"If I really want something, I do. If I had to move because of a job and couldn't take Richie with me, I'd quit."
"MacLeod, I seem to remember you jetting off to Paris and leaving your poor little boy all by himself back in the states a couple years ago," Adam pointed out.
"Richie wasn't thirteen; he was nineteen and already living on his own. It's different. Richie was completely dependent and attached to Masters and the guy just left him without so much as a new address to get a hold of him with."
"Maybe he didn't have one," Amanda commented.
"Maybe we should all just accept that some of us won't get along with Masters, but we have to deal for Richie's sake," Joe put in. "This is really important to him. We should at least try to make." he stopped short when a familiar look crossed all three immortal's faces. "Try to make it work," he finished quickly allowing his gaze to follow the immortals' to the man approaching them. He looked to be in his early thirties with sandy blonde hair. He walked purposefully down the steps to where Joe and the other immortals waited for him.
He stopped next to the only empty seat on the row, the one next to Duncan. "Which one of you is MacLeod?" he asked with a smile.
'Came by and saw me with Richie, huh?' Duncan thought to himself before forcing a smile. "That'd be me. You must be Greg," he said offering his hand.
"So you're the man I need to thank for saving my son from the streets," Greg answered shaking Duncan's hand.
"I'm sure you could have, had you been there," Duncan answered politely.
"I'm glad you were. I'm sorry about the mix up and leaving you stuck with him the past three years."
"I wasn't stuck with him," Duncan assured him. "He's one of the family."
"Ahem," Amanda cleared her throat.
"Oh, Greg this is Amanda, Adam, and Joe. Friends of ours."
"I've heard about all of you," Greg said with a warm smile. "Richie's hard to get to shut up sometimes."
"We know the feeling," Joe said in the same feigned politeness Duncan was using.
Greg sat down and they lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. "So," he started chewing on his bottom lip and nodding slightly. Duncan cringed; Richie did that. "Richie says you're pretty old."
"Yes, but only comparatively. What about you?"
"Still working off the same birth certificate," Greg admitted. "But you, you must have quite a head on your shoulders after all these years."
"You could say that."
"Richie speaks very highly of you."
"He's a good friend," Duncan consented trying his best not to grill Greg about his intentions with Richie. "He hasn't gotten a chance to tell me much about you."
Greg made a face. "He told me about that. I have no problem admitting I'm not very happy that he kept the truth from you for so long. I taught him better than that. He usually isn't that secretive."
"Everyone has their moments. But once you get him talking, he really doesn't shut up."
They once again lapsed into silence and Duncan half-heartedly listened in on Amanda, Adam, and Joe's conversation. Luckily the game started after only a few awkward minutes and the immortals and Watcher happily allowed themselves to be distracted for the next two and a half hours.
After the game they all trooped out to wait for Richie by the locker room back exit. After about twenty minutes players started to come out, all neatly dressed in oxford shirts and ties. As they waited Richie nervously straighten up his locker stuffing his dirty practice clothes into a duffel.
"Ryan, what are you still doing here?" Coach Roberts asked.
With a start Richie realized he was the only one left in the locker room. "Uh, cleaning all the junk out of my locker," he explained.
"Avoiding your father?"
"You could say that," Richie admitted.
"Ryan, it was a good game, we won. So you messed up on a few plays, everyone has their off days."
"Yeah," Richie agreed, he had been so worried about how everyone was getting along that he had forgotten the inevitable 'How to improve your game' speech he was going to get from his dad. Hopefully Greg would wait until after Duncan and everyone went back to Washington.
"Well, your locker seems pretty clean from here," Roberts commented stepping closer. "You can't avoid him forever," he added putting his hand on Richie's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "He's not going to be mad; all you did was miss a few shots."
Richie looked down. "It's not that I'm avoiding," he admitted. He had to get it all out before he went to face everybody.
"What's wrong, son?" Roberts asked sitting on the bench that ran along the lockers.
Richie sat and thought for a second. "It's my dad and Mac. they're both out there and I'm not sure how they're getting along."
"Why wouldn't they?"
"Long story."
"Richie," Roberts started. Richie blinked. Roberts hadn't called him by his first name since he was ten and announced that he was going to play for him when he went to college. "Everything will work out the way it's supposed to. There's a plan for everyone and everything. Nothing ever turns out for the worst, it's always the best. Now I want you to go out there and face this like a man, not some scared kid."
"Yes, sir," Richie grinned. Somehow he felt better. He had progressed from being a scared kid to a scared man and he was going to face this the only way he knew how, put on a brave face and jump in feet first. "See ya at practice, Coach." He stood up and shouldered his bag.
"Good luck, kid."
Richie headed for the door rolling his eyes. Coach was just like everyone else; telling him to be a man and calling him kid all in the same breath. Just before he reached the door a powerful buzz washed over him. Taking a deep breath he reached for the handle and opened the door.
"Hey," he greeted walking across the parking lot to the bench everyone had crowded around.
"Hey, tough guy!" Duncan responded cheerily pulling Richie in for a strong hug.
"Nice weather, huh?" Riche choked out over his shoulder.
Duncan just laughed and ruffled his hair. "Good game."
"Thanks," Richie answered nodding a greeting to Adam as he shook Joe's hand.
"You're quite a sight to see on that court in person," Joe added. Richie grinned self-consciously.
"You were amazing," Amanda added giving Richie a hug and peck on the cheek.
"You missed a couple shots," Greg pointed out. "Easy ones, too."
"I know, Dad," Richie quickly said. "I know."
"Don't worry about it, Rich," Duncan comforted trying his best not to shoot Greg a look. "You did great. How about dinner?"
"I was hoping you would say that," Richie grinned. "Cause I got it all set up. Hope you guys are up for Italian."
"And by Italian you mean pizza, right?" Adam asked fully aware of what college kids thrived on.
"No, I mean Italian. There's this great place over on 15th, you know the one I'm talking about, Dad? Uh, geeze can't think of the name."
"Marichini's?" Greg supplied.
"Yeah, that's the place," Richie grinned. "It's great, you'll love it."
"You think everything eatable is great," Duncan pointed out. "But I trust you."
"Gee, thanks, Mac."
"Then it's all settled," Greg said. "Richie, why don't you ride with me and they can follow us."
"Actually wouldn't it be easier if Richie rode with us?" Joe asked not happy about Greg's comment about the game. "That way if we get separated we can still get there."
"Good point," Greg consented. "But it would be crowed with all five of you in one car, so why don't I trade Richie for one or two of you so everyone will have some room."
"I'll go with you," Adam volunteered deciding Duncan and Joe needed some time to talk to Richie without the threat of Greg overhearing.
"Me, too," Amanda added after receiving a pointed glare from Adam.
"Okay, we'll see you guys there." Greg led Amanda and Adam to his Mercedes, which was parked not far from Duncan's thunderbird.
"So that's your dad, huh?" Duncan asked as Richie slid into the backseat.
"That's him," Richie nodded.
"He seems a little. corrective," Joe said.
"How so?"
"So you missed a couple shots, every single guy on that court missed a couple shots."
"He does it to keep me from getting a big head. Kinda like Mac never giving me a complement about my swordsmanship that isn't followed by at least three hundred 'but you should of's," Richie brushed it off. "He's really a nice guy. Go left."
"He could have waited until it was just you and him," Joe pointed out.
"Don't worry about it," Richie assured him. "Left at the light. That's the way he's always done it. He usually only finds one thing and he mentions it while everyone else is talking about how good I was. That way I get the point."
"Richie, I don't think he has to worry about you getting a big head. You keep that in check by yourself," Duncan said.
"When I was a kid I didn't. I was real cocky."
"You were a kid and found your real talent. Kids get cocky."
"And Dad's real big on keeping a good attitude," Richie said. "Don't worry about it, it's no big."
"You seemed a little embarrassed when he mentioned it," Joe said softly.
"Well, I was hoping he wouldn't do it in front of you guys. but I'm over it. Right."
Duncan waited for the light to turn. "Richie, is he the same guy you grew up with?"
"He hasn't tied me to my bed, but other than that."
"He did what?" Duncan demanded sharply.
Richie laughed a little. "No, he had reason to."
"Why would anyone tie a kid to a bed?" Joe demanded equally as appalled as Duncan.
Richie laughed again. "I was ten and pushing for a later bed time. Go straight. So after he sent me to bed I kept coming up with excuses to get up; 'I can't sleep,' 'I'm thirsty,' 'I don't feel good'," he laughed. "'I had a nightmare.'" Duncan got the joke and chuckled slightly. "So finally he'd had it and told me if I got out of bed one more time he would tie me down. I called his bluff. he wasn't bluffing. So the next thing I know there's a dog leash around my wrists and the headboard."
Despite his dislike for Greg, Joe chuckled. "Bet you never tried to get out of bed after that."
"Nope."
"Why did he have a dog leash?" Duncan asked not willing to admit that he found the punishment rather creative and effective. The few times Duncan had gotten angry and sent Richie to bed, he had stayed despite what Duncan thought would happen.
"We had a dog," Richie answered. "But she was real old, she died when I was twelve and we never got a new one. Oh, its right up there on the left, see the sign?" Richie pointed out the windshield.
Duncan pulled into the parking lot and they piled out of the car. "What other strange punishments did he come up with?"
"Um," Richie thought for a second. "When I was nine, he threatened to get me a dog collar and put me on a leash if I didn't stop wondering off when we went shopping," he offered.
"Didn't they have those kid leashes they put on your wrists when you were little?" Joe asked.
"Yeah, but my friends made more fun of the idea of me in a dog collar. It never happened though, just the threat. that he made in front of all my friends. humiliated me into submission."
Duncan noted that Richie had a tendency to stay close when they went out unless specifically told he could go off on his own. "Anything else?"
"All sorts of weird stuff. He probably has all sorts of stuff in mind that I never heard about," Richie shrugged opening the door for Joe and Duncan.
"Really?" Duncan asked.
"I shouldn't have said that, huh?"
"No, but I was going to ask anyway."
The three met the rest of their party and followed the hostess to their table. They all sat, Richie in-between Duncan and Greg and across from Joe who was between Adam and Amanda. They were looking over the menus when the waitress approached them.
"Hi, my name's Heather," she said with a twinkle in her eye. "What can I get you all to drink?"
"We'd better win, man," Richie answered fishing for his shorts among the pile of clothes in his locker. "I got people here."
"Coach will kill you if he sees all that crap in there," Connors laughed. "Wanna impress the girlfriend?"
"Heather's not here." Richie sat down to tie his high tops. "But my dad is, and so's Mac, and Amanda, and Joe, and Adam." he listed off.
"Wow, got your own little cheering section, huh?"
"Yeah. So don't let me down, dunk it as many times as you can, dude."
Connors laughed. "Will do. And you stay the hell outta the key when you shoot, if you can make it don't waste it."
"Anyone ever tell you ya talk like a fortune cookie?"
Connors laughed again. "IBWAR."
Richie cocked his head to one side. "Huh?"
"I bed with a rope?"
"I repeat, huh?"
"We'll have to out for Chinese sometime and I'll explain it."
Both guys finished changing just as Coach Roberts entered the locker room from his office. "Alright men, listen up! I know it's early in the season, but we have to go into each game with the Final Four on our minds. Every game, every play, every point counts. Now I want you to remember what we've be practicing; keep the ball moving, keep the ball on our side of the court, make every shot. If you're not one hundred percent sure you can make it, make sure the rebound man is there and ready. Johnson, that's you. Sinclair, Foster, you keep their defense busy. Ryan, stay out of the key and go for the three pointers. Connors charge, remember if they don't get out of your way it's their fault, not yours. Now let's get out there, play our best and kick some ass!"
. . . . . .
In the stands Adam walked down the stairs to their seats with some beers and handed one to Joe who was happily chatting with Amanda and one to Duncan who was sitting nervously awaiting the last person of their party.
"Calm down, MacLeod," Adam sighed taking a seat next to him. "It's just another guy."
"Doesn't it bother anyone that this Masters guy doesn't show up until Richie was already immortal? That he didn't try to get a hold of him sooner?"
"He did, Duncan. But he saw him with you," Amanda pointed out.
"And still didn't say anything to him? If he really wanted Richie he would have said something."
"He was worried he wouldn't have anyone to teach him when he died," Joe pointed out. He didn't fully trust Greg Masters, either, but Richie only needed two fathers fighting each other at once.
"And he hadn't yet. If Richie was still mortal and I saw him with Greg, I'd still want to be the one to teach him. And Greg's immortal. If he can fake a doctoral degree and create a phony specialist to take Richie to when he hurt his arm, why couldn't he look up Richie's school records to find him?"
"You've got a point," Adam consented still wondering why he had agreed to this little road trip.
"Do you always think of the right thing to do at the right moment, Duncan?" Amanda asked. Personally she was thrilled that Richie had found his father again.
"If I really want something, I do. If I had to move because of a job and couldn't take Richie with me, I'd quit."
"MacLeod, I seem to remember you jetting off to Paris and leaving your poor little boy all by himself back in the states a couple years ago," Adam pointed out.
"Richie wasn't thirteen; he was nineteen and already living on his own. It's different. Richie was completely dependent and attached to Masters and the guy just left him without so much as a new address to get a hold of him with."
"Maybe he didn't have one," Amanda commented.
"Maybe we should all just accept that some of us won't get along with Masters, but we have to deal for Richie's sake," Joe put in. "This is really important to him. We should at least try to make." he stopped short when a familiar look crossed all three immortal's faces. "Try to make it work," he finished quickly allowing his gaze to follow the immortals' to the man approaching them. He looked to be in his early thirties with sandy blonde hair. He walked purposefully down the steps to where Joe and the other immortals waited for him.
He stopped next to the only empty seat on the row, the one next to Duncan. "Which one of you is MacLeod?" he asked with a smile.
'Came by and saw me with Richie, huh?' Duncan thought to himself before forcing a smile. "That'd be me. You must be Greg," he said offering his hand.
"So you're the man I need to thank for saving my son from the streets," Greg answered shaking Duncan's hand.
"I'm sure you could have, had you been there," Duncan answered politely.
"I'm glad you were. I'm sorry about the mix up and leaving you stuck with him the past three years."
"I wasn't stuck with him," Duncan assured him. "He's one of the family."
"Ahem," Amanda cleared her throat.
"Oh, Greg this is Amanda, Adam, and Joe. Friends of ours."
"I've heard about all of you," Greg said with a warm smile. "Richie's hard to get to shut up sometimes."
"We know the feeling," Joe said in the same feigned politeness Duncan was using.
Greg sat down and they lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. "So," he started chewing on his bottom lip and nodding slightly. Duncan cringed; Richie did that. "Richie says you're pretty old."
"Yes, but only comparatively. What about you?"
"Still working off the same birth certificate," Greg admitted. "But you, you must have quite a head on your shoulders after all these years."
"You could say that."
"Richie speaks very highly of you."
"He's a good friend," Duncan consented trying his best not to grill Greg about his intentions with Richie. "He hasn't gotten a chance to tell me much about you."
Greg made a face. "He told me about that. I have no problem admitting I'm not very happy that he kept the truth from you for so long. I taught him better than that. He usually isn't that secretive."
"Everyone has their moments. But once you get him talking, he really doesn't shut up."
They once again lapsed into silence and Duncan half-heartedly listened in on Amanda, Adam, and Joe's conversation. Luckily the game started after only a few awkward minutes and the immortals and Watcher happily allowed themselves to be distracted for the next two and a half hours.
After the game they all trooped out to wait for Richie by the locker room back exit. After about twenty minutes players started to come out, all neatly dressed in oxford shirts and ties. As they waited Richie nervously straighten up his locker stuffing his dirty practice clothes into a duffel.
"Ryan, what are you still doing here?" Coach Roberts asked.
With a start Richie realized he was the only one left in the locker room. "Uh, cleaning all the junk out of my locker," he explained.
"Avoiding your father?"
"You could say that," Richie admitted.
"Ryan, it was a good game, we won. So you messed up on a few plays, everyone has their off days."
"Yeah," Richie agreed, he had been so worried about how everyone was getting along that he had forgotten the inevitable 'How to improve your game' speech he was going to get from his dad. Hopefully Greg would wait until after Duncan and everyone went back to Washington.
"Well, your locker seems pretty clean from here," Roberts commented stepping closer. "You can't avoid him forever," he added putting his hand on Richie's shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "He's not going to be mad; all you did was miss a few shots."
Richie looked down. "It's not that I'm avoiding," he admitted. He had to get it all out before he went to face everybody.
"What's wrong, son?" Roberts asked sitting on the bench that ran along the lockers.
Richie sat and thought for a second. "It's my dad and Mac. they're both out there and I'm not sure how they're getting along."
"Why wouldn't they?"
"Long story."
"Richie," Roberts started. Richie blinked. Roberts hadn't called him by his first name since he was ten and announced that he was going to play for him when he went to college. "Everything will work out the way it's supposed to. There's a plan for everyone and everything. Nothing ever turns out for the worst, it's always the best. Now I want you to go out there and face this like a man, not some scared kid."
"Yes, sir," Richie grinned. Somehow he felt better. He had progressed from being a scared kid to a scared man and he was going to face this the only way he knew how, put on a brave face and jump in feet first. "See ya at practice, Coach." He stood up and shouldered his bag.
"Good luck, kid."
Richie headed for the door rolling his eyes. Coach was just like everyone else; telling him to be a man and calling him kid all in the same breath. Just before he reached the door a powerful buzz washed over him. Taking a deep breath he reached for the handle and opened the door.
"Hey," he greeted walking across the parking lot to the bench everyone had crowded around.
"Hey, tough guy!" Duncan responded cheerily pulling Richie in for a strong hug.
"Nice weather, huh?" Riche choked out over his shoulder.
Duncan just laughed and ruffled his hair. "Good game."
"Thanks," Richie answered nodding a greeting to Adam as he shook Joe's hand.
"You're quite a sight to see on that court in person," Joe added. Richie grinned self-consciously.
"You were amazing," Amanda added giving Richie a hug and peck on the cheek.
"You missed a couple shots," Greg pointed out. "Easy ones, too."
"I know, Dad," Richie quickly said. "I know."
"Don't worry about it, Rich," Duncan comforted trying his best not to shoot Greg a look. "You did great. How about dinner?"
"I was hoping you would say that," Richie grinned. "Cause I got it all set up. Hope you guys are up for Italian."
"And by Italian you mean pizza, right?" Adam asked fully aware of what college kids thrived on.
"No, I mean Italian. There's this great place over on 15th, you know the one I'm talking about, Dad? Uh, geeze can't think of the name."
"Marichini's?" Greg supplied.
"Yeah, that's the place," Richie grinned. "It's great, you'll love it."
"You think everything eatable is great," Duncan pointed out. "But I trust you."
"Gee, thanks, Mac."
"Then it's all settled," Greg said. "Richie, why don't you ride with me and they can follow us."
"Actually wouldn't it be easier if Richie rode with us?" Joe asked not happy about Greg's comment about the game. "That way if we get separated we can still get there."
"Good point," Greg consented. "But it would be crowed with all five of you in one car, so why don't I trade Richie for one or two of you so everyone will have some room."
"I'll go with you," Adam volunteered deciding Duncan and Joe needed some time to talk to Richie without the threat of Greg overhearing.
"Me, too," Amanda added after receiving a pointed glare from Adam.
"Okay, we'll see you guys there." Greg led Amanda and Adam to his Mercedes, which was parked not far from Duncan's thunderbird.
"So that's your dad, huh?" Duncan asked as Richie slid into the backseat.
"That's him," Richie nodded.
"He seems a little. corrective," Joe said.
"How so?"
"So you missed a couple shots, every single guy on that court missed a couple shots."
"He does it to keep me from getting a big head. Kinda like Mac never giving me a complement about my swordsmanship that isn't followed by at least three hundred 'but you should of's," Richie brushed it off. "He's really a nice guy. Go left."
"He could have waited until it was just you and him," Joe pointed out.
"Don't worry about it," Richie assured him. "Left at the light. That's the way he's always done it. He usually only finds one thing and he mentions it while everyone else is talking about how good I was. That way I get the point."
"Richie, I don't think he has to worry about you getting a big head. You keep that in check by yourself," Duncan said.
"When I was a kid I didn't. I was real cocky."
"You were a kid and found your real talent. Kids get cocky."
"And Dad's real big on keeping a good attitude," Richie said. "Don't worry about it, it's no big."
"You seemed a little embarrassed when he mentioned it," Joe said softly.
"Well, I was hoping he wouldn't do it in front of you guys. but I'm over it. Right."
Duncan waited for the light to turn. "Richie, is he the same guy you grew up with?"
"He hasn't tied me to my bed, but other than that."
"He did what?" Duncan demanded sharply.
Richie laughed a little. "No, he had reason to."
"Why would anyone tie a kid to a bed?" Joe demanded equally as appalled as Duncan.
Richie laughed again. "I was ten and pushing for a later bed time. Go straight. So after he sent me to bed I kept coming up with excuses to get up; 'I can't sleep,' 'I'm thirsty,' 'I don't feel good'," he laughed. "'I had a nightmare.'" Duncan got the joke and chuckled slightly. "So finally he'd had it and told me if I got out of bed one more time he would tie me down. I called his bluff. he wasn't bluffing. So the next thing I know there's a dog leash around my wrists and the headboard."
Despite his dislike for Greg, Joe chuckled. "Bet you never tried to get out of bed after that."
"Nope."
"Why did he have a dog leash?" Duncan asked not willing to admit that he found the punishment rather creative and effective. The few times Duncan had gotten angry and sent Richie to bed, he had stayed despite what Duncan thought would happen.
"We had a dog," Richie answered. "But she was real old, she died when I was twelve and we never got a new one. Oh, its right up there on the left, see the sign?" Richie pointed out the windshield.
Duncan pulled into the parking lot and they piled out of the car. "What other strange punishments did he come up with?"
"Um," Richie thought for a second. "When I was nine, he threatened to get me a dog collar and put me on a leash if I didn't stop wondering off when we went shopping," he offered.
"Didn't they have those kid leashes they put on your wrists when you were little?" Joe asked.
"Yeah, but my friends made more fun of the idea of me in a dog collar. It never happened though, just the threat. that he made in front of all my friends. humiliated me into submission."
Duncan noted that Richie had a tendency to stay close when they went out unless specifically told he could go off on his own. "Anything else?"
"All sorts of weird stuff. He probably has all sorts of stuff in mind that I never heard about," Richie shrugged opening the door for Joe and Duncan.
"Really?" Duncan asked.
"I shouldn't have said that, huh?"
"No, but I was going to ask anyway."
The three met the rest of their party and followed the hostess to their table. They all sat, Richie in-between Duncan and Greg and across from Joe who was between Adam and Amanda. They were looking over the menus when the waitress approached them.
"Hi, my name's Heather," she said with a twinkle in her eye. "What can I get you all to drink?"