[Friday, August 4]

Tami immediately slumped onto the couch when she got home from work and slid off her shoes.

"Feet hurt?" Gretchen asked her. She was on the couch herself, feet up on the coffee table, reading a financial planning guide.

"Yeah," Tami answered. "Maybe 54 hours a week was a bit much. But the overtime is great."

"I'm telling you, if you're trying to save up for a transfer to Baylor in the spring, you'd make great tips at Bazookas. You wouldn't have to work so many hours. And there's an opening for a waitress, since I quit today."

"You did? Which job did you get?"

Gretchen had been sending out applications and interviewing all summer. "I'll be in charge of payroll at an office in Crawford."

"Crawford? So are you moving soon?" Tami would have to scramble to find a roommate to share the rent for the fall.

"No. I'll commute. I'll share the apartment with you for another semester, and by then I should be able to afford my own place closer to work. You might want to move closer to Baylor anyway." Currently, it was a 15-20 minute drive between campuses.

Tami was surprised to find herself thinking it, but she was going to miss Gretchen.

"Eric coming over tonight?" Gretchen asked her.

"No, he has to do night inventory at the bookstore today." He'd been so busy this summer, as had Tami. They didn't see each other as often as they would like.

"Stumpy's going to stop by tomorrow morning and fix that leaky faucet," Gretchen told her.

"You mean the one you took the washer out of yesterday?" Tami asked with a smirk.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Gretchen insisted.

"You don't want to admit you actually want to date him."

"He said he completely broke it off with that chick in New York when he went home last weekend for his brother's wedding."

"And do you believe him?" Tami asked.

"Funny thing…I do," Gretchen said. "Stumpy's bluntly honest. About everything. He just says what he thinks all the time."

"Hmmm….I don't know anyone else like that."

Gretchen smiled tightly.

"Well, except there is one thing you aren't being honest about," Tami told her.

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Look, Gretchen, just tell Stumpy you like him and you want to date him for real. Tell him you want to be his girlfriend. His only girlfriend."

"But I don't want to be his girlfriend. He's three years younger than me. We're too different. He's a football player, for Christ's sake. He listens to Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp."

"Fine. Then keep breaking things around the apartment, making him fix them, and rewarding him with dates."

"I'm glad you see the wisdom of my plan."

[Saturday, September 30, 1989]

"That's my boy, that's my boy, that's my boy!" Mr. Taylor shouted, standing, as Eric ran toward the end zone in a completely unexpected touchdown attempt after the snap.

Tami screamed and whistled and jumped and clapped.

The new Mrs. Taylor smiled at her husband's boyish excitement. Mr. Taylor hugged and kissed his wife when the announcer screamed, "Touchdown!"

"Did you see that?" he asked her. "Did you see my boy?"

"I did see him," Karen said, and laughed and put an arm around his waist.

Baylor had lost the first two games of the season, but won the third. Today, they were playing Texas Tech, and at halftime, it hadn't been clear who was going to win.

Mr. Taylor pointed toward the field, where Eric was being jostled and cheered by his teammates. "NFL material!" he shouted. "Right there!"

[Monday, October 9, 1989]

Tami slid her transfer application to Baylor into the big blue mailbox outside her apartment complex while Eric crossed his fingers.

"I'll have to find a new roommate next spring," she said. "Whether I make it to Baylor or not."

"I hope you get a nicer roommate next time."

"Gretchen is nice when she wants to be."

"How often does she want to be?" Eric asked.

"Well, she turned out to be pretty easy to live with, after all." She sighed. "I better get a grant or scholarship or something."

"When will you hear back?" Eric asked her.

"In November. Around my birthday." She'd be turning 20, a month before Eric did. They weren't going to be teenagers anymore.

Eric grinned and wiggled an eyebrow. "Think we should go up to your room for a good luck tumble?"

She laughed. "Sure, but you'll have to earn it first."

"I let you bounce your application essay ideas off me."

"One point," she said as she turned and walked toward the apartments.

"I wore your favorite T-shirt today." He had on a tight, black one that emphasized his broad shoulders. She'd mentioned once that she thought he looked sexy in it.

"Two points," she said as she put a foot on the stairs.

He swept her up unexpectedly, so that her legs were draped over his arms and she had to cling to his neck for support. "I carried you up the stairs to bed..."

[Saturday, October 28, 1989]

In their afternoon homecoming game, the Baylor Bears massacred Texas Christian 27 to 9. Mr. Taylor left as soon as the game was over to head back to Tyler, and Tami and Eric went to a homecoming semi-formal event.

"I'm so proud of you," Tami whispered in his ear as they danced, and she felt proud to have him in her arms, too. She could feel the jealous gaze of other girls.

Eric pulled back and looked into her eyes. "You know, I just might make it to the NFL after all."

"Make it or not, Eric, I'm still going to love you."

He pressed his forehead against hers and kissed her. "Let's get out of here," he whispered. "Stumpy's out partying. There's no one back at my room."

She made him dance another three songs before she let him take her to his bed.

[*]

Tami was coming down from the crest of the wave, catching her breath in the aftermath of her orgasm, when Eric yelled, "Oh Goddamn it! Shit! Fuuuuck!"

Eric rarely swore in front of her, other than the occasional damn or hell. He never strung three strong expletives together in a row like that. Alarmed, Tami sat straight up in the bed. "What's wrong?"

"I think it broke," he said. "The condom broke."