At First Sight - Nicholas Sparks [62]
“You having fun?” he might say, or, “How about I get you another beer?”
“I’m doing fine, thanks,” Jeremy would answer.
Though he hadn’t seen these people in a couple of months, few seemed to feel the need to catch up, which made sense considering that most of them were more Alvin’s friends than his. In fact, as he scanned the room, he realized that he didn’t recognize half the people here, which struck him as somewhat amusing since it was supposed to be his party. He would have been just as happy spending the evening with only Alvin, Nate, and his brothers, but Alvin was notorious for seizing any excuse to have a good time. And Alvin seemed to be having a great time, especially considering the 76ers were leading by two halfway through the third period. He was among those whooping and hollering every time the 76ers scored. As were Jeremy’s brothers. Only Nate, who’d never been much of a sports fan, seemed uninterested in the game; he was busy loading his plate with another slice of pizza.
The party had started out on a good note; he’d stepped into the room and had been greeted as if he’d recently returned from war. His brothers had crowded around and bombarded him with questions about Lexie and Boone Creek and the house; Nate had been kind enough to bring a list of possible story ideas, one of which concerned the increasingly popular use of astrology as a way to invest. Jeremy listened, making mental notes, and admitted to himself that it was original enough for a column, if not an article; he thanked Nate, with the promise to keep it in mind. Not that it would do any good.
Nonetheless, it had been easy to forget his problems for the time being. Distance had a strange way of making the aggravations of Boone Creek life seem humorous; while telling his brothers about the renovations, they couldn’t stop laughing at his description of the workers, and Jeremy found himself laughing as well. They roared at the fact that Lexie made him stay at Greenleaf and pleaded with Jeremy to take pictures of his room so they could see the stuffed critters themselves. They wanted a photo of Jed, too, who in the course of the conversation had grown to almost mythic proportions in their minds. And they begged, just as Alvin had, to let them know as soon as he went hunting so they could hear all about it.
In time, they drifted toward the television along with everyone else, getting in the spirit of the evening. Jeremy felt content to watch from a distance.
“Nice shirt,” Alvin commented, coming up.
“I know,” Jeremy said. “You’ve already told me twice.”
“And I’m going to keep telling you. I don’t care whether Lexie bought it or not. You look like a tourist.”
“So?”
“So? We’re going out tonight. We’re going to storm this city, party it up in honor of your last few nights as a single man, and you’re dressed like you just spent the afternoon milking cows. It’s not you.”
“It’s the new me.”
Alvin laughed. “Weren’t you the one who was complaining about the shirt in the first place?”
“I think it grew on me.”
“It certainly grew somewhere. But I’ll tell you, my friends are getting a kick out of it.”
Jeremy lifted his beer and took another sip. He’d been nursing it for an hour, and it was getting warm. “I can’t say that bothers me. Half of them are wearing T-shirts they bought at rock concerts, and the other half are covered in leather. I’d look out of place no matter what I wore.”
“That may be true,” Alvin said with a grin, “but notice the energy they’re bringing to your party. I couldn’t