Rebound

Timeout- Matthew

I was officially drunk.

It wasn't my fault, though. The first three shots were my idea, sure, but after that? Wilt and Miles took over the show, drowning their sorrows about their girl problems.

Me? I couldn't relate. Ever since I'd sworn off any and every woman, my life had been drama free and oh so peaceful.

My last girlfriend had definitively fucked me over in more ways than I had cared to admit, so taking time for myself the past two years on my own was needed.

That didn't mean I didn't partake in a one night stand once every few months, just to dip my toes in the water and see if I was ready to get back into dating, but every morning I'd woken with a girl who'd looked vastly different in the morning light, I realized that I didn't want someone who advertised herself as something she wasn't.

I wanted someone who didn't care about the Instagram influencing and the social circles she could join just by being with me. Someone who was normal, who had their own hopes and dreams outside of how many likes they could get on their videos.

That girl, however, seemed like she didn't exist as, even after two years of being alone, I had never once come across her.

"I can't believe she did you like that, bro. She's not worth it. You could get any girl you wanted in here, she was literally just a Maddie. You can't let it get to you like this, man."

I tuned back in to Miles and Wilt commiserating over the fact that Wilt's ex girlfriend had only used him to gain more followers, especially considering that his growing basketball career was close to rivaling my own and Eli's, though he was on a completely different team than the two of us.

We'd come together for a night of fun and drinking after the two flew in from Oklahoma, their home since joining Thunder, and in New York we'd had our pick of the bars that we wanted to choose from.

Ever since Eli had joined the Knicks, he'd been able to talk me up while I continued on in college and, with him gone, had been able to shine until I decided to join the draft.

Still, the bonds we'd created in school stood the test of time, and I was thankful for a lifelong friend who was able to forgive me as easily as he was for my past indiscretions.

"A Maddie? Damn, we're still using that? Poor Pat."

Miles described any girl who had done any of us wrong as a 'Maddie', a term for a girl in college who'd screwed over our other friend Pat (Patrick) so fully and completely that he'd quit basketball and had taken a job in sports marketing instead.

I clapped Miles on the shoulder and stared my drunk, glassy eyes towards Wilt.

"Why don't we just forget about girls? Just us and beer and tequila shots!"

"That's disgusting. Fuck that, I see my rebound, hold my drink."

I followed after his dark figure into the crowd and then it was just me and Miles.