No one likes to call it a night before anyone else in the evening. In my thirties, I could careless if I am the first one to tap out in the night. However, in my younger twenties, that was a completely different story. You always thought you would miss out on something. I have always been one to go with the flow of the evening. I would ride it out wherever it took me.
It was the holidays in 2004. I was at a bar in Greene County with my Beta buddy, Will, and his older brother. We were drinking quite a bit. There was a very handsome man ordering a drink right next to me. He resembled my favorite frat boy, Ken. I ended up talking to him. Nolan was older than me. He told me he was home for the holidays from Los Angeles. He said he played Arena Football out there. I tried to play it cool. We joined our groups together at the bar and drank the night away. I was not able to drive. Nolan had the idea to grab beer and go back to the hotel to drink. I went with the flow. He was a gentleman to say the least. We did not have sex. We did do some heavy petting and kissing. He cuddled me up tight through the night. I was the first one up in the morning. I was on cloud nine. I thought it best to savor the feeling by leaving before it could turn awkward.
I found out later that Nolan was well-known in our home town area. He was also twelve years older than me. A couple of years later he retired from Arena Football and tried a run at politics.
A handful of years later, I was down in Greene County with my parents at their friends son’s graduation party. Nolan was there. He was good friends with them too. I am not sure if he realized who I was or not. We did have small talk. I did not want to make it awkward for everyone. I had a good laugh to myself. It is always a small world.
Nolan was actually inducted into the Arena Football Hall of Fame two years ago. It would have made for a better story if he became a politician. Ha.