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holds out a hand to help me off of my barstool.
    “You really have nothing to worry about though. I was supposed to wear purple, remember. These guys have no way of knowing I was me. They probably think I didn’t even show up. But I like your initiative.” We both giggle as I take his hand and dismount from the bar.
    Touching his hand sends a warm excitement through my body. Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve touched a man romantically. I check his face, to see if he feels it too. He’s still smiling sweetly, so I’ll take that as a yes.
    “I should probably tell Lacey I’m leaving.”
    ~
    Lacey has been getting rejected all night by a variety of hot men, who are immediately interested in her looks, and then just as quickly turned off by how desperately strong she’s coming on. After each new rejection, Lacey returns to Marty at the bar, as if he were her corner man, refueling her with drinks, and boosting up her confidence with compliments, before sending her back into the ring to get knocked around some more. I’ve decided that he’s a good guy. I can trust him despite his misguided efforts to get her to forfeit her match and recuperate in the locker room with him. I can tell that he cares about her, and he just wants to protect her from being knocked out in such a way that it would lead to brain damage and end her career forever.
    She has just left his corner, after taking another shot of Kahlua flavored liquid courage, and is fearlessly talking to a brand new hunky guy when I approach.
    “I’m not surprised you’ve done well in the Market. You look really smart!” I overhear her say, as she juts out her breasts. I hate to interrupt, but I’ll be brief.
    “Hey, Lacey, do you mind if I take off?”
    She hardly looks up at me as she says, “Huh? Sure. See ya’!” And turns her attention back to the hunk to say, “You know what would make you look even smarter? Glasses!” Ha! I love that girl. That said, she is a little drunk, so I stop by Marty’s corner on my way to the door.
    “Hey Marty, can you make sure Lacey doesn’t do anything stupid here tonight?”
    “She shouldn’t have any problem staying out of trouble, apparently all these guys she’s talking to are here looking for you.” Wow. So it did work. “Anyway, that’s the excuse they’re giving her when they decide they don’t want to talk to her anymore.”
    “Really? It’s going that bad?”
“I just wish she would realize how much she has to offer. She’s gorgeous. She’s funny, even though most of her jokes are completely unintentional—“
    “Right?!” I interject. “Sometimes I think I’m the only one who gets how hilarious she is.”
    “Yeah, Lacey’s got everything going for her, she just doesn’t realize it. I hate that about her.” I laugh despite myself. “Don’t worry,” he finishes, “I won’t let her have sex with anyone until she’s 100% sober.” Adding at the last minute, “Including me.” He thinks about it, “Yeah, that would be gross. Yuck.” Then realizing how obviously he considered it, “It’s fun to think about though, right?”
“Thank you, Marty. You’re a really good guy. I appreciate that.”
    “Hey, and congratulations on your master plan working out. Lacey told me about it. That was a really crazy idea,” he says, jovially adding, “You’re not sane.”
    “Thanks… I think.” I seriously enjoy that guy.
    I laugh and we share a warm goodbye, as I leave the bar where history has now been made to go outside, where John is already waiting for me. Mission accomplished. Feeling good. Some day I’ll tell my grandkids about this night.
     

Chapter 6
     
    As we walk to this mystery place that John considers his favorite spot, he tells me more about his day to day as a doctor.
    “When you’re in med school thinking about being a hero, you don’t really allow yourself to consider how stressful it actually is to have a patient’s life in your hands. Because, you know,