Necessary Roughness: 2nd Quarter

I throw my clothes on and raid her refrigerator for a bottle of water - she keeps Fiji water in her fridge, go figure. I drink it down - lo and behold, she's out.

"Aisha," I whisper in her ear, poking her in the arm. "Honey, wake up. We need to go to dinner."

"Mmm, that was awesome," she moans. "At least sex won't be boring when we're dating." Well, that's a relief.

"I'm just glad we're here and not around the girls," I opine. "It's bad enough Isabelle doesn't know about us. Imagine explaining to her why I was calling you a slut."

"Relax, Neil," Aisha soothes. "You're thinking too far ahead. Besides, I know you don't really think I'm a slut." This part's true - she may be a dynamite lover but she's no slut. "You and I both know sex isn't sex unless there's nails digging in, hair being pulled, names being called, you name it. I'm just glad you can handle me."

"Damn right I can, baby," I answer, still a bit nervous. "I guess we have to break the news now." I look over my gorgeous girlfriend - still getting used to that, since I've been too busy and unstable for women other than casual flings since the divorce. She gets dressed slowly - I don't mind a bit since I get to see all of her beautiful body as she does.

"I know what will make it go well," she answers. "Your sister isn't cooking, is she?" My sister cook? The one thing we never had to do for ourselves growing up - and Gretchen never really took up. "What's Isabelle's favorite restaurant?" Turns out it's a local pizzeria, which sounds pretty good to me - and to Aisha.

We head over in Aisha's beautiful convertible - too bad it's only a two-seater or I'd get one like it - and it turns out the girls have beaten us there. They seem a little stunned when we walk up, if for no other reason than that we're holding hands.

It's a booth for four that's been turned into five - Crystal agrees to take the end so Aisha and I can squeeze in. It also turns out that this is the first time Gretchen's meeting Aisha - even with the seat shuffling, it seems to go well.

Gretchen is the one to address the elephant in the room. "So Neil, what are you and Aisha doing at a place like this together?"

Crystal's next. "And holding hands?" She seems serious. "What's your deal with my Big Sister, Coach?"

"All right, chill out," I reply, half-joking. "I actually brought you guys here to make an announcement." Isabelle seems a little nervous - I think she thinks we're heading back to Auburn. We're not, except maybe for homecoming or the Iron Bowl in the future, y'know, if I can duck away from the game the next day or we have a bye week. "Aisha and I are dating."

Gretchen smiles, though she's been aware of the time I've been spending with Aisha. Crystal also seems pleased, even fist-bumping Aisha.

Isabelle seems awfully quiet, though - she barely eats anything, and I know she loves this pizza. I guess I wish she could be happy for me, but maybe she's just having a rough day. I know I was when we lost - it still hurts, and getting the Patriots next week doesn't help matters - but it's been all right. I'm making the best of it - and dating a woman like Aisha sure as hell takes the bad taste out of my mouth from that loss. I with it would do the same for her.