This is War (Checkmate Duet 1)

“So now that I’m an old single lady again, how do people my age meet guys?” she asks, licking the ice cream off her spoon.

I laugh, scooping my finger in what’s left of my banana split. I nearly spit it out after hearing her question. “You’re twenty-two!” I almost shout, but then remember people are sitting all around us. “You don’t even get a discount on your car insurance yet.”

“But I feel old to be getting into the dating game. I’ve been with Toby since I was eighteen. I never had to do the bar thing to find a hook-up on Tinker, or whatever the hell it’s called.”

“I think you mean Tinder,” I laugh. “You’re going to graduate soon, so take this as a blessing! You get to be single and free to do whatever the hell you want. You could travel, have all the one-night stands you want, or finally see a movie you want to see for once.”

She snorts. “Yeah, he was kind of an asshole when it came to picking out movies.”

“Speaking of, we should go buy a bunch of junk food and binge eat while watching chick flicks. It’ll get your mind off that douchebag.” I know I’m being an enabler, but if it makes her feel better.

She pushes her empty dish away and dramatically sighs, setting her head down on the table. “I don’t even know how to be single. I keep having to remind myself not to text him, because it’s just something I always did.”

“Texting someone every second of your day was not healthy, Court. You should be able to go to a store or restaurant or the bathroom without him knowing.”

She looks up at me, not moving her head. “I’m pathetic.”

“C’mon. No pity parties on my watch.”

“Do we still get to binge eat?” she teases, reaching for her purse and letting me pull her along.

“Uh, duh. That’s the main reason I came over tonight.” I grin.

For one night, I set my thoughts aside. I focus on Courtney and cracking jokes to keep her spirits up. We end up renting How to Be Single on iTunes and surrounding ourselves with candy and popcorn. I know I’ll wake up with gut rot in the morning, but tonight, I don’t care.

Before I fall asleep, I check my phone and send Travis a goodnight text. I hope you’re feeling better. I ate enough junk to feed a small village and will probably be puking my guts out by morning. I don’t think I’ll be able to look at ice cream ever again.

After waiting twenty minutes and not hearing back from him, I decide to turn my phone on silent. Hopefully, he’s sleeping off his crappy mood and will want to talk about it tomorrow. Courtney is passed out next to me on the floor, but I can’t turn my brain off long enough to fall asleep.

Sometime between remembering meeting Travis for the first time and reminiscing about the last time we were together, I finally managed to fall asleep. When I wake up, there’s a smile on my face, and I can’t wait to see Travis after he’s done with work tonight. The fact that we can’t act any different around Drew is kind of thrilling in its own way.

Then when I grab my phone and see I have no new messages, disappointment fills my heart, and I hate that I even feel that way.

“Are you hungry?” I hear Courtney ask from the kitchen. “I can make pancakes. Or eggs. I might have some bacon around here somewhere…” I can hear her digging around the fridge.

I groan. “I can’t even think about eating right now.”

“Really?” she asks, stuffing something in her mouth. She sounds peppy, so that’s something I suppose, although I’m almost certain it’s all an act.

“Maybe after I shower. I can feel the sugar leaking out of my pores.” I stretch and stand up from the floor.

“Go ahead. I don’t plan to shower all weekend.” The sadness in her voice doesn’t go unnoticed.

I walk to where she is, her hair piled on top of her head, a piece of toast in one hand and her mouth full of jelly. Looks like I may need to stay longer than I anticipated.

“Don’t give me that look.” She sighs. “I just need a couple days to cry it out and then I promise, no more wallowing.”

I can’t really argue with that. Everyone needs a few days to get it out of their system.

“Okay, but by Monday, I expect normal, crazy Courtney back.”

“Promise.”

I smile. “Okay, I’m jumping in the shower.”

“Okay, no problem,” she says around another mouthful.

Ever since the day Travis took my clothes and made me walk down the hallway naked, taking a shower brings a whole new meaning. The memories of our past and the memories of the present makes me conflicted on everything, but I can’t stop thinking about them.