Spitfire in Love (Chasing Red 3)

“He gets into these moods now and then. He leaves town for a couple weeks or so to reset. This time, he asked our boss if he could be sent up north for a project. Don’t worry, he’ll be back.”

“Hi, Cal!”

“Hey, B!”

I said goodbye as the petite blond possessively wrapped her arms around his waist and walked to my class.

Now that I knew he was okay and was not getting tortured or bleeding on his floor and was just in a mood, I felt stupid. And angry. What the hell was his problem? I was worried and obsessing over him for nothing. He couldn’t even send me a courtesy text? I didn’t even need him to tell me where he was. Sayonara. It’s been nice, but I don’t want you to give me rides anymore would’ve been enough instead of leaving me up in the air. I curled my hands into fists.

The professor was droning on and on about marketing when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. My breathing picked up. When I looked at the message, it was Tala.

T: How about dinner? At my place.

K: Sure. If you behave, you might just get lucky.

T: Put out or get out, girlfriend.

And that, I realized as I smiled like a loon, was all I needed from her to feel better.

* * *

“It’s either The Notebook or anything Keanu Reeves. John Wick, maybe? Or how about Despicable Me? Hurry up! Pick one already,” Tala said, comfortable in her unicorn pajamas.

I was wearing monkey pajamas, which reminded me of Bigfoot. I refused to let it ruin my mood. I’d get over him pretty soon. He was old news to me now.

We were lying on her bed, gorging on pizza we’d ordered and some healthy fruit smoothies she made. To “balance the pizza out,” she’d said. I wanted a milkshake, but since I wanted to be a supportive, awesome best friend tonight, I let her have her way. I convinced her to switch to beers eventually, and I happily sucked on one, enjoying the lull it gave my body. I gave myself another couple of hours before I needed to bless their bathroom. Being lactose intolerant was a real struggle.

It was getting late, but we both had afternoon classes tomorrow, so we had agreed it was time for a girls’ night. I just had to make sure I woke up early tomorrow to do an assignment and review for a quiz.

Mrs. B was sleeping over at her sister’s place, which was unusual because she didn’t like to leave her house. I asked Tala about it.

“I’m so glad she’s spending more time with her siblings. Her mood’s definitely improved. She doesn’t nag me as much,” she said, sounding happy. “Can we binge-watch Game of Thrones?”

Picking out a movie or show usually took us a half hour before we settled on one we both liked. I reached for another slice of pizza. I felt like a bloated whale, but I couldn’t stop eating.

“You made me do a GOT marathon just a couple of weeks ago,” I reminded her.

She rolled her eyes at me and started singing a Taylor Swift song, then she played it on her phone, hooking it up to her speakers. I jumped from her bed to the floor, started singing the song at the top of my lungs. Tala joined me. We butchered it, but I thought we made up for it by doing some cool-ass moves that got us breathing fast. The music changed, and we just kept at it.

“Tala and Kara here to break it down for ya, yo. Ya ready?” she laughed.

“OMG this is so damn cringey. I love it. I love you, girlfriend. Okay, but watch this, Tal. Guess what this epic move is!” I wheezed, swishing my hips left and right with my arms doing the helicopter.

“It’s an octopus mating dance, baby. Make sure you do it when your crush walks by. Guess this one!”

We were laughing our asses off, and we were both happy and young, and we didn’t care about responsibilities, and nothing could have pierced our bubble. And then she started laughing and yelping in pain as she fell on the floor and cradled her crotch.

“Cramp, cramp. I think I ripped something. My vagina. Shit. Shit. Hold on, I gotta lie down,” she laughed-snorted-sobbed.

“Don’t break the vag before you use it, baby,” I said, laughing with her.

That brought on more giggles. When our laughter died down, we just stretched out spread-eagle on the floor together in comfortable, happy silence.

“I like someone,” I blurted.

So much for old news, huh?

I sighed and turned my head so I could see her reaction. “I think it’s more than like, actually.”