She rolls her eyes, and I can tell she’s been crying hard. They’re red and bloodshot.
“Yeah, I know. But it doesn’t make the pain hurt any less.”
I wrap my arms around her shoulders and squeeze. “I know.”
We sit in silence for a few moments, listening to Taylor’s lyrics. “Want to go trash his car? Find a couple of golf clubs or bats and go all T-Swift on his ass?”
That makes her giggle as she wipes a tear from her cheek. “Yes.” Her lips form into a small smile.
I chuckle. “He’s not worth your tears. Or the amount of bail money it’d take to get us out of jail.”
She sniffs, wiping her face once again. “I just never imagined someone you love could hurt you so much. He was just telling me last week how he couldn’t imagine not having me in his life, how happy he was with me, and how excited he was for our future. I thought he was hinting at getting engaged, and nowthis? How the hell did it go from that to this?”
“Sounds like he was trying to convince himself more than anything. He’s a dumbass for letting go of the best thing that’s ever happened to him.” I grab her hand and grip it to grab her attention. “You know that, right? He wasn’t good enough foryou.”
She nods in agreement, although I’m not sure she really believes it yet. I know she’s hurting, and she has every right to be, but I want to take it off her mind.
“Want to go out? Or get some ice cream? I won’t allow you to wallow over him alone,” I say firmly, but with a smile as I play to her ice cream weakness.
“You could give me all the dirty details on you and Travis?” She perks up, her brows rise with hopefulness.
I sigh, rolling my eyes at her. “Seriously? Hearing sex details of Travis and me will not help.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
I finally talk her into leaving the apartment. We drive around for a bit until we find a cute little ice cream shop. I give hersomedetails about Travis and me, but there isn’t much to say because I don’t really know what’s going on between us. I’m just as confused as I was after the first time we fell into bed together, but a part of me doesn’t want to question it just yet. The more I get emotionally involved, the higher the risk for getting hurt by himagain.
“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 hookup 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 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 wasnothealthy, Court. You should be able to go to a store or restaurant or thebathroomwithout 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 rentingHow to Be Singleon 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 good night text.
Viola
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.