“Dalton! Can you believe that? He’s totally into you. I know you have that crazy ‘I don’t date basketball players’ thing, but this is Dalton Thompson. If I didn’t like Collin, I’d be totally jealous.”
I was already shaking my head before she could finish her statement. “Amanda, I can’t.”
“Why not?” She stood up from the booth, glaring at me with her hands on her hips.
“Because, Amanda. You just said it yourself. I don’t date basketball players.” In all honesty, I would have said yes if she had picked any other basketball player for me to go out with.
“Is this a short person thing?”
I swatted at her. “Don’t be an ass.”
“Well, unless it’s something legitimate, you don’t have a viable excuse. Don’t make me play the ‘you owe me’ card. Just think. If you go, we’ll be even.”
I was still shaking my head, but her pitiful expression was crumbling my resolve.
“Please, Courtney. I’ll be your BFF.”
“You’re already my BFF and we’re not in grade school.”
“Say you’ll go,” she pled. “Ple-e-ease.”
I had to say yes. I’d be a complete bitch otherwise. I nodded as Amanda squealed, dragging me in for an excited hug as she jumped up and down. I was screwed.
chapter six
Dalton
It was a complete stroke of genius to crash Collin’s date with Amanda. At first I’d been disappointed Courtney didn’t come back to our table, until I realized Amanda was a friend of hers. I seized the opportunity to pump her for information. When Collin and Amanda started making plans to go out, I shamelessly jumped onboard, suggesting we should double-date. This time it was Collin’s turn to kick me under the table, but I ignored him. He owed me.
The next night I swung by to pick up Collin on the way to get the girls at Amanda’s dorm. “I still can’t believe you latched on to my date. Why didn’t you just ask this chick out yourself?”
I shrugged. “Desperate times call for desperate measures. Besides, I volunteered to drive, didn’t I?”
“How the hell does that make up for cock-blocking me? What is it about this girl that’s making you act like such a pussy?” He adjusted the vents in the car so the heat was directed at him.
“It’s nothing. We were friends once and now she’s acting a little weird. I figured this way she wouldn’t be able to run off without talking to me.”
“You obviously can’t hear yourself. ‘Oh, I hope she talks to me.’” He batted his eyes, making his best attempt to sound like a girl.
I couldn’t help laughing even though he was making fun of me. That still didn’t mean he didn’t get sucker punched in the arm as we pulled into the parking lot of Amanda’s dorm.
“Hey, dick. Just be a man and admit you want to tap that. Own it.” He rubbed his arm, complaining.
“Don’t worry about what I want,” I warned as we trekked through the snow toward the building.
“Take a pill, Nancy. You should be kissing my ass anyway for letting you tag along.”
I would have answered, but I spotted Courtney and Amanda walking toward us from the common area inside the building. Amanda flashed a brilliant smile at Collin. Courtney, on the other hand, glared at me. One way or another I planned on getting to the bottom of her animosity tonight. “Hey,” I greeted her.
“Hey,” she answered without looking up at me. I think the only reason she acknowledged me was because Amanda nudged her with her elbow. Things quickly became awkward as we stood facing each other with no one saying a word.
“So, everybody knows each other, right? Collin, Dalton—Amanda, Courtney,” Amanda said, pointing back and forth. “This ought to be fun, don’t you think?”
“You’re crazy, girl.” Collin laughed, throwing his arm around her shoulder. We fell into typical two-by-two double date formation with Courtney and me trailing behind as we all walked to the car. I had a ton of shit I wanted to say, but I felt tongue-tied. Collin was right. I was acting like a wuss. I never got tripped up around the ladies. Of course, I’d never had one treat me like such a dirtbag.
Amanda and Collin climbed into the backseat, leaving Courtney to ride shotgun. I could tell by her hesitation that she wasn’t happy about the arrangement, but she never spoke up.
Amanda kept the car ride from becoming uncomfortable by maintaining a running commentary, mostly about basketball. I had to hand it to her. She knew her shit. Courtney didn’t say much despite my efforts to coax her to open up. By the time I pulled into the parking lot of the bowling alley, I was about over it. It was cool seeing her after all these years, and even though I was curious about what her problem was, I wasn’t going to put up with the attitude all night.
I waited until Collin and Amanda entered the bowling alley ahead of us before snagging Courtney’s hand to pull her to a stop.
She jerked her hand free, looking like she could have taken a swing at me. “What the hell?”
“Shouldn’t those be my words? What’s your deal?” I shoved my hands into my pockets in frustration. “Are you completely forgetting that we were friends once?”
“Me? You’re the one who forgot that.” She turned toward the building until I reached out and snagged her hand again.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Are you really that dense? I didn’t think basketball was a contact sport, but you must have taken some shots to the head.”
“What are you talking about? I mean yeah, we stopped hanging out, but we were kids. I don’t understand why we have to be enemies now.”
“Yo, are you guys coming?” Collin yelled from the front door.
“In a minute, bro,” I called back.
Courtney snorted with disbelief before shaking her head, muttering, “Stopped hanging out? Let me clue you in, sport-o. We didn’t stop hanging out. You did. One minute we’re friends and the next you’re gone. All you cared about was basketball. I know that was important, but you just dropped me.”
She stomped off toward the entrance and I let her go this time as I processed her words. Her reasoning felt crazy. We were just kids. What happened to our friendship had been mutual. Well, my dad had a lot to do with it, but she was forgetting all the times I tried reaching out to her. She was the one who acted like she had other shit going on that didn’t concern me. She was the one who became distant. I hadn’t thought about anything from back then for a long time, but it was all suddenly coming back to me now. My dad was all over my ass. Every day it was practice, practice, practice for hours. I remember needing someone to talk to, but the few times I tried with Courtney she pretty much dissed me. I always assumed us drifting apart was a mutual thing. It floored me that she felt I was responsible.
I jogged after her, shaking my head with disbelief. I caught up to her as she was trying to pay for her shoe rental.
“Hey, what are you doing?” I asked.
“Uh—getting my shoes. What do you mean?”
“Like it or not, this is a date. There’s no way in hell I’m letting my girl pay.”
“I’m not your girl,” she said as the pimply-faced teenager behind the counter grinned at us, obviously enjoying the free show.
“Hey, aren’t you Dalton Thompson?” he asked enthusiastically.
“Oh brother,” Courtney said, snatching her shoes off the counter.
“Yeah, what’s up? I need size fifteen and I’ll cover both.” I handed over a ten-dollar bill.
“You think I could get your autograph?” He held up a pen and notepad after placing my change and a pair of bowling shoes on the counter.
I signed the notepad and caught up with Courtney, who was seated at a table changing into her bowling shoes. “Look, Court,” I said, falling back on the nickname I’d used when we were younger. “I didn’t realize you thought I had ditched you. I mean, you remember how my dad was. I guess I always assumed the way basketball sort of took over my life that we both just got busy and stopped making time for each other.”