Page 7 of Yours for the Weekend

Chapter Four

“ W e’ll get them next time!” my beer pong partner says. I still have no idea what her real name is, but all her friends keep calling her M, so I’m rolling with it.

“Definitely!” I say as we step further away from the beer pong table.

M and I narrowly lost, and I have to admit, even though Casey is my preferred beer pong partner, it was a lot of fun to play with her.

She carried her own, sinking as many cups as I did.

And she is a hilarious shit talker while simultaneously being an encouraging teammate.

Maybe my ex was wrong—since M and I are really hitting it off—and it is possible to find chemistry with someone other than Nina.

I glance around for Casey, but don’t see her. She was cheering us on while we played, teasing Lily’s brother every time M or I sank our shot. I don’t know when she left.

“Are you hungry?” M asks. “Rebecca makes the best buffalo chicken dip.”

“Sure,” I say, while scanning the crowd by the fire pit. I don’t see Lily either. Did they sneak off together?

“So, Casey mentioned you’re a teacher?” M says as she grabs plates for us. There’s a folding table decked out with various fruits, chips, dips, macaroni and pasta salads, hamburgers, and hot dogs.

“I am.”

“That’s so cool. You enjoying your summer break?”

“Definitely.” I grab a scoop of spinach dip alongside the buffalo chicken dip.

Time to lean into this connection. Who cares where Casey and Lily went?

I have an attractive woman I enjoy talking to standing in front of me.

She should be my focus, not anyone or anything else.

“I’ve worked the past couple years at this summer camp my friend owns, but I decided to take this year off and relax. ”

“Nice. I’m sure the last thing you want to do is work with more kids once the school year is over.”

I laugh. “Are you a teacher too?”

“Hell no. I don’t have the patience for that.” She chuckles. “I’m a nurse.”

“Oh, my girlfriend’s a nurse!” I say excitedly before realizing I just referred to Nina as my girlfriend and freeze.

“Wait. No. She’s not my girlfriend. Well, not anymore; she was my girlfriend, but we broke up a long time ago—over a year ago—and she’s actually engaged.

To the woman she cheated on me with, Jamie, who is also a nurse. ” And oh, my god. Shut up!

Sweat pools on the back of my neck, I shove a chip in my mouth, and a glop of buffalo chicken dip falls off the side and lands on my shirt. I curse. Can this moment get any worse?

M stares at me. The easy smile that’s been painted on her mouth all afternoon now looks forced. She clears her throat. “Cool. Cool. That’s cool,” she says after an uncomfortably long pause .

I nod, afraid if I speak, I’m going to word vomit some more. I busy myself with grabbing slices of watermelon.

“Hey, so, Trevor asked me to bring him a cheeseburger.” M scratches the back of her head. “I’ll catch up with you later?”

I give her a tight-lipped smile, and she dashes off with an empty plate. I groan and slap my palm to my face. What the hell is wrong with me?

A bulky, shirtless guy tries to reach around me for some macaroni salad. I apologize quickly and get out of his way.

There’s still no sight of Casey—or Lily—and my heart sinks. M laughs with a group of girls at the beer pong table. And it settles heavy in my chest. Nina was right, I’m never going to find someone who will love me the way she did. Why bother trying?

I don’t want to be here anymore.

So I leave.

There’s nothing new on Nina’s Instagram. Her congratulatory comments have stopped rolling in, and she hasn’t updated her story since this morning when she posted that Jamie made Nina her “world famous avocado toast” like the basic bitch she is.

I haven’t been back at Casey’s house long.

I tried to eat the food I took from Lily’s, and despite knowing the buffalo chicken dip is probably delicious, it tasted like spicy cardboard.

In fact, everything on my plate tasted terrible, so I tossed it in the trash and took a quick shower.

As I reach for my towel, my phone dings.

Casey:

Where are you??

I debate not responding. I’m exhausted from socializing with strangers, embarrassing myself in front of a cute girl, and I’m hurt by Nina’s little “my future wife is the best chef” comment she captioned her Instastory with.

That’s what she used to say about me. My vision goes blurry as tears build in my eyes.

Nina loved my cooking. It was one of my favorite things to do for her. I’d prepare four course meals entirely from scratch, and now she’s boasting about avocado toast? It’s not even hard to make. I wipe the tears from my cheeks and set my phone down.

I don’t understand. What does Jamie have that I don’t?

My phone lights up with an incoming call from Casey. I sigh and put a little pep in my step as I answer. “Hey! Sorry. I came back to your place.”

“What?” There’s music booming in the background that grows fainter by the second. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Okay, I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Wait. No! I’m fine, Casey,” I rush to say. I know this is her home, but I want to be alone for a little bit longer. This pity party only has room for one. “Stay. Have fun.”

Casey snorts as someone calls her name. It’s probably Lily. I roll my eyes.

“Just stay,” I insist. “Have fun!”

“No, I—” Casey cuts off to say something to someone, but her voice is too muffled for me to understand.

My jaw clenches. “I’ll talk to you later. Bye!”

I hang up before Casey has a chance to respond and chuck my phone on the counter.

I drop my face into my hands to stifle a loud groan.

Of course, Casey should stay and hang out with Lily.

Her stupidly gorgeous and touchy-feely friend with benefits other best friend.

I hope they have an amazing time. They’re both single, and Casey should be forgetting all about her douche bag ex-boyfriend, Marcus.

Hell, it was only last night I suggested Casey text Lily to do just that.

And … wait. My mind replays Casey introducing Lily and me.

She referred to both of us as her best friend.

And I’m not in elementary school, I’m not possessive over our friendship.

She is allowed to have as many best friends as she wants, and it doesn’t subtract from our friendship. But that’s not what I’m hung up on.

I’m so new to sex in general—only sleeping with the first person I ever felt true attraction for—and I’m especially new to casual sex, I didn’t think it was possible for friends to hook up and it not ruin the friendship.

Sure, it works out in movies and books, but that’s only ’cause the two fall in love, and that’s definitely not going to happen with Casey and me.

I’m nowhere near ready to move on from Nina, but Lily and Casey’s story didn’t end in romance either.

They hook up all the time when they’re both single and in the same city.

It doesn’t ruin their friendship. So why was I so convinced it would ruin ours?

Pondering this, I get dressed in my University of Michigan football T-shirt and an old pair of Casey’s running shorts. She left them at my place two years ago, and I’ve worn them so many times they’re mine now.

I flop down in the middle of the massive, comfy wrap-around sectional that’s adorned with soft blankets and throw pillows in multiple shades of blue. I wrap myself in a blanket cocoon when a door opens in the distance.

“Dakota?” Casey calls out, and I want to be annoyed she left the party after I insisted she should stay, but my heart does a little flip that she didn’t.

“In here.”

She bounds up the steps and rounds the corner, her gaze narrowed and concerned. “There you are.”

“Here I am.” Now wrapped in three different throw blankets. Casey plops down on the couch next to me.

“Did Emily upset you?” Casey asks, and I frown.

“Who?”

“Emily? The girl you spent all afternoon flirting with.”

Emily! That’s her name. Oh, my god, it doesn’t even start with a “M.” I can’t believe— wait a minute . Casey’s voice had a slight edge to it, almost unnoticeable, but it was there. Is she jealous?

“So, did she?” Casey’s expression is serious. “Because I’ll say something to her if she did.”

“No. No. She was perfectly nice.” I rub my temples, exasperated. “I blew things up by bringing up Nina and Jamie in this super awkward way.”

Casey’s hard gaze turns sympathetic. “Oh, I’m sorry, Dakota.”

My skin feels all prickly. I don’t want her pity. I don’t want anyone’s pity. I know I’m a mess.

“How was Lily?” I try my hardest to sound sincere and not bitter, but by the way Casey’s eyebrows pinch together, I don’t think I’m successful.

“Good. Everyone was good.” Casey leans back into the couch and reaches for a throw pillow to wrap her arms around. “It was fun catching up with everyone.”

I nod.

We fall into a weird silence, both focusing our attention on the television. I picked a random season of Survivor for background noise. We both watch absently.

After a couple long minutes, Casey stands. “Um. I think I’m going to shower.”

“Okay. ”

“Okay.”

Casey hesitates, and I think she’s going to say more, but then she leaves. After her bedroom door shuts behind her, I deflate. My entire body sagging into the couch. I cover my face with my blankets and groan.

That was weird, right? Why was that so weird?

My phone dings, and my first thought is Nina posted something new.

I may or may not have turned on her notifications because I’m a fucking masochist. But there are no new notifications on my screen.

That’s strange. I definitely heard a ding.

I shrug and focus on Survivor when I hear another ding.

No new notifications on my phone. What the hell?