Page 7

Honor

It’s true what they say: online dating is a total wasteland where hopes and dreams go to die. I stare at my phone with disgust and strongly consider throwing it away. Or at least deleting the SwipeRight app, which is a more sensible choice.

Seventy-two hours ago, I had started my venture into the online dating world with bright optimism.

Almost immediately after activating my profile, I had no less than a dozen men reaching out to get to know me.

A dozen ! I had excitedly clicked each one, hoping that my future husband was among them.

I’ll get this whole thing wrapped up in the free trial period , I had thought.

But oh no, such was not to be the case. At least two guys were ten years older than me, another couple had profiles that clearly indicated they wanted little more than a hook-up, several flat-out ghosted me when I responded, another one made an inappropriate comment involving feet and a physically impossible act.

Frankly, it was enough to make me despair for the human race—the male gender of it, anyway.

One by one, each so-called “match” dropped off. Most of my prospects dwindled, as did my hopes.

I’m down to three: MrNiceGuy98, Dave234, and WhiteKnight1005. Well, at least there’s three. Better than zero.

That’s the kind of positive thinking that I’m taking with me back to Cup of Swords tavern to meet up with Wes.

He’s been hounding me for information about my online dating, which is a little surprising that he’s so interested; on the other hand, it’s not surprising at all, given his overprotective instinct.

Opening the door to the tavern, my fantasy-loving heart flips.

I had been too nervous the last time to truly appreciate the tavern.

Now, it feels like I’ve stepped into a Lord of the Rings movie set…

with tabletop games and a few less elves.

A handful of couples and groups play games at their tables, their dice clinking against the wood.

My eyes immediately go to Wes, and my heart does an even bigger flip.

He leans against the bar, looking rugged and handsome in his jeans and bomber jacket.

I’ve seen Wes a million times and yet something about him is different now.

Something about the way he’s filling out the jeans now that he hadn’t before, or the way that he holds himself.

Get ahold of yourself. It’s just Wes.

He turns to look at me, his face breaking into a smile. And it’s official. I have a bit of a crush on my best friend. How inconvenient.

Still, I soldier forward, walking to join him even as my heart beats in my ears.

“Fancy running into you here,” I say, just to say something and make the moment less awkward.

“Isn’t that supposed to be my line at a bar?” he asks with a quirk of his eyebrow.

“Only if you were trying to pick me up,” I say, and instantly regret it. Wes freezes, his brow wrinkling slightly. An awkward silence falls like a wet blanket between us until I break it with a slightly hysterical giggle. “Which you’re not, obviously. Being best friends and all.”

“Right,” Wes says, still looking at me strangely. He pushes a cup toward me. “I got you your diet soda.”

“Thanks,” I say, taking a big slurp. “Want to play a game?”

He grins at me. “Always.”

“Want to play Settlers?”

“You bet your sheep I do.”

I two-finger blast him. “Better hold onto your bricks.”

Wes laughs and so do I, relaxing into our familiar best-friend game banter. We grab the board game from a stack and sit down at the table, pulling out the pieces. The dice clatter on the table and we both reach for it, our hands brushing lightly.

A flash of heat whips through me and I jerk my hand back, flushing. Wes gives me a questioning look. I shake my head at myself. Get yourself together. This is the same guy you once watched eat a beetle on a dare. Granted, he was ten, but the point still holds.

I busy myself laying out the hexagonal tiles, tokens, and settlements. Wes separates the resource cards and places them in piles. We’ve played this game a million times; I automatically hand him the red pieces and take the blue for myself.

“So, tell me about your venture into the new world of online dating,” Wes says, getting right to it as he rolls the dice. “Met any interesting people?”

“Well, it’s only been a few days, so I haven’t actually met anyone yet. We’ve just exchanged messages.”

“Good. Don’t rush into it. You don’t know who any of these guys are. If you do meet up with them, make sure it’s in a public place and text me when and where. Don’t let them follow you back to your car–”

“Okay, okay,” I say, holding up a hand. “Chill out. These are regular guys, not Jack the Ripper.”

His brow furrows. “You don’t know who they are. They could be anyone.”

I roll my eyes. “The first one’s handle is MrNiceGuy. Does that sound evil to you?”

“Obvious front,” Wes says. “He’s just trying to get you to put your guard down.”

I laugh. “His real name is Sam and he's an accountant who lives with a cute cat, has a dry sense of nerdy humor, and who likes the symphony.”

Wes huffs. “Right. More likely he’ll tell you, ‘It rubs the lotion on its skin or it gets the hose again’,” he says, quoting Silence of the Lambs .

“Don’t be so cynical. We have already made plans to meet at an orchestra performance of Star Wars music.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow at 7.”

“If you need an excuse to escape from your date, I can always call you and pretend there’s an emergency.”

“I’m hoping I won’t need an excuse,” I say, giving him a look, “but thanks.” I trade him a brick for a wheat resource.

Wes rolls the dice. “Alright, so that’s the first guy, obvious murderer and possible rapist pretending to be a nice guy. What loser is next?”

I chuckle even as I shoot a glare at him. “The second wonderful guy I’ve been messaging is Dave. He’s a construction engineer who loves NASCAR, video games, and riding dirt bikes.”

Wes shakes his head. “Other than the video games, what do you have in common with this dude?”

I shrug. “Maybe nothing, but he seems like he’s a lot of fun. On his profile, he says the book he lives his life by is the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy .”

“Ah, yes, always remember to bring a towel,” Wes says.

“Exactly. See, you like this guy.”

“I like the book; doesn’t mean I like the guy. Seriously, you need to work on your standards.”

“Ouch!” I cross my arms. “Okay, smarty-pants, how about this? For favorite travel experience, he said it was a toss-up between attending the Daytona 500 and his nephew’s last birthday party. That is cute and wholesome. He sounds like a lovely person.”

“Sure, great guy. With whom you have nothing in common.” He rolls the dice for his turn and picks up a card.

I blow out my breath as I build my settlement. “You’re not being much help, you know. I’m trying to stay positive here, but you’re bagging on all of them.”

“I’m just waiting to hear someone who sounds worthy of you.” His gaze locks on mine, his brown eyes warm and sincere.

My irritation slips away as my cheeks heat. “That’s, um, very nice of you to say.”

“It’s the truth. So, come on, who else do ya got in the mix?”

I trade some wood with the bank. “WhiteKnight2005.”

Wes puts a robber game piece on my ore and steals a card. “A knight? Now we’re talking. Tell me more about this knight.”

“His real name is Todd. Looking at his profile, we already have so much in common. He loves D&D and video games, just like me. He’s also a self-professed nerd. He loves all the same things I do, down to my obsession with 90s anime.”

“Sounds perfect for you,” Wes says, his voice soft.

I make a noncommittal noise in my throat as I roll the dice.

“No?” he asks, his voice sharp. “What’s wrong?”

“He’s almost too perfect.”

Wes’s eyebrows shoot up his forehead. “Is there such a thing?”

“How many men do you know who love Sailor Moon and the Powerpuff Girls? You don’t even love them like I do.”

Wes stares at me, the wheels clearly turning in his head. He shrugs. “Obviously he’s a man with even better taste than I have. Sounds like you have things in common. What’s the problem?”

“He’s also suspiciously quick to respond,” I add. “As soon as I send him a message, he sends me a message back within ten minutes.”

Wes frowns. “I thought that’s what women want, isn’t it? A guy who doesn’t leave them hanging on read.”

“Okay, but it’s almost as if he’s sitting at his computer, just waiting for me to message him. Which is weird, right? This guy doesn’t even know me, and yet he already seems completely bought in.”

“I thought women wanted a guy who doesn’t play games,” Wes shoots back, his voice heated.

“Yes, but I haven’t even met this guy and it’s like he’s decided I’m the love of his life.”

“Maybe he can already tell it from your profile. Do people always have to meet to fall in love?”

I stare at him, incredulous. “Weren’t you just telling me that the first guy was secretly an ax murderer? And now you want me to fall in love with some other rando based on his response rate?”

“I didn’t say I wanted you to fall in love. I’m just saying maybe give the guy a chance.”

I sniff. “I can’t trust a guy like that when we haven’t even met.” My eyes narrow. “Why are you defending this guy so much, anyway? Do you know something I don’t?”

Wes’s gaze drops from mine. “No.”

“Are you sure?” I pry. His whole attitude is making my spider sense tingle.

“I don’t know anything.”

“You’re lying!” I say, pointing my finger at him. “You never can meet my eyes when you lie and the tips of your ears turn red. You know who it is.”

“I don’t!”

Sudden horror races through me. “Is it Mike?” Ugh, is this Mike’s way of winning me back? Gross.

“Mike?” Wes asks. The horror in his tone mirrors mine. “No! Why would you think it’s Mike?”

“I don’t know, but you’re defending this guy a lot. I don’t know who else you’d be so eager to defend.”

“You think I would defend Mike? Who was rude to you? I never thought you should go out with him in the first place. Trust me, it’s not Mike.”

I frown, studying Wes’s face. It’s a face I know almost as well as my own. He’s meeting my gaze, but the tips of his ears are redder than a tomato. “Fine, maybe I believe you that it’s not Mike.”

“Good, you should.”

“Still, you know something that you’re not telling me.” I narrow my eyes.

“Maybe I just like the thought of you dating a fellow knight,” Wes says, shrugging. “Maybe he will want to join my team.”

“I’m trying to find a date, not recruit for your team,” I say drolly.

Wes grins. “Can’t it be both?” He winks. “Kidding, kidding.”

“Not funny. Now, if you’re done talking about my love life, I need to trade you some lumber for ore.”

“Deal,” Wes says, handing over a card. He rolls the dice, and we trade and build until finally I win–by a hair. Wes smiles, looking just as pleased as I am at my win. If I didn’t know him better, I would think he lost on purpose just to make me happy. But that’s crazy…right?

Just as crazy as how he was acting earlier.

For a moment, a wild thought had floated through my mind as Wes had knocked down my online matches: that maybe he was jealous.

But that was quickly dashed by his championing of WhiteKnight.

Wes never approves of anyone I like, but now he likes some random guy off the internet?

Heck, he defended the guy so much, I almost expected him to say he wanted to date the guy himself!

None of this is helping my general confusion about dating…

or my strange new attraction to Wes. Every time our fingers brushed as we traded cards or reached for the dice, a tingle of heat raced down my arms to my belly.

It slowly grew to an awkward awareness of him that made me blush and stutter to the point that Wes asked me if I were feeling alright.

Ugh, what is happening to me?