Page 51 of Ripped & Shipped
The mention of the diner brings images of Ella Mae rushing uninvited into my head. It also reminds me of something I’ve wanted to ask Courtney. She’s outside my circle enough that I can be sure of no repercussions to this request.
“Actually, I had a question for you, Courtney. Do you have a minute?”
“You finally want my wife to fix you up with one of her hot friends? Man. Took you long enough to ask.”
I shake my head. These two are constantly joking about trying to get me a date.
“I date.”
“By date, do you mean hanging out with your friends for guys’ night?”
“I date women.”
“When was the last time you took a woman out? You know, had a meal with her, shared conversation, and laughed together.”
“Last Wednesday.”
Okay. That wasn’t a date. But for the sake of Alex’s criteria, and for the benefit of getting him off my back, it fits.
“Really? You were here last Wednesday. And, you left and went on a date?”
“Yep.”
Before Alex can pry more details out of me, I look at Courtney.
“Do you know anything about Instagram?”
Alex coughs out a laugh. It’s an admittedly out-of-character question for me to ask.
“Sure,” Courtney says. “Doesn’t everyone?
Alex scoffs. “Hun, Chris here is such a throwback, it’s like a dinosaur had a baby with a caveman, and out popped Chris. He’d use Morse code, smoke signals, or chisel in stone if it could get his point across efficiently.”
Courtney laughs.
I shrug. He’s not wrong.
“Why do you need to know?” Alex asks me.
I sit still, silently staring at Alex.
He studies me and then guesses, “It’s a woman.”
I blink slowly, willing my face to remain placid.
Alex’s eyebrows raise and I know he knows he hit on something, so I concede with a small nod.
Then I clarify. “Not like that, though. She’s a girl from my hometown. Woman. Yeah. I guess she is now. Anyway, it’s not anything romantic.”
Alex looks at Courtney. “That’s Chris for you. He’s so busy protecting some hometown girl, he didn’t even notice she’s a woman.”
“I think that’s admirable,” Courtney says.
“Who said anything about protecting anyone?” I mutter.
“When did blindness to the opposite sex become admirable?” Alex asks, nuzzling his face into Courtney’s neck.
She shakes her head. “Think about it. He could be like the other guys in your platoon.”
