Page 25 of Game Changer

“No, he didn’t. But I appreciate the concern. You know you’re gonna flunk school, Jer.”

“I’m not. But I appreciate the concern. How’d it go?”

“Altering my meds a little, and I don’t feel worthy of love.”

“Not bad for an hour’s work. Think she could help me?”

“Ain’t nobody got time for that, Jer.”

Jeremy feigned being shot in the chest, “Ouch! That hurt!” He shoved AJ playfully. “Let’s eat.”

“Again? How can you possibly still be hungry?”

“It’s like you don’t even know me, man.”

Chapter 8

“Can we talk?” Britt asked quietly as she closed the door behind her.

“Do we have to?” AJ sighed as he turned off the TV and put down his bottle of beer. “I don’t have it in me to fight with you again today, Britt.”

“I know, AJ. I don’t want to fight with you, either.” She dropped her bags next to the door and came to sit facing him, on the footstool.

Picking up his hands she put them in her lap and held on to them.

“Look, I’ve been thinking since our fight earlier,” she began. “I know you’re hurting. I know you’re upset. You think you love this girl on the internet and your life is ruined because I talked you into marrying me for a few years. It’s temporary, Pim. You’re talking like you’re going to marry this girl and you don’t even know her all that well–”

“Please don’t diminish this, Britt.” He gritted his teeth. “It drives me insane. You belittle my feelings for her because she’s someone I met online. How, or where I met her doesn’t matter. What matters is, she’s the gamechanger. She’s the one who made me realize that marrying someone for anything other than true love, is just plain stupid.” He paused for a breath and she tried again.

“Ok, you’re right. I’m sorry. I’ve never seen you so bent out of shape over a girl before. Not even Ange. I just don’t want you getting hurt and I feel like so many internet ‘things’ end in pain and suffering. But anyway, my point is, that this marriage between us is temporary. And I really don’t want to spend whatever time we have to be married, fighting with my best friend. I miss you, AJ. There’s nothing we can do about it other than ride out the necessary time.”

“You could let me divorce you,” AJ suggested quietly.

Britt laughed. “Why would we do that? You haven’t even met the girl in person yet, AJ. You can’t want to marry her already! What harm is there in just leaving things as they are for a while?”

AJ glared at her.

Dad said never hit a woman.

Dad said never hit a woman.

Dad said – wait. Mom said you can hit a woman if she deserved it.

Britt deserves it, right mom?

Ah. Nope, maybe mom said I could hit a girl if it was in self-defense, not deserved. Wrong D.

He looked into Britt’s eyes and sighed.

“We really need a truce, Pim. Or this is going to destroy us.”

We need a divorce, Britt. Or this is going to destroy us.

“Fine,” he relented.

Doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.

Push it, fight for what you want, damnit! Grow a spine for God’s sake! You don’t WANT to be married to her. Just get a divorce, or an annulment…

---