If I kissed him and he punched me, I’d be nursing a black eye and a broken heart, but I’m sure our friendship would survive. Alexi was that good of a person.
“Come on, let me take you back to your dorm,” I said.
“I had a great time today, Troy. Thank you for bringing me here.”
I unlocked the car, but he didn’t get in. Those eyes stared at me. Waiting…
“Lexi…”
“You say it like you want to say more.” I heard the hope in his voice.
“I…maybe…” I let out a breath. “I don’t know how to say it.”
He smiled. “You’ll figure it out.”
6
ALEXI
Something had shiftedbetween Troy and me, and after the afternoon we’d had, I wasn’t even sure who’d initiated it.
We’d both flirted, joked, and had fun.
If this was what it was like to move toward more, I was strapped in and ready for the ride. I craved more moments like this with Troy.
He’d been more relaxed than I’d seen him since he’d started college, and we’d only seen each other at big family events like my Uncle Sergei and Uncle Rory’s wedding.
My phone buzzed, so I took it out of my pocket.
Jett
Hey, boo. Wanna hear all about your meeting later. I’m at a study group. They have these waffles at this place that’ll give you an orgasm from the scent alone.
I laughed.
“What’s funny?” Troy asked without taking his eyes off the road.
“My roommate is waxing lyrical about waffles. I think the burger won’t be my only experience of American food today. Like I said, I need to find that gym.”
He glanced at me and shook his head.
Before I closed the app, I saw the message I’d received from Elite earlier.
ELITE CONNECTIONS
Hi, Alexi. This is Veronika from Customer Relations at Elite. I’m so very sorry to postpone your meeting with our agent again. I assure you this doesn’t happen at Elite unless there’s a good reason. I will have a look at the schedule and drop you a message soon.
Hi, Alexi. Your Elite agent will be out of town for a few days, but I’ve scheduled a meeting for you a week from Friday. You’ll receive an email with the details shortly. Let me know if this doesn’t work for you.
I replied to the message, agreeing to the meeting, but something in the pit of my stomach told me I should probably cancel the whole Elite thing.
What if Troy found out? Would he be upset or angry?
Maybe I could meet this person, talk to them, and explain how I felt.
Things had changed. When Jett had mentioned this super-secret agency, I’d been on the verge of giving up and going home. None of my attempts to bump into Troy on campus had succeeded.
Now, we weren’t exactly dating, but I’d seen him twice, and we’d had a great time today without the intervention of an external agency or dating coach.
