Dammit. He was funny.
I grinned and bit my lip as I texted back.
Which one? I met three different people with that description today.
“What has you smiling like that?” Jonah asked, his face warm and his lips curving up a bit on the sides.
“Oh, this guy.” I put my phone face down and ignored the guilt forming in my gut. Jonah and I were friends andnothingmore. I should talk about this guy to make sure we both knew where we were at. It would be healthy. “He asked for my number today at work, and he sent me something that made me laugh.”
“Hmm,” Jonah said, his lips flattening but that was the only indication he heard me. “You like him?”
“Unsure.” I took a hesitant breath. “Is this weird?”
“No.” He looked at his textbook instead of me, and his shoulders seemed to go rigid. “If we live together for the year, it would be absurd to think you wouldn’t date.”
“Or you,” I said back, making sure this was a two-way street.
“Doubtful. I don’t date. Ever.” He still didn’t look at me and highlighted some text before writing it down on a notecard.
“Do you sleep around then?” I asked, damn well knowing this was getting into dangerous territory, fast.
“The few times I did that, I hated myself.”
“Yeah, I get it.”
He looked up at me again, and I could almost feel how tense he was. His jaw tightened, and his lips parted as he tilted his head to the side just a bit. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve done a few hook-ups after a party, and I felt worse. I like to see someone for a while rather than a one-night stand. Not knocking it by any means, just not for me.” I shrugged and didn’t feel the pull to respond to Zach at all, not while Jonah gave me all his attention. “Why did you hate yourself?”
“Felt gross, too dangerous. They were unnecessary distractions.” He wet his bottom lip and cleared his throat. “Well, you better text him back.”
“Right.” Disappointment weighed me down, which was stupid because Michael wasjusthere. We couldn’t flirt or fool around. With a resigned sigh, I texted Zach a few times until he asked me about grabbing dinner that weekend.
I said yes. Jonah and I wouldnothappen, and while I didn’t want to lead Zach on, I could do one date before coming to a decision. Knowing it was happening Friday night made everything more serious, more concrete.
It also guaranteed I wouldn’t do anything with my roommate.
12
Jonah
She went on a date.
She wore a skin-tight black tank-top and jeans and went to meet some guy at a restaurant, smelling like a floral arrangement and making the place seem too quiet in her absence. There was no pop music coming from her room or little bouts of her laughter at whatever YouTube video she was watching.
When did this happen? When did I start noticingeverythingabout her?
I needed to not think about the fact she was gone for two hours already. What could they be doing at dinner for two whole hours? My stomach clenched with annoyance imagining her kissing this dude, even though I had no right.
No damn right.
“Shit,” I muttered to myself and turned on the TV to watch football. It wasn’t even in my top three favorite sports, but it was on. I tried paying attention as best I could, but my stomach wouldn’t settle down. Did this schmuck know how thoughtful she was? Ry had made me breakfast two more times over the past week and sat and ate with me as we talked about our day.
I hadn’t done that with anyone…ever.
Two hours and thirty minutes.
Something broke inside my brain as I stared mindlessly at the TV and tried not to think about her. This was exactly why I couldn’t do anything about my attraction to her. All this wasted time could’ve gone toward watching old games, working out, or heading to the rink and skating. Seconds away from being furious with myself, I froze when uneven footsteps came up the stairs.
