Page 100 of More To Us

She sighs. "We've already talked about this. It was one night. That's all it was ever supposed to be. Nothing more."

"But he wants more. He wants to go out with you."

"Well, it's not going to happen. I have a boyfriend."

"Who you have no chemistry with."

"That is not true," she says emphatically. "We have plenty of chemistry."

"Then why does your sex life suck?"

"It doesn't suck. It's just not great. And it doesn't have to be. Matt is a nice guy and he does nice things for me. He's smart. He's mature. He has a good job. He's a good boyfriend."

"Who you have no chemistry with," I say again. "You had chemistry with Dylan."

"Yeah. But that's all we had. Chemistry. A relationship has to be more than that."

"You don't know what a relationship with Dylan would be like until you try it."

She bursts up from the couch. "For the last time, I am not dating Dylan. We had a perfect, amazing, romantic night with sizzling hot sex and I'm not going to ruin the memory of that by dating him."

I stand in front of her. "You know how crazy you sound? You're being completely unreasonable. And irrational."

She turns her back to me. "I don't care. I'm not dating him."

I go around to face her. "Then at least talk to him. He's been thinking about you ever since that night. He's been looking for you. He wrote a freaking song to get you back. If you're not interested, then at least tell him that so he can move on."

"I don't want to see him again."

"Really? Because I think you do. When you saw him on stage that night, your whole face lit up, a lot more than it does when you see Matt."

She rolls her eyes. "You're exaggerating."

"No, I'm not. I know you, Amber, and I can tell when you really like a guy, and I've never seen you like a guy as much as Dylan."

She throws her hands up. "Because it's a fantasy. It's not real. Matt is real."

"But he doesn't excite you. You're not excited when you talk about him, or when he comes over, or when you've just spent the night with him. I mean, just now, after being with Matt, you walked in here like a zombie, with no energy."

"Because I'm tired. I need coffee." She goes to the kitchen and yanks the machine out from under the cabinet.

"You wouldn't need coffee to be excited about Dylan. You should've seen your face when I told you he wrote a song about you. In fact, this entire time we've been talking about him, you've had more energy. You perked up as soon as I said his name, and then I mentioned Matt and your shoulders sagged."

She scoops coffee grounds into the filter. "You're just making this up because you don't like Matt."

"I like Matt. There's nothing wrong with him. He's just not the right guy for you."

She pours water in the coffee pot, then turns to me, leaning against the counter. "So what are you doing today? Want to go to a movie?"

I guess she's done talking about Dylan. She's so frustrating. She had this great night with a hot guy who really wants to date her and who I know she secretly wants to see again, and yet she refuses to even talk to him. She's always been like this. She denies herself the stuff she really wants. I don't know why.

"I can't," I say. "Austin's picking me up and we're going to his house for a Labor Day cookout. His dad's grilling burgers. I could call him and see if you could come along. Or are you meeting up with Matt later?"

"He has to work at the suit shop. They're having some big Labor Day sale and they needed extra help."

"Then come with me to Austin's house."

"I think I'll just stay here and hang out. This may be my last chance to veg out in front of the TV for a while. I have stuff going on every night next week. I think I'm in too many activities."

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