Page 105 of Accidental Roommates

“You both decided this? Or did you do that thing where you make a statement and if the person doesn’t disagree with it, you assume you know what they’re thinking?”

“I might’ve done that, but he had a chance to disagree.”

“Kenzie, I’ve told you a million times to stop doing that. You need to ask the person what they want, not make assumptions based on what they didn’t say. You need to talk to Jace and find out what he’s really thinking.”

“We talked this morning and nothing’s changed. We’re still just roommates. And now he’s with his ex-girlfriend. There was a fire at her apartment last night and she asked him to move her stuff to her friend’s house. He didn’t even hesitate. He just did it.”

“So that’s why you’re sad.” She sighs. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but this isn’t Jace’s fault. You’re breaking your own heart this time.”

“No, I’m keeping it from being broken again.”

“Too late. It’s already breaking. I can hear it in your voice. You love Jace, but you refuse to tell him, and refuse to let him know you want to be in a relationship with him. And since he doesn’t know any of that, he’s not doing the things he would do if he knew the truth. He wouldn’t be with his ex right now if he knew how you felt about him.”

“I don’t know about that. I think he still has feelings for her. He wanted to marry this girl. He dated her for years.”

“Just like you and Liam. If Liam asked for your help, I bet you’d do it.”

“Never. Not after what he did.”

“If he really needed your help, you’d do it. You know you would. There’s a part of you that still cares about him, even after what he did.”

Tori is probably right. If Liam really needed my help, there’s a good chance I’d do it, even though the logical part of me would be screaming at me not to.

So maybe I shouldn’t be upset with Jace for going to help Nikki. But why is he still there? He said he’d be back soon, but he’s been gone for hours. Does that mean they’re getting back together?

Why do I care? Why does it hurt so much for me to think of Jace with someone else? Why did I let it get to this point?

It’s like Tori said. This isn’t Jace’s fault. I did this to myself. By falling for Jace, I broke my own heart.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Jace

“Nik, I’m not doing any more.” I set her computer on the desk. “You’ve dragged this out for hours.”

“I can’t help that it took this long.” She moves her long hair to one side and pets it like a dog. It was one of the things she did when we were dating that always drove me nuts.

“I was only supposed to help you with the bed and a few boxes, not spend hours moving practically everything you own. And stopping for lunch was not part of the deal.”

“I was hungry. What’d you expect me to do? Starve to death?”

“You never ate anything when we were dating. Now you’re suddenly hungry?” I walk to the door. “I’m heading out.”

“Wait.” She runs up to me. “The apartment manager said I could move back in a couple weeks. I’ll need your truck again.”

“Ask Brent. He has a truck.”

“Brent won’t do it unless I pay him.”

“So pay him. I’m not doing this again. I only did it today because I didn’t want the repair guys ruining your stuff. And then they didn’t even show up. You need to call your landlord and tell him.”

She picks at her nails. “Um, yeah, the repair guys weren’t actually scheduled to work on my apartment today.”

“So you lied to me? When are they showing up?”

She shrugs. “Tuesday? Maybe Wednesday? But it doesn’t matter. I still needed my stuff moved.”

“Dammit, Nikki. Why do you do this shit?”

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