“Yeah. See ya.”
She goes in her room and closes the door.
She left me to talk to Dan. Any chance I had with her is gone. I blew it. She has someone else now.
Wait—what am I thinking? It’s not over. She’s been on one date with Dan. It’s not too late. I can’t give up yet.
I love Kenzie, and I’m not giving up on making her mine.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Kenzie
“I saw Maddie today,” Dan says, as he swipes through his phone.
I turn to face him on the couch. “Did you talk to her?”
“No. She was going in the library.”
“Maybe it’s time.”
“Time to what?” He sets his phone down and looks at me.
“Talk to her.”
“You told me to wait.”
“I think she’s had enough time to think it over. By now, she’s either realized she’s okay without you, or misses you and wants you back.”
“I’m worried it’s the first one. That she’s okay without me.”
“But you don’t know that. You have to find out for sure.”
The past few weeks, Dan and I have been talking about his ex-girlfriend Maddie and how he can win her back. We also talk about Jace and my feelings for him, feelings I can’t seem to get rid of.
I haven’t seen Jace much since that Sunday he went to Nikki’s house. For all I know, he’s seeing her again, or maybe he has someone else. I don’t ask, because I really don’t want to know, just like Dan doesn’t want to know if Maddie is seeing someone.
It’s great to have someone who understands what I’m going through. I’m really glad I met Dan. He’s become a good friend. We hang out so much that people assume we’re dating, but we’re not. We went on one date and realized there was nothing there. No spark. No chemistry. We even tried kissing but felt nothing.
We talked about it and decided it was because we’re in love with other people. If that wasn’t the case, maybe Dan and I would feel something for each other. He’s hot, so it’s not like I don’t feel an attraction to him. But the attraction doesn’t lead to a spark because my heart belongs to someone else. But that someone hasn’t shown even the slightest interest in me since the night we had sex. He barely even talks to me anymore.
I’m trying to accept that Jace and I just aren’t meant to be together, but my heart won’t let me. It keeps telling me to try again. Dan tells me that too. He’s trying to get me back together with Jace, and I’m trying to get him back together with Maddie. But as of yet, neither of us has taken any action.
“I can’t do it,” Dan says, rubbing the scruff along his jaw. “I can’t talk to her and risk having her reject me. Or worse, tell me she’s with someone else.”
“You can’t keep putting it off. We’ve already gone over what to say to her. You just need to do it. It’s possible she’ll reject you, but isn’t that better than going your whole life regretting the fact that you didn’t give it one last try?”
“But why would she want to get back together with me? Nothing’s changed. I’m still not ready to get married and have kids. If that’s what she wants, I can’t give that to her.”
“But you want that eventually, right?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“What if she wants to know when? Can you give her an answer? Like five years. Is that too soon?”
“Not at all. Five years would be great. I want kids while I’m still young. I just don’t want them in the next year or two.”
“But you never told Maddie this?” I grab my soda from the table and take a sip.