Page 121 of Accidental Roommates

“Because I’m trying to figure out how you feel about this. You know I want a future with you, right?”

“No. We’ve never talked about it.”

“We haven’t?” he asks, surprised. “Are you sure?”

“We say stuff like it’d be nice to live by the beach or have a house with a big yard, but we never say it in the context of us being together.”

“But you want that, right? For us to be together?”

I nod, my eyes darting away from him.

“Kenzie, look at me.” When I do, he says, “Tell me you want this. Unless you don’t, in which case I really need to know. Like soon. Today.”

Today? Why does he need to know today?

“Can we talk about this later?” I ask. “Your uncle’s going to be back any minute.”

“This can’t wait. Just tell me. Do you want a future with me or not?”

I look at him. “I want that more than anything. I want a life with you. The house, the kids, everything.”

“Thank God.” He hugs me to his chest. “You had me worried for a minute there.”

“But I’m scared.” I push him back. “I’m scared it’ll be taken away from me like last time.”

“I’m scared of that too, but then I remind myself it’s not the same. My relationship with you is completely different than my relationship with Nikki. And your relationship with Liam was nothing like your relationship with me.”

“Not even close.”

“So stop comparing the two. It’s different this time, for both of us. We’re good together, Kenzie. We love each other. We’re best friends. That’s why we’re going to last.”

I hug him. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Kenzie, do you have a safety pin?” I hear my mom say.

Pulling away from Jace, I see my mom coming down the hall.

“I don’t think so,” I say. “What do you need it for?”

“This dress.” She points to the neckline which shows a lot of cleavage. “When I bought it, I didn’t know it’d be so revealing.”

“Mom, it’s fine. It looks great on you.”

“Are you sure?”

“She’s right,” Jace says. “It looks great.”

“Thank you.” She smiles at him.

Greg comes back in with the wine. “Jace, I noticed the garage door is missing some screws. Think you could fix that for me?”

“Sure. I’ll do it this week. Uncle Greg, this is Judy, Kenzie’s mom.”

I glance at my mom, who’s staring at Greg like he’s the hottest guy she’s ever seen. My mom’s never looked at a guy that way. Or maybe she did when she met my dad, but I wasn’t around back then.

“Nice to meet you,” Greg says, staring back at my mom. He hands Jace the wine bottles and walks up to my mom. “You’re stunning.”

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