Page 52 of Accidental Roommates

“Why’d you do that?” I ask Andrea.

“What? You really want to go out with that guy?”

“I don’t know. You didn’t give me enough time to decide.”

“You should know right away if you want to go out with a guy. There should be an instant attraction. A spark. If you have to wait for that to happen, then he’s not the guy for you.”

“It’s not always about attraction. Sometimes you have to get to know the person before you feel an attraction. I think I’m going to call him. He seemed like a nice guy.”

“If by nice you mean boring. And you’re not calling him. What’s the rule?”

“Let the guy make the first move, but then why didn’t I give him my number?”

“Because you don’t want him calling you. You only took his number to be polite.”

“Okay, don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t think your dating advice is right for me. Maybe it works for you, but I don’t like playing games with guys. I like to be direct and honest.”

“But guys don’t. They tell you what you want to hear to get you to go out with them and then you find out later that none of it was true.”

“That’s deceitful. I don’t want to date those guys.”

“It’s how dating works. Girls do it too. It’s not always a bad thing to stretch the truth. Sometimes it’s the only way to get to know someone. Like one time I told this guy I played golf because he was really into golf and I knew he’d never date me if I told him I didn’t play.”

“What happened when he found out the truth?“

“He never found out. We only went out one time. But if it had gone beyond that, he would’ve gotten to know me and decided it wasn’t that important that I didn’t like golf.”

“I don’t know. I think it would’ve been a problem.”

“Maybe so, but it doesn’t matter because I never planned to marry the guy. He was just someone to date. It was part of my ongoing process to find what I want in a guy. And now I know I don’t want to be with a guy who’s obsessed with golf. You know how long it takes to play golf? Like four hours, sometimes more. And they go every weekend. They don’t have time for a relationship.”

“What about Troy?”

“What about him?”

“How’d you get him to go out with you? What trick did you use?”

“None. Troy and I were friends first. He was in my chem class sophomore year and we ended up sitting next to each other. We started hanging out and became friends. I went to all his games and then hung out with him and the team afterwards. They’re all like brothers to me now.” She smiles. “I think you’ll really like living with Jace. He’s such a sweetheart. And he’s so romantic. Too bad he ended up with a bitch like Nikki. She never treated him right. Don’t tell him this, but we were all hoping they’d break up so he could find someone else. Someone who deserves a guy like him.”

“Would you ever date him?”

“Never. He’s hot, and has a killer body, but like I said, he’s like a brother to me.”

I wish I felt that way about Jace. If I did, I’d be able to stop thinking about him. Stop staring at him. Stop dreaming of him. I had a dream about him last night. We were together. In his bed. Doing things we should never do.

It was wrong to think of him that way, but I can’t help what I dream. The only thing I can control is how I act around him. And I need to keep acting like his friend, even though I want us to be more than that.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Kenzie

“You two gonna move along?” a guy says, stopping behind Andrea.

It’s really crowded and people keep having to go around us as we stand here talking.

Andrea turns to the guy. “That depends.”

“Depends on what?” he asks, smiling at her.

---