Page 90 of Accidental Roommates

“You don’t need to. I’m fine.” I pick up the coffee and take a sip.

“Want anything to eat? I made your favorite pancakes.”

“Chocolate chip?”

“Yeah. You want some?”

I smile. “Like you have to ask?”

He opens the oven and takes out a plate topped with pancakes.

“Careful, the plate’s hot.” He sets it in front of me. The pancakes are perfectly shaped and a light golden brown.

“How’d you get these so perfect?”

He hands me a fork. “My new pan. It works great. We still need to make dinner with it. How about tonight? Or do you have another date?”

“I don’t have a date,” I say, cutting into the pancakes.

“It didn’t go well?” he asks, taking a drink of his coffee.

“He has a girlfriend.”

“Are you serious?” Jace sets his coffee down. “The asshole asked you out when he already has a girlfriend?”

“Technically, she broke up with him, but in his head, she’s still his girlfriend. He couldn’t stop talking about her.”

“He talked about another girl when he was supposed to be on a date with you?”

“Yeah. I told him he needs more time to get over her. Or maybe they’ll get back together. Either way, he shouldn’t be dating right now.”

“That sucks. Your first date since your ex and you got another loser.”

“Neal isn’t a loser. He’s just still in love with his ex. He’s not ready to date.”

“Are you?” Jace picks up his coffee and takes a sip.

“Yeah. I already told you I was.”

“You said that a month ago and you’ve only gone on one date. So are you really ready to date, or is that just what you think you should do?”

“I don’t know. What about you? You’ve only been out with one girl, and you ended the date before it started. Does that mean you’re not ready to start dating again?”

“I asked you first.”

“And I answered your question with a question.” I pause. “Just like you did the other night.”

He sighs. “Just drop it, okay? I don’t want to talk about that.” He turns and goes to the sink to rinse out his mug.

“Well, maybe I want to talk about it. You said stuff that made me think that… that maybe you wanted us to be more than roommates. But when I asked if that’s what you meant, you wouldn’t give me an answer.”

“Because we’ve already talked about it.” He dries his hands on a dishtowel. “We agreed it wouldn’t work.”

“I don’t think we ever said that. We just assumed.”

“Whatever.” He walks off. “I have to get ready for work.”

He’s so infuriating. Why can’t he say what he’s thinking? Why can’t he tell me what he wants? I can’t read his mind, and I’m tired of trying to guess what’s going on in his head.

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