Page 119 of Accidental Roommates

“Okay. Go ahead.”

He turns to me. “I’ve wanted us to be more than roommates for a really long time. Pretty much since the moment I met you. We can keep telling ourselves it’s a bad idea, and how it may not work out, and whatever other excuses we can come up with, but that doesn’t change one very important thing.”

“And what’s that?”

“That I love you.” He takes a breath, and I get the feeling that he, too, is nervous to say this. To put his heart out there again. “I love you, Kenzie, and I want to be with you. It’s as simple as that. We can try to make it more complicated, which we already have, but it’s not going to change how I feel. And I think you feel the same way. I think that’s why you called me tonight instead of calling someone else. Or am I wrong about that?”

I look down at his hand around mine. “You’re not wrong.” My eyes go back to his. “Everything you said just now? It’s what I wanted to tell you.” I pause. “I want to be more than your roommate, or your friend. I love you, Jace. I’ve never even dated you, but I love you. How crazy is that?”

He shrugs, smiling a little. “So we did things out of order. I don’t think that’s bad. Fall in love and then date? That might actually be better than the traditional way.”

“Yeah, it might.”

“Was there anything else you wanted to tell me?”

I smile. “Just that I’d really like you to kiss me.”

He kisses me, which leads to more kissing, and eventually his bed, where we stay for the rest of the night.

I’m no longer worried about what will happen if we break up. Because I really don’t think we will. I have a feeling Jace and I are going to be together longer than the time we’ll live here. Maybe forever.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

TWO MONTHS LATER

Kenzie

“Did you get the fresh mint?” I ask, searching the fridge for it.

“It’s on the counter.” Jace comes up behind me, his arms going around me as he pulls me away from the fridge and shuts the door.

I flip around to face him. “What are you doing?”

“Kissing my girl.” He leans down and his warm lips press softly against mine.

“Jace, stop,” I whisper, smiling as I attempt to push him away.

“You don’t want me to kiss you?”

“Not with my mom here,” I say, keeping my voice low. “You know where your kisses lead.”

“To my favorite place.” He kisses my neck as his hand lowers to my chest.

“We don’t have time for this.”

“We do if we’re quick.” His lips return to mine. “I can’t help that I can’t be around you without—” He stops when he hears the garage door opening. “Shit,” he sighs. “My uncle’s here.”

I laugh. “Told you we didn’t have time.”

“We will later.” He lets me go but leans down for another kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Love you more.” He smiles as he goes to greet his uncle.

Jace and I are hosting Christmas here at the house. My mom just got back from Africa and I didn’t want her having to deal with decorating and making Christmas dinner, so I suggested we do it here. Jace loved the idea. He totally gets into Christmas, which I didn’t know until we started planning it. He’s mostly obsessed with the lights. He’s been putting them up for weeks. The house has more lights on it than any other house on the street. He’s got them strung up all over the inside of the house too, including our bedroom. He even put a small tree in our room.

His excitement over the holidays is another thing I love about him. I also love that he’s really thoughtful. He made up a guest basket for my mom and had it in her room when she arrived. I didn’t even know he’d done it until she came out and thanked me for it. I didn’t know what she was talking about. We went in her room, the room that used to be mine, and she showed me the basket, which was filled with bath stuff, a fresh new towel, some herbal tea, a holiday mug, and a box of assorted chocolates.

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