Page 28 of Accidental Roommates

“See the lights on the vest?” Jace says. “Just aim at those and shoot. Like this.” He raises his gun and shoots at the mannequin, hitting its chest and lighting up the vest.

“Okay,” he says. “You try.”

I raise the gun and shoot but nothing happens.

“Is your gun on? Jace asks.

“I’m not sure,” I say, trying to find an ‘on’ button.

“Here.” He pushes a button under the gun. “Now try.”

Aiming at the vest, I shoot but nothing happens. I try again and still nothing.

“I think I need more practice,” I say.

“Mind if I show you?” Jace asks.

“Go ahead.”

He stands behind me, so close I can smell his cologne. It’s really good cologne, better than Liam used to wear. One time I bought him a different kind, a kind I liked, but he refused to even try it.

“Hold it like this.” Jace reaches around me, his arms covering mine as he lifts the gun up. “See how high I have it? I think you had it too low.”

“Oh.” My heart’s pumping harder, liking the feel of Jace more than I should. I just broke up with my boyfriend. I shouldn’t even be thinking about being with someone else, but my heart seems to disagree.

“Take a shot,” Jace says.

I shoot and hit the shoulder of the vest. It lights up.

“You got it!” Jace backs away and I already miss the feel of his big strong arms around me.

What am I thinking? I just met this guy. And he’s my roommate! He can’t be anything more.

Maybe I’m just missing Liam, and missing how it felt to have his arms around me. Before I caught him with that girl, I couldn’t wait to race into his arms and feel him holding me tight. I’d been looking forward to that for three weeks, which is when I’d seen him last. It seemed like forever to me, but I’m sure Liam didn’t even notice how long it’d been. I bet he didn’t even miss me. Why would he? He had someone else.

“Kenzie?” I hear Jace say.

My gun is lowered to my side and I look up and see Jace in front of me.

“You okay?” he asks, sounding concerned.

“Yeah.” I force out a smile. “Guess I was distracted.” I turn back to check the clock on the wall. “Is it time yet?”

“A couple more minutes.” Jace puts his hand on my shoulder. “Hey.”

I turn back to him. “Yeah?”

His hand drops from my shoulder. “It’s not just you. I feel the same way.”

“What way?”

“You don’t have to pretend with me. I’m going through this too.”

“What do you mean?”

“Thinking about my ex. Replaying what happened. Wishing I hadn’t come home early and caught her, even though I needed to see it for myself to know it was true.”

I nod. That’s exactly how I’m feeling. I wish I hadn’t come to town early and found Liam, but I also know it was for the best. He was cheating on me. He didn’t love me. It needed to end.

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