Page 65 of Accidental Roommates

“Then I’m surprised—” I stop before mentioning his ex.

“You’re surprised Nikki would go out with him? I’m surprised too, although he’d been a little cleaner lately. That should’ve been my clue something was going on. I can’t believe it was going on right in front of me and I didn’t know.”

“You can’t blame yourself for that. Just like I can’t blame myself for not knowing about Liam. Looking back, it’s easy to see the signs, but when it’s happening, you don’t even look for signs because you assume they’re being faithful. I never thought Liam would cheat on me so even though the signs were there, I didn’t see them.”

Jace nods and looks like he doesn’t want to talk about it so I change the subject. “Was that Troy calling about our stuff?”

“No, it was Brent. I forgot about Troy. I need to text him.” He sends the text, then says, “I told Brent I’d go to a party with him tonight.”

I’m disappointed Jace won’t be home tonight, but I can’t expect him to spend all his time with me. He has friends and a life that doesn’t involve me. I need to create my own life here, with my own friends.

“What time are you going?” I ask.

“I’ll head there after I drop you off, unless you want to come with. It’s a frat party so it’ll be loud and full of drunk guys, but there’ll be plenty of girls there too. You might make some friends.”

“I think I’ll stay home. It’s been a long day. Plus, I’m tired from our workout. Walking is usually the only exercise I do so my body’s not too happy with me right now.”

“The soreness is good. It means your muscles are recovering and getting stronger. Take a hot shower tonight or soak in the tub. It helps.”

“Are you going to be out late? At the party?”

“I’m not sure. Why?”

“No reason.” I shake my head. “Sorry. I just realized I sound like a mom, asking when you’ll be home. That’s embarrassing.”

“Don’t worry about it. I know you only asked because you’ll miss me while I’m gone.”

He says it jokingly but it’s true. I will miss him when he’s gone, probably because he’s the only person I know here other than my ex. Or it could be because I’m starting to fall for him. But that needs to stop. I can’t date Jace. I need to find someone else.

We go back to the house and Jace goes to his room while I relax on the couch and look for something to watch on TV.

When Jace comes out to the living room, he’s changed into jeans and a white t-shirt that makes his tan look even darker. His shirt is tight, stretching over his muscular shoulders and biceps. I’ve come to realize I have a thing for muscles. I never thought I did until I met Jace. He makes Liam look skinny and weak, and yet when I dated him, I thought Liam had a decent body.

Jace turns to get his keys and my eyes drop to his ass, which looks great in those jeans. It looked great in his workout pants too. When he was boxing today, I kept checking him out, noticing how good his body looked and getting turned on as I watched his muscles flex.

“You sure you don’t want to come with?” Jace asks, coming over to me.

“Yeah, I’m comfy here on the couch. I just want to stay in and watch TV.”

“Okay, but if you change your mind, just give me a call. I’ll come pick you up.”

“Sounds good. Have fun!”

When he leaves, I feel sad, knowing he’ll probably meet someone tonight. But I shouldn’t be sad. I should be happy for him. He wants to find a girl to get his mind off Nikki, so if he meets someone tonight, that’s a good thing, even if it doesn’t feel that way.

My phone rings from the coffee table. I check to see who it is, then grab it when I see Tori’s name. Tori’s my best friend from back home. We’ve been friends since we were kids. She got a new job last summer and moved to Philadelphia. She’s a sales rep for a medical equipment company and is always traveling for work. This past week she was at a sales conference in Brazil so we haven’t talked, which means she doesn’t know about Liam.

“Is it actually you?” I say, kiddingly.

“Sorry I haven’t called. Work’s been crazy and I was having phone issues in Brazil. How’d the move go?”

“It was fine. No car troubles and nothing broke.”

“What about Liam? Did he like his surprise?” she asks, meaning me, showing up a day early.

“He was definitely surprised, but not in a good way.”

“What do you mean?”

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