Page 72 of Accidental Roommates

“I’d love to, but I already made plans.”

“Oh.” She sounds disappointed, which makes me feel bad.

“Let’s do it some other time. We live together so we have a lot more opportunities to have dinner together.”

“True. And I should probably spend tonight getting ready for class.” She’s finished making her sandwich and puts the peanut butter away. “So are you going out with the guys tonight?”

“Um, no. I have a date.”

She was about to bite into her sandwich, but stops and sets it down. “You have a date?” She smiles but it seems forced. “That’s great! I’m happy for you!”

She’s not. I can tell by her lack of enthusiasm. She doesn’t want me dating, just like I don’t want her to date. But it’s what we need to do. Even though we didn’t talk about it, we both know dating each other would end in disaster if it didn’t work out.

“I met her last night.”

“Oh, yeah?” Kenzie’s brows rise as she keeps the forced smile going. “What’s she like?”

“Dark hair. Dark eyes. Petite. We didn’t talk long so I don’t know much about her, but I’ll find out more tonight.”

“Did one of your friends introduce you to her?”

“No, she came up to me. She recognized me from the gym. She wants to work out more this year and asked if I’d show her around.”

“So you already have something in common. That’s great! You both like working out.”

“I’m not sure if she likes it. She could’ve just been saying that to get me to go out with her. But who knows? Maybe she was being sincere.”

“Now I need to find a date. Maybe Andrea could help. She seems to know a lot of people.”

“Andrea, as in Troy’s ex?”

“Yeah. I liked her. I’m hoping we can be friends.”

If Kenzie becomes friends with Andrea, I’ll see her not just at home but all the time. Andrea’s like one of the guys. She’s always hanging out with us, which means Kenzie would be too. It’s not that I wouldn’t like that. I just don’t think it’s a good idea for us to spend that much time together.

She wraps up her sandwich in a paper towel. “I’m going to finish this in my room. Have a good day at work!”

“You should stop by. Hit the bag some more.”

She smiles. “Maybe I will. I’m still sore, but it’d feel good to hit the bag.”

The day goes by and I wait for Kenzie to show up, but she doesn’t. I give her a call late afternoon and she says she’s at the bookstore and won’t have time for the gym. I’m surprised how disappointed that makes me. Living with her, I see her all the time, and yet it’s not enough.

I shouldn’t even be thinking about Kenzie. I should be thinking about Briana, my date for tonight.

At five to seven she shows up at the gym wearing a short dress and heels. I guess she won’t be trying out any of the equipment tonight.

“Decide not to work out?” I ask.

“I didn’t plan to. I just wanted you to show me around. Sorry if I wasn’t clear about that.”

“It’s fine. You still want me to show you around?”

She glances at the sweaty people walking behind me to the locker room. “Actually, could we do it some other time?”

It’s just like I thought. She wasn’t serious about working out. That was just a trick to get me to go out with her. But I’m not going to count it against her. We all do stuff like that to get a date. It’s part of the game, which sucks because I don’t like playing games.

“I just need to clock out and then we can go,” I say.

---