Page 57 of The Valentine's Bet

“Youlikehim,” she squeals.

I do.

I do like him.

But I don’t smile at the thought. In fact, it makes me feel a little ... sad.

“It doesn’t really matter if I like him, Eliza. Parker doesn’t want a relationship—I mean, we literally have abetgoing over it. He doesn’t wantmeto be with anyone, either.”

“Of course, not!That’s literally proving my point.”

“Okay, but it’s not like that,” I continue to argue. “He’s got a painful past, and I think he’s been heartbroken so badly by it that he no longer believes in love—and he’s made it very clear to me that people don’t change.”

“But they do, Amy. Theydochange. I changed after I met Nick.”

I sigh. “Maybe. I’m not sure. I think it’d probably be better to just count him out. Besides, I don’t want to ruin our friendship. He’s one of the only friends I have here in the city—and I alreadyknowhe’d run if I told him I had any sort of crush on him.”

Eliza’s quiet for a few moments. “Well, maybe you could just wait it out and see.”

“But then I might lose the bet,” I reason, facepalming myself. “And like I said, Parker has made itsuperclear that he’s not intorelationships. He doesn’t want one. And it’s probably going to take someonereallyspecial to change his mind.”

“You could—”

“Can we just talk about something else? Maybe I should be focusing on finding another event to go to. Because, like I said, evenifI have a crush on Parker, it’ll never go anywhere. I’d much rather try to find a guy whowantsme—not someone I have to convince to like me.”

“You do have a point.” Eliza’s voice drops. “If he wants you, he’ll have to put in the work to get you. I agree with that. I guess I just got excited, you know, because you said the kiss was so good.”

I shrug. “Well, I’m not really the best judge. For all I know, every kiss might feel like that.”

She laughs. “As much as I hope that’s true for you, that wasnotmy experience. There are someterriblekissers out there. Well, they may not be terrible to the right person ... but they were terrible to me.”

I burst into laughter, shaking my head at her. “Ugh, at least you’ve gotten the opportunity to have those kinds of experiences. I’m jealous.”

“Oh girl, don’t be. With every past relationship comes a little more experience, but it’s not alwaysgoodexperience. Sometimes it turns out likeDevon.”

“Ah, yeah, I guess that’s true.”

I text Parker back, agreeing to join him for lunch. But as I type my response, I can’t help butwonder...

Could this be more?

“So, how much longer do you have to wear the boot?” Eliza asks, changing the subject. “That has to be such a pain.”

“It is, and because of this stupid thing, I haven’t been about to walk to work. Parker offered to drive me to work, but can you imagine if we did that? He’d never get to work on time. I’d never expect that of him.”

She grins. “Right back to Parker.”

My face heats up. “Oh my gosh, you’re right. I’m sorry. But anyway, I just have to wear this thing for a couple more weeks. I should be able to walk normally again in time for Valentine’s Day.”

“Well, I hope you win the bet,” she says.

“Me, too,” I chime. “It’d besocool to see The Band Allen live in such an intimate venue. I just hope the tickets don’t sell out before then.”

“Uh, at those prices, I seriously doubt they will. I looked them up as soon as you told me about it, and I swear, Parker’s gotta beloadedto agree to a bet like that.”

“You know...” I pause. “I actually have no idea about his finances. I don’t even know where he lives. He told me his apartment was somewhere near mine, but I have no idea where. But now that you mention it, I’m going to ask him. I’m dying to know.”

“Me, too. Maybe he’s a secret millionaire or something.”

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