Page 35 of The Boyfriend Material Novellas

I drag my free hand through my hair. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to act like an ass. To answer your question—it sucks. That’s how I feel. But what can I do?”

She grins like she knows something I don’t. “Oh, gee. I don’t know.”

“Callie,” I huff.

She rolls her eyes. “Do you want me to spell it out?”

“Sure.”

“Keep. Seeing. Her.”

“Long-distance?” I ask, as if she’s just suggested Quinn and I commute to Mars every weekend.

“Yes. Long-distance. Why not? It’s only a two-and-a-half-hour flight. You have the money.”

“Yeah, but . . .”

“But what’s the ‘but’?”

I scrub my hand over my jaw, trying to figure that out. Is there a “but”anymore? Quinn and I have spent the last month together, four intense weeks where we can’t seem to get enough of each other, like we’re trying to inhale all the goodness before it’s gone.

And it’s all been good.

Every damn second with her has been great.

Like I said to Quinn, I’m an all-or-nothing guy. I’ve given her my all. Ifeelall in. Once I’d experienced a taste of her, I couldn’t stop.

The last thing I want from Quinn is the “nothing” part. Not after we’ve had the “all.”

Which brings me to Callie’s question.

“But I was trying to avoid romantic entanglements,” I point out.

She laughs like that’s the funniest thing anyone’s ever said. “How’s that working out for you?”

I laugh, too, at the bluntness of her question. At the awareness I have now that I didn’t a month ago. And at the chance that’s now in front of me. I broke my no-romance rule in a spectacular fashion, and I want to keep on breaking it. I want to find a way with Quinn.

Screw expiration dates. Callie’s right—I should ask Quinn if she wants to stay together.

“It’s working out great,” I say dryly.

“Yeah, you’re doing a top-notch job at being single.”

I blow out a long stream of air. “I just ask her to do the long-distance thing? It’s that simple?”

Callie smiles, bright and excited. “What’s the worst that can happen? She says no, and then you do what you’d planned anyway—which isnotsee her.”

The worst thing that could happen sounds pretty damned bad.

And so, I can’t let it. I need to do more than ask her to stay together.

I need to tell her the one thing I haven’t yet. The thing I’ve been keeping inside.

I have to let her know that I’m already madly in love with her and I don’t ever want to let her go.

15

QUINN

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