Page 12 of My Three Roommates

“I can’t wait to try it out. What do you guys think about having smoothies for dinner?”

“No way. Margs.” Cody tries to take the blender out of her hands, but she dodges his grasp. “Come on. I’ve got the perfect recipe.”

“That can be for after dinner,” Kenna insists. “Do we even have the ingredients or any alcohol?”

“That’s an easy fix,” Cody says. “We can go out and get everything we need right now.”

“Let’s do it,” Kenna says. “Come with us, Brad?”

I hesitate. “Maybe Cody can take care of it,” I say with a pointed glance in his direction. “I really want to take you out for dinner tonight, Kenna. Just the two of us.”

The last thing I want to do is discuss my biggest secret in a public place, but the risk of being interrupted at home is even worse.

“That sounds great,” she says. “Are you fine going on your own, Cody?”

If he’s not, I’ll convince him to be fine with it. He’s about to answer when Tanner appears. Immediately Cody turns his attention onto him and I seize the moment.

“They can figure it out together.” I twine my fingers through Kenna’s. “Let’s go.”

“You alright?” Kenna asks as we walk out the front door. “You seem a little tense.”

“Yeah. I mean, no.” I open the car door for her. There’s an ache growing in my heart that I can’t ignore. “I don’t know. I just want to be alone with you.”

She slides inside gracefully. “Where are we going?”

I haven’t even thought that far ahead. “Wherever you want. All that matters is us being alone.”

“There’s this place I go by on the way to work that looks cute,” she says. She tells me about it and I try to focus on what she’s saying.

My hands curl into a death grip around the steering wheel as I drive. The place doesn’t matter. Nothing matters except what she’s going to do when I tell her.

I’ve never been so nervous in my life as we pull up to the small restaurant.

It’s a friendly-looking place. Yellow walls and grey accents open up the space, making it appear bigger than it actually is.

The wooden floor creaks as we step inside. There are real flowers in the clear vase on the table Kenna picks out for us. It’s a nice place. I’m sure the simple, modern decor is meant to have a calming effect.

Nothing like the kind of place I’d expect to be in when my life implodes.

CHAPTER 8 BRAD

“WHAT’S WRONG?” KENNA asks.

I gaze at the retreating figure of the waiter. If only he’d lingered more with the wine, I could have put this off a little longer. Now that I’m alone with Kenna, I want to back out of having this conversation. Ignore everything and pretend that nothing’s up.

“What do you mean?” I’m stalling. I can’t help myself. “I’m happy we’ve got some time alone.”

Kenna knows me too well. “"Not just now, Brad,” she begins. “You’ve been on edge for days. I know you’re not thrilled about having roommates, or how many we ended up with, but there’s something else bothering you. Isn’t there?”

She sips at her wine, her elegant fingers curving around the glass in a way that makes me want to memorize this moment with her forever.

I fold my arms across my chest before I unfold them again and lean towards her. Then I settle back against my chair. I can’t put this off any longer. There’s no escaping it.

If Kenna’s going to break my heart, I can only hope she does it fast.

Kenna widens her eyes in that way she has, letting me know she’s not in the mood for delays.

“It’s not the roommates. Not just that, anyway,” I add when her eyebrow lifts. “We’ll make it work. It’ll be fine. Fun, even. Nothing wrong with having friends around.”

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