Page 83 of Wanted You More

“I just don’t know if her and I are a good fit,” he blurts, instantly closing his eyes and dropping his head. With a sigh, he lifts his gaze toward me. “Don’t tell her that. I’m trying to figure out if I want to end things or not.”

All I can do is blink. They’ve been close ever since Halloween. I’m surprised it’s faded already. What happened?

Eventually, I shake my head. “Linc, I don’t know if I can keep that a secret. She’s my roommate. My friend.”

“I don’t want to hurt her,” he murmurs.

Neither do I. “Did something happen?”

He looks contemplative, eyes roaming over my face for a second before he turns his attention back to his computer. “No. Nothing happened.”

He isn’t going to tell me anything, so I have no choice but to drop it. For now anyway.

“I won’t say anything,” I promise, but it doesn’t feel right not to. If I were her, I’d want the same courtesy.

***

Breakfast feels tense,and I don’t know if it’s because the cook burnt Kennedy’s omelet or the fact Lincoln didn’t join us for the first time in months. I’m starting to think it’s the first because she’s spent the past ten minutes poking her eggs and frowning at the vegetables coming out.

“Not hungry?” I ask cautiously, cutting into my chocolate chip waffle. It’s not nearly as good as the kind Dad makes, but it doesn’t stop me from eating it.

My roommate leans back against her side of the booth before dropping her fork on her plate. “When a guy pulls away from you, what do you do to get them back?”

Oh shit.Wiping off some of the syrup from the corner of my mouth with the pad of my thumb, I try to think of a good response. “I don’t think you want my advice on that. I’m not the girl who is well versed on the morally right way.”

Her brows go up in interest. “Well, what do you do?”

Do I want to feed her my tactics? I watch her watch me with pleading eyes and decide to be honest. “Well, I usually have sex with them to keep them interested. Then flirt with other boys to show them that I can get it from anyone if I really wanted. Some guys need a reality check so they know they’re not the only ones we can choose.”

She gapes at me like she’s shocked by this, but I’ve told her a time or two to give me the room for a few hours when I found a cute boy I wanted to bring back. I never had repeats come over, which she knows because she wouldn’t always be gone by the time they arrived.

It gave her a chance to go to Lincoln’s room and spend quality time with him, so we were both winning with the arrangement.

“But,” I add quickly, “that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do with you. Is there something going on with you and Linc?”

Her eyes stay on her untouched food. “I don’t know. We spend so much time together and it feels great. But when we aren’t together I feel…anxious. Confused.”

I’ve been there before with one boy in particular. “Maybe it’s nerves. You two are cute together. You get all starry-eyed when you look at him.”

Taking her fork, she stabs a piece of tomato and lifts it to her mouth. “I don’t think he has the same look for me. I don’t think sleeping with him will give me any advantage since we already do that. And if I flirt with someone in front of him, it’ll probably just piss him off.”

“Like I said, it’s not for every situation. I have horrible taste in men. It isn’t like the guys I’m doing that to are worth it.”

My roommate asks the logical question in response. “Why do you waste your time with them then? You’re gorgeous, Austen. And you’re super funny and nice.”

I eye her skeptically.

She shrugs. “Okay. You’re nice when you want to be,” she reiterates, finally starting to eat her breakfast.

That’s better. “I appreciate that, Kenny. I don’t have an answer for you.”

Not one I’d be honest with her about.

She doesn’t need me to be. “You still haven’t heard from Noah, have you?”

It’s me who stays quiet as I play with my food, moving around some of the fruit I got to be healthy with my fork.

Kennedy’s foot nudges mine. “I think it’s great you’re having fun instead of pining for him, but maybe you should stick to your initial plan when you came here. Turn a new leaf and all that. You’ve been…busy lately.”

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