Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Kenzie

On the way home, I try to figure out what to say to Jace when I see him. But when I get to the house, I find a note saying he’s working all night at a youth sleepover event at the gym.

I guess we won’t be able to talk until tomorrow. Maybe I should just pretend last night didn’t happen. And this morning. I can’t believe he saw me naked! I should’ve locked the door, but I thought he was at class.

It’s Friday, and I have no plans for tonight. I should be on a date, or at a party meeting guys. But I don’t feel like doing either of those things. I’m too hung up on Jace to be with someone else, and Jace and I never even dated! Maybe if I found a guy I really liked, Jace would no longer be an issue. But I’m not going to find that guy sitting at home. I need to go out, but not tonight. It’s been a long week and I’m tired.

After dinner, I find a show to binge watch and end up falling asleep. I wake up to the sound of someone at the door. They’re messing with the handle, trying to open it. Is it Jace? Did he forget his key?

I get up and go to the door. “Jace, is that you?”

There’s no answer, but the person outside the door continues to jiggle the handle. Who the hell is out there?

The door doesn’t have a peephole so I move to the window and peek through the blinds. I can only see part of whoever is there. I think it’s a guy, but I can’t see his face.

He bangs on the door, so hard I stumble back.

“Who is it?” I yell.

He doesn’t respond, but he bangs on the door again, then jiggles the handle.

Oh God, he’s trying to break in!

Getting out my phone, I call the police, my hand shaking.

“Someone’s trying to break into my house!” I say, backing away from the door. I have to feel my way around because the house is dark except for the light from the TV. I don’t want the guy knowing I’m in here, so I’m keeping the lights off.

“We’re sending someone out,” the woman on the phone says after I give her the address.

I make my way to the kitchen and search for a weapon. I grab the infomercial fry pan. It weighs a ton and could easily knock the guy out if he gets inside.

By the time the police arrive, I’m a nervous wreck, my body shaking, my hands gripping the handle of the fry pan so tight I can barely feel my fingers.

“Miss?” a deep voice says through the door. “This is the police. We apprehended the man and took him away. Could you answer the door, please?”

I race to the door and open it to find the cop standing there.

“I’m Officer Stiles.” He shows me his badge. “The man at your door was just a drunk college kid. He got lost and thought he lived here.”

“Are you sure? Because he didn’t say anything when I asked who he was, and he kept trying really hard to get the door open.”

“He was pretty out of it. I doubt he was alert enough to know you were talking to him.”

“Where is he now?”

“They took him down to the station. He’ll be charged with public intox. Did you have any other concerns?”

“Um, no.” I shudder, still shook up from that guy trying to break in. Drunk or not, it still scared me.

“Then I’m gonna head out,” the cop says.

“Okay, thanks.”

He heads to his squad car. I’m about to close the door when I hear Jace.

“Kenzie!”

I look outside and see Jace running up to the house.

“What are you doing here?” I ask as he comes inside. “I thought you were at work.”

“I was, but a guy at the gym said he saw the police here. I called you, but you didn’t answer your phone.” He looks me up and down. “What happened? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. I called the police because some guy was trying to get in the house. The cop said he was drunk and thought he lived here. So he wasn’t intentionally trying to break in, but it scared me because he kept banging on the door and trying the handle to get it open.”

Jace pulls me into his arms. “I’m sorry. I should’ve been home.”

“I feel stupid now that I know it was just some drunk guy, but when it was happening, I really thought he was going to break in and hurt me.”

“Let’s go sit down.” Jace takes my hand and leads me to the couch.

When we’re seated, he puts his arm around me. “Everything’s okay now. You’re safe. I’m here. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Don’t you need to get back to work?”

“Yeah, but I’m not going. There’s plenty of people there to help out.”

“How’s the sleepover going?”

“Good. When I left, the kids were playing all the games we set up. Now they’re supposed to be sleeping but most of them won’t. They’re having too much fun.”

“Are you sure you don’t need to be there? I don’t want you getting in trouble.”

“I won’t, but even if I did, I wouldn’t leave you here alone. Not after what happened.”

“I’m okay. It just scared me. I’ve never had anything like that happen.”

“You’re still scared.” He rubs his hand up and down my arm. “You’re shaking. Would watching TV help, or do you want to go to sleep?”

“I can’t sleep. I’m wide awake.”

“Then TV it is.” He grabs the remote. “It’ll be like the first night we met. We can order more infomercial stuff.”

I lay my head on his shoulder. “That was a great night.”

“Yeah, it was.” He kisses my head.

Why did he do that? That’s something a boyfriend would do. And holding me like this? That’s also something a boyfriend would do. I like it, but it makes my feelings for him even stronger.

The TV, combined with being in Jace’s arms, relaxes me and I drift off to sleep.

When I wake up, it’s morning and I can hear Jace in the kitchen. I get up from the couch and walk over to him.

“Don’t you have class?” I ask, still feeling groggy.

“It’s Saturday.”

“Oh, I forgot.” I go over to the stool by the breakfast bar and take a seat. “What time is it?”

“Nine. I’m supposed to be at work at ten, but if you want me to stay here with you, I will.” He sets a cup of coffee in front of me.

“You don’t need to. I’m fine.” I pick up the coffee and take a sip.

“Want anything to eat? I made your favorite pancakes.”

“Chocolate chip?”

“Yeah. You want some?”

I smile. “Like you have to ask?”

He opens the oven and takes out a plate topped with pancakes.

“Careful, the plate’s hot.” He sets it in front of me. The pancakes are perfectly shaped and a light golden brown.

“How’d you get these so perfect?”

He hands me a fork. “My new pan. It works great. We still need to make dinner with it. How about tonight? Or do you have another date?”

“I don’t have a date,” I say, cutting into the pancakes.

“It didn’t go well?” he asks, taking a drink of his coffee.

“He has a girlfriend.”

“Are you serious?” Jace sets his coffee down. “The asshole asked you out when he already has a girlfriend?”

“Technically, she broke up with him, but in his head, she’s still his girlfriend. He couldn’t stop talking about her.”

“He talked about another girl when he was supposed to be on a date with you?”

“Yeah. I told him he needs more time to get over her. Or maybe they’ll get back together. Either way, he shouldn’t be dating right now.”

“That sucks. Your first date since your ex and you got another loser.”

“Neal isn’t a loser. He’s just still in love with his ex. He’s not ready to date.”

“Are you?” Jace picks up his coffee and takes a sip.

“Yeah. I already told you I was.”

“You said that a month ago and you’ve only gone on one date. So are you really ready to date, or is that just what you think you should do?”

“I don’t know. What about you? You’ve only been out with one girl, and you ended the date before it started. Does that mean you’re not ready to start dating again?”

“I asked you first.”

“And I answered your question with a question.” I pause. “Just like you did the other night.”

He sighs. “Just drop it, okay? I don’t want to talk about that.” He turns and goes to the sink to rinse out his mug.

“Well, maybe I want to talk about it. You said stuff that made me think that… that maybe you wanted us to be more than roommates. But when I asked if that’s what you meant, you wouldn’t give me an answer.”

“Because we’ve already talked about it.” He dries his hands on a dishtowel. “We agreed it wouldn’t work.”

“I don’t think we ever said that. We just assumed.”

“Whatever.” He walks off. “I have to get ready for work.”

He’s so infuriating. Why can’t he say what he’s thinking? Why can’t he tell me what he wants? I can’t read his mind, and I’m tired of trying to guess what’s going on in his head.

That afternoon, while I’m working on a paper, Andrea calls. She’s one of those sometimes friends. Sometimes you hear from her, sometimes you don’t. I like her, and we have fun when we go out, but then she gets busy and I don’t hear from her for days and she doesn’t return my texts. Jace said she’s like that with everyone and not to take it personally.

“Hey, Andrea.”

“Party tonight. You’re going. Wear something hot.”

I set my laptop down. “What party?”

“It’s off campus. At Austin’s house. He’s on the football team. He has the best parties. You have to come.”

“You say every party is the best party.”

“Maybe, but Austin really does have good parties. He has a ton of friends. The place will be packed with hot guys. The whole football team will be there, and I know how you like athletes.”

“I never said that.”

“You like Jace, and he’s an athlete.”

“But I’m not dating him.”

“Which nobody gets, but that’s beside the point. You want me to stop over and help you pick out something to wear? Or you could wear something of mine if you want.”

“I’m sure I have something that’ll work. Wait, I’m not going. I have to finish a paper.”

“You can work on it tomorrow. I’m not taking no for an answer. You keep saying you want to date, but then every weekend you hang out with Jace. It’s time to get out there and find someone, even if it’s just for a night.”

“I had a date.”

“You did? When?”

“Yesterday. We went for coffee.”

“And how’d it go?”

“Not good. He was still hung up on his ex.”

“Then we’ll find you someone else.”

“I don’t know, Andrea. I’m not sure I want to go out tonight.”

“Why? You don’t have plans with Jace.”

“How do you know we don’t have plans?”

“Because he’s going to Austin’s party.”

He is? Why didn’t he tell me? Jace and I always hang out together Saturday night so it’s odd he wouldn’t mention he had plans tonight.

“I’m surprised Jace didn’t tell you about it,” Andrea says.

“Maybe he doesn’t want me there.”

“Why wouldn’t he want you there? Are you guys fighting?”

“No, but he didn’t tell me about it, so maybe that means he doesn’t want me there.”

“He probably doesn’t want you going because he doesn’t want other guys asking you out, which he knows will happen when you show up there in a really hot dress. You’re gonna have guys all over you. It’s gonna drive Jace crazy.” She laughs.

“Why would it drive him crazy? I’m not his girlfriend. I’m just his roommate.”

“Yeah, right.” She laughs again. “I’ll text you the address. Meet me there at nine?”

“Okay. See you then.”

“You better not bail on me!”

“Yeah, got it. I’ll be there.”

Just after nine, I arrive at the party in a tight red dress and black heels, my hair down and straight. The dress is really short and shows off a lot of cleavage. It’s not at all comfortable, but if my goal is to find a date, this should definitely get me one.

“You made it!” Andrea squeals, running up to me. Her dress is so short that it barely covers her, and her heels are so high I don’t know how she can walk in them.

“You were right,” I tell her. “The place is packed.”

Looking around the room, I notice all the guys. Big muscular guys. All hot. Probably all athletes. I spot Troy and Brent on the other side of the room. I look for Jace but don’t see him. He texted me earlier that he was going out tonight, but didn’t say where. I didn’t respond to his text.

“You need a drink,” Andrea says.

“I’m not ready for one,” I tell her.

“You’re getting one anyway.” She leads me to the keg and fills two plastic cups with beer. She hands me one. “So, where should we start?”

“What do you mean?”

“Which guys should we go up to first?”

“What happened to your rule about not making the first move?”

“Sometimes men can be shy until they’ve had more to drink, especially with hot girls like us. We’re very intimidating.”

I laugh. “I’m not intimidating.”

“How about them?”

She points to some guys walking in front of us. They’re huge, like linebackers.

“Too big,” I say.

“You don’t like big?” She winks at me.

“That’s not what I meant.”

She laughs, then looks up when she notices Troy behind her, his arms going around her waist.

“Hey, babe.” He kisses her. “You look hot.”

“Thanks!” She turns to him and they kiss again.

I don’t get these two. They kiss. They flirt. But they’re not dating. They’re worse than Jace and me. We may flirt with each other, but we don’t kiss.

“Come home with me tonight,” Troy says to Andrea, pulling her against him.

“Maybe.” She smiles. “If I can’t find anyone better.”

“No one’s better than me.” He leans down and kisses her neck.

“I said maybe,” she says. “Now go.”

He straightens up and smiles at her. “Later.”

Their eyes lock as he backs away. Then he turns and walks over to some guys.

“Why don’t you just date him?” I ask. “I’m practically sweating from the heat coming off you two.”

“So we’re attracted to each other. That doesn’t mean we should date.” She nudges me. “Straight ahead. Dark hair. Coming toward us.”

The guy is tall and lean and looks like one of those hot quarterbacks you see on TV.

“Hey, I’m Dan.” The guy smiles with the whitest teeth I’ve ever seen.

“This is Kenzie,” Andrea says when I don’t respond. I was too busy staring at the guy. He’s really hot.

“Kenzie.” His eyes sweep over me. “Nice dress.”

“Thanks.” I glance at Andrea. “This is my friend, Andrea.”

“We’ve met,” he says. “She’s in my French Lit class.”

“You take French Literature?” I ask, because it doesn’t seem like a class she would like. I didn’t even know she liked to read.

Andrea smiles at Dan. “So Dan, Kenzie is looking for a date. Are you interested?”

I turn to her and whisper, “What the hell?”

She shrugs. “Why wait around all night for some guy to ask? Dan’s totally cool. He doesn’t care if I ask, do you, Dan?”

“I was just about to ask her myself, so no, I don’t mind.”

I’m sure my face is as red as my dress because I’m completely mortified. Why did Andrea do that?

Dan’s looking at me. “What do you think? You want to go out this week?”

“I guess we could, but maybe we should get to know each other first.”

“Good idea.” Andrea pushes me toward him. “You two have fun!”

She takes off.

“Sorry about that,” I say to Dan. “She can be a little pushy. It’s totally fine if you don’t want to go out. No pressure.”

He leans down to me. “I wanted to ask you out since the moment you walked through the door. You’re beautiful, and you have a great smile.”

“Thanks,” I say, showing off the smile he likes so much.

He straightens up. “How do you know Andrea?”

“She’s friends with my roommate’s friends. They all kind of hang out together.”

“Who’s your roommate?”

“A guy named Jace. You probably don’t know him.”

“Jace Tillerson? The basketball player?”

“Yeah, but he’s not on the team anymore.”

“Yeah, I know. The whole school does. Jace was our best player until he got hurt.”

“He was?”

“You didn’t know that?”

Jace hasn’t told me much about being on the team. He said he doesn’t like talking about it. And he’s not one to brag about his accomplishments so I’m not surprised he didn’t tell me he was their star player.

“I knew he played,” I say. “I just didn’t know he was the star of the team.”

“It’s too bad he got hurt. I play football so I know what it’s like to have an injury take you out of the game. But luckily, I’m still able to play.”

“What position?”

“Receiver.”

“You look like a quarterback.”

He chuckles. “I get told that a lot.”

We continue to talk about football. Dan really likes football. I’m thinking that might be all he can talk about. Every time I try to change the subject, we end up back on football.

As Dan rambles on about his upcoming game, I search the room for Jace. I don’t see him. Maybe he decided not to show up.

Just as I’m thinking that, I see him coming through the door wearing a black button-up shirt and jeans. He looks really good.

Our eyes meet and my heart takes off, beating fast and hard like it’s trying to tell me how much it wants Jace. I’m not listening to it. Jace doesn’t want me, so I don’t want him. I’m done waiting for him to change his mind about us.

So why am I still looking at him? And why is he looking at me?

He’s coming toward me now. He looks angry. His eyes go to Dan, who just put his arm around me.

Okay, now I know why he’s angry.