Page 87 of The Jerk in Apartment 1B

“Yeah, until you kicked me out.”

“I didn’t kick you out. You left.”

“After you turned me down,” I say with a huff.

“You’re mad because I didn’t take advantage of you?”

“I wanted it. You wouldn’t have been taking advantage of me.”

“You’d been drinking. And you just broke up with your fiancé.”

“So if I was sober and had been single for months, you would’ve done it?”

“Why are we talking about this? You know what I’m like. You were disgusted by me when we met. Judging me for having girls over. But now suddenly you’re okay with it?”

Am I? If I became just one of the many girls Scott’s been with, would I be okay with that?

“You’re invited to breakfast,” he says in a curt tone. “Up to you if you want to show up.” He takes off and goes back to his apartment.

Is he mad at me? He can’t be. He rejected me. I’m the one who gets to be mad.

As I’m showering, my stomach growls even louder. The only food I have is a box of crackers and a stale loaf of bread. Maybe I should go have breakfast. I need to eat, and Cole will be there so it won’t just be me and Scott.

I finish up in the shower and get dressed. Instead of my usual sweats, I put on tight jeans and a fitted t-shirt. I’m tired of wearing sweats. I need to mix it up. My clothing choice has nothing to do with wanting to look good for Scott. Or that’s what I’m telling myself.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Trina

“You showed up,” Cole says, answering the door with a big smile.

“My stomach made me,” I joke. “It heard about the cinnamon rolls and wouldn’t stop growling.”

He laughs. “Come on in.”

I go inside and am greeted by the smell of bacon cooking. I feel like I could eat a whole plate of it. Why am I so hungry? I normally skip breakfast.

“Hey, Trina,” Scott says in a casual tone, like I’m just the girl next door and not the girl he made come on his kitchen counter last night. The same counter where he’s now making breakfast. I hope he cleaned it.

“Have a seat,” Cole says, motioning to one of the stools lined up along the counter. It’s directly across from where I was last night when Scott… I can’t think about that. I need to wipe that thought from my brain or I won’t be able to eat breakfast.

I sit down and Scott hands me a plate.

“Help yourself,” he says, setting a bowl of scrambled eggs next to me. “I’ll get you some bacon.”

I watch as he goes to the stove and transfers the bacon from a skillet to a plate. Where did he learn to cook? And how does he eat this way and still have a body like that? His butt looks really good in those jeans. Wait, I’m not supposed to be looking at that.

“Here you go.” He sets the plate of bacon next to the eggs.

“And you gotta have one of these,” Cole says, setting a cinnamon roll on my plate and licking the frosting from his fingers.

“Thanks,” I say, picking up my fork and digging into my eggs. “Do you guys really have breakfast together every Saturday morning?”

“We’ve been doing it for years,” Cole says, stuffing a piece of bacon in his mouth. “Except when I was on the team, but Hudson filled in for me.” He looks at Scott. “Has she met Hudson?”

“She hasn’t met any of the guys, except you.”

“You’ll meet them at the party tonight,” Cole says, chomping on his bacon.

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