Page 292 of His Virgin Romance Series

I frowned at him and continued. “So I decided to just cut the crap and ask her out… which I did.”

“She turned you down?”

“More or less,” I said. “She seemed reluctant immediately after I asked her out, which is weird because I was still pretty sure she really wanted to say yes.”

“Hmm… maybe she has a boyfriend?”

“She doesn’t,” I said immediately, even though I really had no idea.

“Did she tell you that?” Zack asked.

“Uh… no,” I admitted. “She didn’t tell me that, but Gabby just doesn’t seem like the kind of girl who would flirt with a random guy if she were in a relationship.”

Zack raised his eyebrows. “You had one conversation with the girl,” he pointed out. “What makes you think you know what she is and is not capable of doing?”

“I don’t know, man,” I sighed. “We had this connection.”

“Is it possible that it was one-sided?”

“I have no choice but to consider that,” I admitted. “I mean she hasn’t come back to the station, and she didn’t leave me with a number or anything. We kind of made this… deal before she left?”

“Oh?”

“I told her to think about it, and if she was still thinking of me in two weeks’ time, then she should come down to the station again, and we can set up a date.”

“Hmm… and she went for it.”

“We shook on it and everything.”

“And has it been two weeks?”

“Closing in on two weeks,” I admitted. “Which means either she’s already forgotten about me or she’s really thinking it through… which I can’t help feel might be a bad sign.”

“Why?”

“If she has to think so hard about going on one date with me… maybe she’s not as into me as I thought.”

“Or maybe she’s playing hard to get?”

“I don’t think she’s the type to play games like that,” I said.

Zack shook his head at me. “You don’t really know this girl, you realize. You’re assuming a whole lot based on a couple of minutes worth of conversation.”

“I know,” I sighed. “It’s the romantic in me.”

“Apparently.” Zack nodded. “It’s just… she was pretty amazing, dude. How often is it that you find a woman who ticks all the boxes?”

“Well, the two weeks aren’t up yet, are they?” Zack asked. “She might still show up at the station shouting Romeo at the top of her lungs.”

I smiled. “Fuck you.”

Laughing, Zack took a huge bite of pizza and grinned at me teasingly the whole time. We settled into our lunch together and had a great time catching up. It was as Zack was asking for our check that I felt my phone vibrate in my trouser pocket. I looked down and saw that there was another person interested in renting out the extra room in my apartment. The handle read ‘Z-Lark’ so I wasn’t sure if it was a man or a woman. They were interested in seeing the apartment tomorrow morning. I wrote back in the affirmative and set my phone down on the table.

“Another possible renter,” I told Zack.

“Hope this one works out.”

“I wouldn’t have to resort to this shit, if you just lived with me,” I said, in annoyance.

Zack smiled. “Like I said… I can’t afford to live with you.”

“I don’t party as hard as I used to,” I said.

“I’ll believe that when I see it.”

I rolled my eyes at him and hoped that this next person would work out for me. I needed to split the cost of my rent, or I’d have to find a hole to crawl into. I felt the urge for a joint, but since I was trying to stay away from that life, I decided to party away my stress tonight after I finished my community service.

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