Page 20 of Crazy About Love (All About Love)

I let out a humorless laugh. “None.”

“There’s your problem.” She stabs another piece of steak and slides it between her teeth. “How often do you see her?”

“Every day.”

“Everyday?”

I nod. “Just about.”

Her small fingers wrap around her beer. “You co-workers?”

“No.”

“Roommates?”

“Not currently.” We were roommates for about a week. Theresa’s air-conditioning was on the fritz and I offered her a place to bunk. I refused to let her in my room, partly because it’d been a running joke with us that she’d known me for so long and had never seen my bedroom, but mostly because having her scent in my sheets and pillow would’ve been a nightly torture once her AC was fixed and I was once again living alone.

Rian throws her arms out in an amused and hilarious gesture that breaks the small amount of tension in the air. “Then why the hell would you see her every day?”

I chuckle, completely understanding her surprise. I don’t get why I see Theresa every day either. It’s like pleasure and torture all mixed together, and I never know which will win out on any given day. But I still dive in because I’m hoping for the one day that there is absolutely no torture and it’s all justpleasure.

“I can’t help it, I guess.”

“Did you see her today?”

Today she was wearing that knockout dress. That knockout smile. Today she took my breath away like always, but also a little bit differently too. Because I think…I mean, I’m pretty damn sure that I took her breath away too. I saw her eyes while I was dancing, and though her expression was amused and surprised, she also looked mesmerized. And I know it wasn’t just me, since Rian said she noticed it too.

“Wow,” Rian says before I can spit out an answer. “You don’t even have to say it.” She circles a finger at my heated face. “It’s just all right here.”

“Sorry,” I say, finally giving her that apology. Damn it, this was supposed to be a chance for me to get romantic withher,not fantasize over something that, in Jace’s very true words, isn’t going to happen.

“Forgive me for asking,” she says, folding her arms on the table. “But why volunteer for a bachelor auction when your heart is so obviously taken?”

“It’s not taken,” I tell her honestly. “I may have thrown it out there, but she didn’ttakeit.”

“Is that why, then? Or is it something else?”

I consider lying to her. Truth is, I did it because Theresa asked me to. But I’m done talking about Theresa. Rian said distance is what makes getting over someone easy. And while creating physical distance is doable, I’m not sure I can force my thoughts to create the emotional distance I need.

So I find another answer that is also the truth.

“Because I don’t want to be in love anymore. I want to find it…somewhere else.” I shake my head and look her in the eye. “Does that make me a jackass?”

She shakes her head. “Absolutely not.”

“Good.”

I grin, and she grins back, toying with her fork, barely touching her food anymore. She keeps hold of my eyes, and I let my gaze drop, not yet ready to look at someone so intently. The coughing bush next to us rustles; probably the wind again.

“Can I collect early?” she asks, then wets her thin lips.

“Huh?”

“My midnight kiss. I want it now.”

Figures—I ruined it. She’ll collect the kiss, then we’ll go our separate ways. Even when I try to move on, I fail at it.

“You want to see if you can get your money back?” I ask, plucking my napkin from my lap, wiping my mouth, then placing it on the table.

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