Page 71 of All That Glitters

He gives me another kiss.

“Of course. Just let me know if it changes,” he says as he pulls back.

When, I correct internally. I don’t think there’s a question of if in regards to falling in love with Jameson. I might already be in love with him, but I’m too afraid to admit it without knowing for sure. What’s the difference between the love we had before and this one? Once I sort that out, I’ll be able to voice it.

“I will,” I reply quietly.

“I’ll meet you in the lobby tomorrow around seven,” he says as he takes a step back.

I nod. “I’ll be there.” Without sleep, but that’s okay. Between thinking of all of this and my homework, I doubt I’ll even get a full hour tonight.

I watch him walk to the elevator, then fish my keys out of my messenger bag and unlock the front door. When I get inside, I find a rare sight: all of my roommates in the same place twice in the same week. With all of our busy schedules, it’s not often we can sit together for extended periods, though we do our best to make time for it. Since they likely sacrificed something in their own schedules to take care of me the other day, I didn’t expect to see them like this so soon.

“Is this a mirage?” I joke as I walk into the living room.

My heart is playing double Dutch in my chest. I know that they’ll all be supportive, but it’s still nerve-wracking to say everything out loud when I’m still not sure what everything is.

“It’s nothing short of a miracle,” Jasmine says with a smile from where she’s sitting with her laptop on the couch. “I didn’t think you’d be home until later.”

I lean my bag against the couch, then sit down on one of the empty cushions. Saylor and Aurora are both on the floor. Saylor is on her stomach, highlighter in hand, pouring over a criminally large medical textbook. Meanwhile, Aurora is using some kind of pink resistance band to exercise or stretch her feet—I can’t tell the difference.

“I decided to study here instead of the library.”

“Did Jameson steal your table again?” Saylor asks, looking up from her page.

“Uh, no,” I reply with an awkward laugh.

Jasmine narrows her eyes. My other two roommates follow suit.

“What are you hiding?” Jasmine demands to know.

I tug the sleeves of my sweater over my palms. Why is it so hard to tell people things? I’ve got to get better about this sort of thing, or else I’m never going to have any friends other than Jameson. He’s known me long enough that he understands I’m better at writing my feelings than talking about them.

“Did you kiss him or something?” Aurora asks in a flat tone.

My face heats at her spot-on guess. Saylor gasps and points at me.

“You did not!”

I bite my lip. Jasmine snaps her laptop shut and sets it aside.

“Did you really?” she asks with wide eyes.

I look at each of them, note the varying levels of excitement, and then nod. The room erupts in chaos and squealing—mostly from Saylor.

“You have to tell us everything,” Saylor says as she caps her highlighter.

So I do. And it goes even better than I would have hoped, because somehow, with all of my flaws, I’ve tricked these three amazing women into being friends with me.

Chapter thirty-four

Coffee Date

Jameson Sinclair

I glance at the time on my phone again. 7:17, and no text from Marigold.

Did she get scared and change her mind?