Chronicles of a Serial Dater - Book 4: A New Adult Romantic Comedy by Adele Huxley, Savan Robbins Read Free Book Online

right? You were seeing… shit, what’s her name?”
    “Right, yeah,” he said numbly, pacing back and forth like a caged animal.
    “Zach, come on. It’s not like…”
    “No, I’m not saying it’s…”
    Neither of us could finish a sentence. The implication of this conversation hung heavy in the air and I’m not proud of how I handled it. I was just so emotionally exhausted from fighting with Anette, I couldn’t hold much back.
    My voice came out low, quiet, almost cold. “You knew I wasn’t looking for anything serious. What about the rules?”
    “Fuck the rules.”
    “The rules are there so we don’t get into trouble,” I said slowly.
    “You mean the one about you sleeping over? Or the one about making sure we have enough time apart between so we don’t…” He trailed off as he stopped pacing. With a few deliberate steps, he crouched in front of me. He earnestly regarded me before speaking, looking into each eye as if he might find something different.
    “What are you…”
    “Look at me and tell me you haven’t developed feelings,” he insisted. “Say it straight to my face, because it’s been feeling pretty relationshippy in here the past week.”
    A lump in my throat blocked the words from coming out at first. I thought we’d been on the same page, humming along between the sheets. Have I been giving off weird vibes? No wonder he’s freaking out! He thinks I’ve caught feelings for him!
    I grabbed his hands and squeezed them tightly. “I’m sorry if I’ve been acting weird around you. I don’t want you to think anything has changed between us. You’ve been such a good friend and you need to know I wouldn’t want to sacrifice that friendship for anything. But no, I don’t have any feelings for you.”
    He couldn’t meet my eye. “No, sure. Yeah. Our friendship is totally the most important thing.”
    “So why did you delete Tinder?”
    “Just cause…” he struggled to reply. “I dunno. We were hanging out so regularly, I guess I didn’t think I needed it anymore. Thought you were a satisfied customer but apparently not. No biggie.” He ripped his hands away and resumed pacing the cluttered floor.
    This conversation was giving me mental freakin’ whiplash. “Wait, what? Because I was screwin’ around on my phone just now, you think you aren’t satisfying me in bed? How do you figure?”
    “It’s fine. No biggie, really. I get all you want is sex from me, that’s cool. You’ve made that abundantly clear.”
    I finally lost my proverbial shit. I launched to my feet and stood right in the middle of his pacing path. “That’s all this was supposed to be. You were the one who came up with this whole idea in the first place and now, what? You’re falling in love with me or something?” I scoffed.
    The pained glance he gave me was all the confirmation I needed, but he quickly sneered to cover it. “Come on, now. You know me. I’m just mad I missed out on a couple weeks I could’ve been going out. But now I know you’re still out there, I don’t feel so bad.”
    “Why are you acting like this? Zach! Just talk to me!”
    He shrugged and hardened his gaze, almost looking through me rather than at me. “I think it might be better if you sleep at your place tonight. I’m gonna see if Julianna is free.”
    I couldn’t hide my scowl. “Julianna? But you said after the last time you…”
    “Yeah, well, people change,” he replied coolly.
    I couldn’t believe my life. First Anette and now Zach was acting like a lunatic. One minute it felt like he wanted to bang, the next like he might propose, and now he was kicking me out so he could screw his horrible ex-girlfriend?
    I let out a string of curses before shoving past. “Whatever. Hope whatever you catch from her can be cleared up with a dose of penicillin,” I shouted before slamming the door behind.
     

I wrote a post in a blog I wasn’t even publishing anything on anymore, hitting the draft button rather than