Rose’s expression tells me she doesn’t buy it. “Are things with Gray…”

“Over,” I reply. “He left.”

“Have you heard from him at all?”

“Yeah. He’s called a couple of times.”

“That’s good, right?”

“I guess.”

“Why don’t you sound sure?”

“I just…I don’t think anything has changed. He said from the start that this wasn’t anything serious, that he’s not looking for a relationship. And I agreed. Dragging things out now that he’s gone, well, it’ll just hurt even more in the end.”

“Did you tell him that?”

I play with a crouton. “No. I want him to call. I want to know he’s okay, and I want to hear his voice. That’s the problem.”

“Yeah. That would be tricky.” Rose plays with her fork. “You know Ben has a thing for you, right?”

“He’s friendly with everyone.”

“True. But he’s friendliest with you. He’s never invited me to Starbucks.”

“You’re always talking about guys you’re seeing.”

The fork gets pointed right at me. “You get hearts in your eyes every time Gray gets mentioned. Yet Ben still asked me if I knew whether you were single.”

“He did?”

“Uh-huh.” Rose studies me closely, obviously attempting to determine my reaction to that news.

“What did you tell him?”

“That I wasn’t sure. I don’t stick my nose in other people’s love lives unless they ask me to.”

“Hmm.”

I take a bite of salad, testing out the idea of me and Ben in my head. I’m not sure I can picture it—kissing him. More than kissing him. Then again, I can’t seem to picture doing either of those things with anyone who’s not Gray. So much for using him as a transition to one-night stands with strangers—or whatever the hell I told myself when we first started hooking up.

“So…what are you going to tell him?”

I laugh. “Where’s your nose right now?”

Rose rolls her eyes. “I’m not telling you what to do. Just curious what you’re thinking.”

I play with a piece of lettuce. “I don’t know what I’d say. I should give it a try. He’s a great guy.”

“But…” she prompts knowingly.

“But I’ll probably tell him I’m still hung up on someone else. Because…I am.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say.” Rose’s pager goes off, vibrating against the table. She groans. “Crap. I gotta take this one. See you later?”

I nod. “Yeah.”