Or not.

She huffed a laugh. She was a lazy nerd and proud of it. Which was why winter was the best season. She could curl up on her big cushy couch with a mug of hot chocolate and read.

At the front, the security door on her building was propped open. Driving rock music and raucous laughter poured like a waterfall of noise from an apartment upstairs. Someone was having a party. No wonder the parking lot was full.

There were days she wished she lived in a cave.

She headed down the hall to her ground floor apartment. Should she call the manager to complain about the noise or the cars? No. Just because she was a boring rule-follower didn’t mean she’d ruin some college kid’s weekend by having his car towed.

Maybe this was a good incentive to stop living nose-to-nose with others and buy a house. She was twenty-seven, after all. However, she’d always lived in apartments, and the thought of buying a house all by herself was somewhat nerve-wracking.

Her mouth twisted. She and Craig had planned to buy a house. She’d envisioned a cute fixer-upper that would fit in her budget since she was excellent at looking up how to repair things. However, Craig had wanted an eye-catching, client-impressing house—and that’s what he and his new girlfriend had bought.

It turned out that Craig had also wanted an eye-catching, client-impressing woman.

Audrey shook her head. How had she missed the signs their relationship was doomed? His interests didn’t mesh with hers. In fact, after the initial excitement, she’d usually been relieved when he hadn’t come over and she could have an evening alone. The way he’d criticized her clothing, her makeup, her social skills.

Eventually, she’d have understood that their personalities were incompatible.

It sure did burn that he’d been the one to dump her.

Inhaling slowly, she let herself into her apartment. As she carried her groceries into the kitchen, she tried not to remember their last time together. Two months ago, he’d told her they were done.

Her biggest mistake was asking him why he was breaking up with her.

“Because I need someone at my side who likes people, who is sociable. Someone who can impress my clients and my boss rather than trying to avoid even meeting them.”

The words had shriveled her soul.

Truly, introverts shouldn’t try to have relationships. Nerds should be content with being alone. These days, aside from casual university friendships, her relationships were online, and she was perfectly happy to have them that way.

The jagged ache in her chest didn’t count.

Maybe she should get a cat.