“I have to go,” I mumbled. “I’m driving.”

“You’re echoing, so I know I’m on Bluetooth and you can still talk to me,” Ani called out as I hung up on her.

“Dammit,” I said under my breath as I pulled out of the parking lot.

Ani was wrong. I was almost sure of it. Sarai wouldn’t have made any plans with me at all if she was trying to blow me off. She’d had no problem turning me down before.

I really hoped Sarai wasn’t putting me in the damn friend zone. I wanted to be more than friends. That sounded sappy and ridiculous, but it was true. I wanted to know her better than I knew my friends. I wanted to know what made her tick, what made her work so hard, what made her laugh and cry. I wanted to watch stupid chick flicks with her and then bitch to my brother about it. I wanted to see her naked. God, did I want to see her naked. I wanted to map every inch of her skin with my mouth, find every mole and dimple.

With another curse, I scrolled through my contacts. Whenever I was in need of advice, I went to two people—Ani, who was a complete cynic, and my sister, Kate, a self-proclaimed romantic. I usually took their advice, smashed it together, and went with something in between.

Kate answered her phone on the first ring. “Breakfast isn’t a date.”

“How the hell did she get to you so fast?” I asked in annoyance.

“She sent a text,” Kate said, laughing.

“You both suck.”

“I love you,” she said as I hung up on her, too.

They were wrong. Sarai was beginning to warm to me. I could feel it.

Chapter 4

Sarai

I flipped onto my back and stared at the ceiling Sunday morning, my stomach in knots. Agreeing to a breakfast date with Alex had seemed like such a good idea when he was standing there with that infectious smile on his face, but now I was worrying that maybe I’d started something that I didn’t exactly have the time for and wasn’t really ready for. It was eight o’clock already, and I still had so much homework and laundry to do that I was going to be up super late trying to finish it all. My days were always full; that was why I’d been avoiding relationships while I was still in school. After I was done—with my degree in hand and a sweet job waiting for me—would be the perfect time to start dating again.