Hate to Date You (Dating #4) - Monica Murphy Page 0,8

Caroline starts, and the nervous tone of her voice immediately leaves me on edge. If it was about the wedding, she’d be giddy and bouncing in her seat. This sounds like bad news, and I’m not in the mood for bad news.

“What is it?” I ask when no one else has said anything.

“Well, you know Alex and I have been talking about moving in together for quite a while now, especially since we’re getting married so soon. We’ve discussed when I’m going to move into his house, but I wanted to talk to you about it first. Make sure you were okay.” Caroline hesitates for only a moment. “I’ve kept putting Alex off because I didn’t want to leave you alone,” she further explains.

I’m momentarily shocked. She didn’t want to leave me alone? I’m a grown-ass woman—I can take care of myself. Yes, I love having Caroline living with me. We binge watch Netflix, and then there’s Sunday face mask night, and we bought all the stuff so we can give each other gel manicures and don’t have to go to a salon. In the summer there’s Margarita Mondays and she’s my jogging partner on the beach, though she’s not much of a runner, so we’ve taken to walking and gossiping instead of running. It was like having a built-in favorite sister, and since we both don’t have sisters, it’s worked out really great.

“I’ve always told you that I understand why you want to live with Alex,” I say slowly, hoping she doesn’t think I’ve held her back.

“I know, and you’ve been so supportive.” There are actual tears forming in Caroline’s eyes as she reaches out and settles her hand over mine. “It’s so much fun being your roommate. Part of me not leaving any sooner are my own issues. I knew I’d miss you so much.”

I try to fight my own tears, because I know we’re being ridiculous. We will see each other pretty much every day. She’s still going to work at Noteworthy because she practically owns the place now, and we’ll get together with our friends for brunch and drinks and bitch fests.

But it won’t be the same as living together, and we both know it.

“I’ll miss you too.” I squeeze her hand, proud that I’m suppressing my tears. I don’t want to look weak in front of Carter, though I shouldn’t give a damn about what he thinks of me. “Is this your way of telling me that you’re finally moving in with Alex?”

Caroline’s laugh is watery and she sniffs, wiping the tears away from her eyes with her free hand. “Yes, but I have the best idea for your next roommate.”

I remove my hand from hers, grabbing my water glass so I can drain the last of it before our server returns with the to-go box and our check. I’m about to grab it when Alex swipes it right from under my nose. I send him a look but he silently shakes his head at me before grabbing his credit card from his wallet and handing it to the still waiting server.

“Thank you for dinner,” I tell Alex before I turn my attention to Caroline. “Who exactly are you thinking of?” My mind runs through a collage of our friends’ faces, but every single one of them has their own place already, so I’m not sure who she could be talking about. Kelsey, maybe? I know she’s complained about living with her roommates recently. I take one last sip of my water.

“Well.” Caroline looks from me to Carter, then back at me again. “I was thinking my brother should move in with you.”

I spit the water out, some of it spattering Caroline’s face, and she immediately throws her hands up to cover herself. “Stella, what the hell!”

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” I snag the napkin from my lap and wipe at my face, then lean over the table to offer it to Caroline, who’s dropped her hands by now. She shakes her head and grabs her own cloth napkin, delicately wiping at her face until all traces of water and my saliva is gone. Alex appears both shocked and amused, I’m guessing because I just gave a literal spit take.

But seriously, did she really just suggest Carter move in with me? Notice how quiet he is right now, hmmm?

“Hear me out,” Caroline says, holding up a hand as I’m about to say something. AKA argue. I immediately clamp my lips shut. I’ll let her