False Start - Jessica Ruddick Page 0,79

We’re supposed to stay until ten.”

“Okay.” I breathed a little easier, grateful for the excuse to avoid Roman a little longer.

“No, you go. I can catch a ride home with Blake.”

“I’ll stay. Roman can wait. He’s early anyway.”

“Roman just drove almost six hours. It’s kind of shitty to make him sit in his car for another hour if he doesn’t have to.”

God, I’m such a dick. I hadn’t even considered that. Even though Becca had a valid point, I didn’t like leaving her.

Becca put a hand on her hip. “Don’t be an ass about this. You were just planning to drop me off at home anyway.” Although she said she was sure Roman would be okay with the two of us being together, she wasn’t ready to stay the night with me under the same roof as her brother. I couldn’t say I was ready for that either. Would I ever be?

“Fine,” I muttered. “But I want to talk to Blake first.”

Blake assured me multiple times that he would make sure Becca got home safely. As she walked me to the exit, she promised to text me when she got home. I’d run out of excuses to stay. I’m such a chickenshit.

Putting my thumb under her chin, I tilted her face up. “Be sure you do.” It felt so ass-backward to entrust Becca to another guy, especially one she’d dated. Okay, it was just one coffee date, but still.

As I walked away from her, she grabbed my hand and pulled me back for another kiss. “I love you,” she said.

“I love you too.”

She playfully pushed me toward the door. “Now go talk to Roman. It’ll be fine.”

Easy for her to say.

CHAPTER 20

Carson

ROMAN WAS WAITING on my front porch when I pulled in. “About time your ugly ass showed up,” he called.

I took my time getting out of the car. “Sorry,” I said when I finally emerged.

He shot me a strange look. Shit. The fact that I didn’t lob an insult right back at him warned him that something was up.

I unlocked the front door, and we shuffled in. Roman dropped his bag on the floor and wandered into the kitchen. “I’m fucking starving. You got anything good?”

“The same as usual,” I said. Roman was always hungry. “We can order a pizza if you want.”

He came back into the living room with his arm elbow deep in a bag of Doritos. “No, I’m good. I hit up a Wendy’s on the drive here. I just need snacks.”

“Cool.” I sat on the couch, stretched my arm across the back, and propped my right foot on my left knee. God, this sucks.

Roman remained standing, probably because he’d just spent several hours sitting in a car. “Man, I wish Becca would’ve gotten on the homecoming court in high school. We really could have punked her, but I guess we can’t really do that here.”

“No,” I agreed. Roman and I definitely would have tried to pull something in high school, though for the life of me, I couldn’t think of what we would do. Maybe it was a sign I was finally maturing.

“You’re acting weird.” He shoved a chip in his mouth. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I started bouncing my foot then stopped and planted both feet on the floor before leaning my elbows on my knees. “Actually, I need to talk to you.” There’s no going back now.

“What’s up?”

“So, uh, yeah.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “Becca and I are sort of… together.” Christ. I shouldn’t have put off thinking about talking to him. Then maybe I would’ve known what to say.

Roman’s eyes filled with confusion, and his gaze locked on mine for a few tense seconds. Then he laughed. “Nice try, but you can’t punk me that easily.”

I blew out a breath. I hadn’t expected that he wouldn’t believe me. I’d expected him to be pissed. Though there was still time for that reaction.

“I’m not punking you.”

Roman stared at me, like he was trying to make sense of my words.

“We’re together,” I said, wanting to make it perfectly clear. Then I braced myself.

Roman crumpled the empty chip bag and threw it on the floor. “What… the… fuck?”

“I didn’t plan it.” I didn’t bother to tell him that Becca had had feelings for me for years. She could decide if and when she told him that. At this point, the fewer details Roman knew, the better.

Roman’s hands were balled into fists at his sides, and a vein in his neck bulged. “How