Chapter 3

Dana

"I just don't get it," I barked into the phone as I paced the floor in my living room.

"He's in a weird place right now, Dana. Give him a little bit of space and he'll come around." My best friend Olivia was forever trying to patch up the world with Band-Aids and butterfly kisses. How she was a top investment advisor in a cut-throat city like New York was beyond me.

"I don't think he will." I ran my hand through my hair and sat down on the couch. "I've been moping around this stupid apartment all weekend. Thank God I have a meeting with my adviser in an hour and a shift at the hospital, or I'd still be moping."

"Just call him. You guys have a friendship, right?"

"It's not that easy." I wanted to pull the phone away and glare at it in hopes of getting my point across, but it was useless. Everything was, as far as I was concerned. "Maybe I should just change schools. If the problem is me being at UT, then I'll just look to see about transferring to another-"

"Hold up." Olivia's voice changed, and I knew the momma bear was coming out. "You've been working your ass off for six years and now you're going to change schools just to get some guy to start dating you? Fuck that. He can figure it out from his end. Maybe he needs to change jobs. Is he willing to do that?"

"No. I don't know. I'm just saying... he's a great guy, Liv. He's the kind of guy I want to take home to see my family and I feel like purring every time he walks in the room."

"You just met him. You did this same madness with Cameron, remember?"

I started to deny her claims, but she was right. I had been the same way with Cameron and every other guy I'd dated over the last few years.

An ugly sigh left me and I slumped back into the couch. "You're right."

"Don't say that. It means you're giving up. I'm not telling you to give up on this guy. I'm just saying that if he's worth you moving mountains over, then maybe you guys should talk about how to make your relationship work. There's no reason why either of you should have to change your entire life to be together."

"He's a professor at UT and I'm a student."

"So change your financial statement analysis class. That's the one he's teaching, right?"

"It's not that easy. Professors can't date any student on campus. Even if I changed my class, he'd still be off limits, or rather, I would." I brushed my hand down my shirt and tried to still my thoughts. I'd gone through a hundred and ten different ways that Kendal and I could make our relationship work and none of them were plausible. Hell, I wasn't even sure if he wanted to work things out. He seemed perfectly content with just being friends.

But that kiss... The one in his living room where he wrapped me in his strong arms and made the world disappear. That wasn't a friendly kiss. It was hungry and needy. I just needed to know if it was due to his pain or because he still felt something for me.

"So just be friends with benefits until May. You guys can keep things under wraps. Get creative if this really means something to you." She snorted. "You remember when you really wanted to win homecoming queen our senior year?"

"Oh Lord." I covered my face with my free hand. Why was she going there? She always resorted back to some crazy ass story from high school that left me feeling like I could rule the universe.

"Exactly. You did everything you had to do to win that title, and did you win it?"

"You know that I did." I shook my head and let my hand drop from my face. "I really like this guy, Liv. I really want this to go somewhere, and some part of me knows that it could. It could be one of those great love stories that you see on the Hallmark Channel."

"Ugh. You know I hate those shows."

I laughed along with her. Somehow she always had the ability to make me feel better.

"All right." I stood up. "You're right. We can work this out if it's something he's up for. I almost like the idea of sneaking around. It's sexy."

"Right? Then get to it."

"I'll talk to him today. Love you." I dropped the call and tossed the phone on the couch. All of a sudden, going up to the school and then the hospital didn't sound like much fun. Necessary evils in my life. Everything felt that way except looking for a solution to the issue of me and Kendal getting to be together. First thing first though... I needed to make sure he still wanted me as badly as I wanted him.

Somehow that almost sounded like fun.