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Evie Prosper slammed her dorm room door shut and flopped against it. “He asked me out. He asked me out! I think my luck has finally changed!”
“Okay, okay,” Becca said with a laugh. “You don’t need to shout.”
Evie slid down the door until she was sitting with her knees drawn up to her chest. She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the waves of excitement pulse through her. Devon, the star quarterback for their Texas college team, had finally asked her out. It had been weeks since they’d first started talking, and not that Evie expected Devon to be the one, as in marriage and happily ever after, but it was fun to dream.
Her eyes popped open. “Oh no.” She scrambled to her feet and rushed to the narrow closet. “I’m meeting him in an hour. One hour! Sixty minutes!”
Becca groaned and shut down her laptop. “I’m out of here. Not really a fan of hyper Evie while she gets ready for a date by trying on every item of clothing in this dorm room.”
Evie spun around to stare at her red-headed best friend and roommate. Becca was one of those girls who was beautiful with no makeup, no primping. But Evie had never gone a day without makeup in public since she was about thirteen. Yeah, she knew she was a slave to her beauty routine, but if it got her dates with the likes of Devon, it was worth it.
“Are you seriously leaving?” Evie asked Becca when she was halfway to the door.
Becca paused with a hand on the doorknob and turned her hazel eyes toward Evie. “In three days, you’ll be crying because things didn’t work out, and two days after that, you’ll be hot on another guy’s trail.”
Evie frowned. “That’s not true—”
“It’s been true for nearly four years.”
That stopped Evie, but Becca continued, “I’ve seen you through every guy you’ve dated in college. It’s always the same. You’re up, then down, then up again, and I’m dizzy from the rollercoaster.”
“Becca—”
“Besides, Devon is a womanizer; everyone knows that. What you see in him is beyond me, except for the obvious.” Becca shook her head. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning if you get in after I’m asleep.” She turned the doorknob and left the dorm room.
Evie stared at the closed door, not exactly sure what had just happened. Her roommate had never acted that way before. They’d always talked about their dates, oohing and aahing over which guys they liked. Well, except for the past six months—Becca hadn’t been dating much because she was in some pretty intense pre-med classes.
Evie had changed her major more than once, and finally, in her junior year, she’d decided on graphic design in journalism. Two months until graduation, and she hadn’t gotten a job offer at a major newspaper yet. One offer had come from a small-town weekly newspaper, but it would only be part-time at the most. And Evie was done with small towns.
She’d absolutely loved living in San Antonio the past four years and attending college. Which meant she went home as little as possible to her small-town roots in Prosper. She loved her family, but she never had any close friends in school. Besides, Evie was a city girl. Her mom wanted her to come back home and work for the Prosper Weekly. They didn’t even have an online presence.
No, thank you.
Evie refocused on her closet, and true to Becca’s prediction, when she walked out of her dorm fifty-five minutes later, she had gone through her entire wardrobe. Becca’s as well.
But now, Evie couldn’t think about her annoyed roommate, and whether she was in fact on a rollercoaster of dating. As she walked to the commons, where she’d be meeting Devon, she thought back to the past few semesters.
Leaving her small town of Prosper and entering college in the larger city of San Antonio, there had seemed to be so many guys in college. At first, Evie had been overwhelmed because they looked at her. Talked to her. Paid attention. Asked her out. With her brothers no longer hovering around her, Evie had started accepting dates.
Back home, her one and only date had been her senior prom. That had been a disaster, with Aaron trying to end the night with a kiss on her front porch. Her brother had opened the door before any kiss could happen, and Aaron had taken off.
That had been the beginning of her almost-kisses that never panned out. Because, well, there was one thing that Evie had never told anyone. Not even her best friend.
Evie still hadn’t been kissed.
Yeah, stop the presses, or whatever. Everyone had a dark secret, right? On the outside, it might look like Evie was a flirty girl who dated a lot. Was in it just for fun. Nothing ever serious. But in truth, after three dates, sometimes four, she ghosted the guy. Because that’s when the expectations started.
First dates were always flirty, getting-to-know-you. Where are you from? Do you have siblings? What are you doing after college?
Second dates were more amped up. We like each other enough to hang out again, so something more needs to happen. Like holding hands. Small touches. How many boyfriends have you had? When did you last have a girlfriend? How long did it last? A hug good night at the end of the evening.
Third dates were when the expectations skyrocketed. Holding hands again. More touching. And a stolen kiss, or two. Sometimes heading into something much more, if Evie was to base her knowledge on the countless dating stories she’d heard from friends, including Becca.
When Becca asked Evie if she’d kissed her date, she’d say “yes,” then change the subject. Because telling the truth, and saying no, that she’d never been kissed, wasn’t something Evie wanted to analyze. Well, okay, she’d analyzed it to death, but she didn’t want anyone else jumping into her head.
It was bad luck, she’d decided. Unattainable, undefinable bad luck. Every time she’d been about to be kissed, something had happened. Some sort of interruption. Once, it was lightning. Seriously.
“Hi, Evie,” someone said, and she looked up to see a woman who’d been in some of her classes.
