Babysitter or Boyfriend?

Chapter 7

A/N

*Sighs*...So here's the thing. When I first thought up the idea for this story, I was pretty excited about it. But now, as I'm getting a little further into the plot, I'm finding that it's hard to come up with a whole lot of exciting things to write. Therefore, this story probably won't end up being as long as I originally planned...probably less than 20 chapters. I've got a couple other story ideas that I think will have a little more depth than this one :P But you all have been fantastic about leaving such nice comments, so thank you so, so much! Happy reading!!

Chapter Seven

Alex's POV:

I watched Avery skip out of the kitchen, looking very pleased with herself. My mouth hung open just slightly, and I realized it took a lot of self-control for me not to run after her and demand an explanation. She'd gone running with Conner? As in...my roommate, Conner? Was it something they had planned the night before, after we got home from the beach? Did they exchange numbers and text one another regularly?

"Hello, earth to Alex!" I blinked to find Brooke's slender hand waving in front of my face. "Wow, there you are. Is everything okay? You look like someone just ran over your cat."

I snapped my mouth shut and forced a smile at her. "I don't have a cat," I teased, and she rolled her eyes at me. "And yes, everything is fine. I was just...surprised."

"By...?" Brooke prodded.

What could I say? By the fact that my anti-social, heartbroken roommate and best friend are suddenly running partners? Surprised by the fact that I seemed to care so much? I didn't really feel like divulging my inner feelings to a girl I still barely knew, and so I settled with saying, "Oh, nothing. I just space out sometimes."

"Obviously," Brooke trilled, and sashayed-I kid you not, I finally understood the meaning of sashayed-to the refrigerator. "Now. Tell me, where are you taking me for our date tonight?"

I grinned, licking a drop of syrup off my finger. "Wouldn't you like to know," I taunted, and Brooke threw a hot pad at my chest.

"Fine, then don't tell me," she replied. "But if you have plans to take me to a nice restaurant and I show up in sweatpants...tough!"

I had a hard time believing Brooke even owned a pair of sweatpants. Unless they had the words "JUICY" plastered across the butt or something. It was only nine o'clock in the morning, and already Brooke looked flawlessly groomed. Which was sort of a turn on, and sort of a pain. I sort of liked a girl that could wear sweatpants and not worry whether or not they made her butt look big.

Brooke and I bantered back and forth for several minutes, and then, unable to resist, I said that there was something I needed to tell Avery-not exactly the truth-and hurried out of the kitchen.

Knocking softly, I heard some rustling around inside the bedroom, and then the door swung open. She looked adorable in a pair of denim shorts and a plain blue, v-neck t-shirt that showed just enough cleavage to make me feel a little flustered and look away. "Hey," I said as nicely as possible.

"Hi," she replied, significantly more cheerful than she had been at our parting the night before. "What's up? Um, want to come in?"

She stepped aside, and I brushed past her, catching a whiff of flowery shampoo on her still-damp hair. I decided not to beat around the bush, and as soon as she was facing me again I said, casually, "So, you and Conner went running together, huh?" I hated that I sounded a little...well, to be honest I sounded a little jealous.

"Yeah," Avery responded, as if it was no big deal, and she had been running buddies with Conner for ages. "Well, I mean, I ran into him as I was leaving and we decided to pair up." I must've had a strange look on my face, because then Avery said, slowly, "Is that a problem?"