The Dare

In his panic, Al scrambled forward on his hands and knees in a rather undignified way. "No, that's not true at all! I always wanted to be your friend. I just wanted to be friends…permanently. Didn't you once say that couples were supposed to be friends?"

I had, hadn't I? But that was referring to Franz and Mariela, who were already married and needed to make the most of their situation. Al had been planning to trap me by his side from the beginning.

I was angry but I shouldn't have been. I knew he was a suitor from the start and deluded myself because out of everyone I met here he reminded me the most of an average American guy.

Whatever crush he had on me in the beginning had probably been made a lot worse by all the fun we had together while I was trying to keep him from dying of boredom as per our agreement. I brought this entirely on myself.

I exhaled heavily and leaned my head against the couch cushion. "I did say that, huh? Alright."