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I mentioned a weekend trip with my older sister, Phoebe. Within seconds, Bryce had turned that into passive income and his plans to own vacation property.
I checked the time and stopped trying to redirect him.
“Mine mostly waits for rent.”
Then Caleb cleared our plates.
Bryce took a sip of his drink.
“Would you date a guy with roommates?”
“That came out of nowhere.”
“I’m curious.”
“Depends on the guy.”
“That came out of nowhere.”
“What about splitting bills?”
“Are we doing a survey?”
Bryce smiled. “Do you expect the guy to pay?”
“I can pay for myself.”
“Good to know.”
That irritated me enough to push back.
“What about splitting bills?”
“My turn.”
Bryce leaned back.
“Go ahead.”
“What’s something you’ve changed your mind about in the last few years?”
“That’s your question?”
“You’ve had about twelve.”
“My turn.”
He laughed, then thought about it.
“I used to trust people too easily.”
“What changed?”
“It got expensive.”
Then he changed the subject.
By the time the check arrived, I was ready to go home.
Then he slid it toward me.
“What changed?”
***
Now, sitting across from him while he accused me of using him, I understood those questions differently.
“You said you look for patterns,” I said.
“I do.”
“What patterns?”
“Women who accept expensive dates.”
“You chose this place.”
“You said you look for patterns.”
“That’s not the point.”
“What is the point?”
He sighed.