Page 41 of I Don't Need Your Romance

I twist my nose. I normally don’t like trying to prove anything to anyone because I don’tneedto prove myself to anyone. I am who I am and I like what I like and I don’t need to validate myself. But Damian is bringing out my competitive side. Iwantto prove him wrong. Not because it’ll magically turn him into a romance reader, but just to prove that he has no idea what he’s talking about.

“So what exactly would this challenge entail?” I ask.

He taps his fingers on the table as he thinks. “You need to find a guy to have a relationship with. Like I said, if your romance is better than the one in there.” He nods to my book. “I win. If not, you win.”

“What do either of us gain, though? Bragging rights?”

“Knowing that you’re right or knowing that I’m right.”

“That’s it?”

“Betting would make it less authentic because either of us might lie or bend the truth just to prove our own opinion. So I think it would be fair not to gain anything to make it as real as possible.”

Hmm, he does have a point. If I knew I would receive a prize for winning the challenge, I might pretend the romance in the book is better than one in real life.

“And you’ll gain so much more than a prize if I’m right,” he says. “You’ll gain a real-life boyfriend who will make your life much better than those books.”

I hug the book to my chest. “You didn’t hear that, right?” I focus my attention back on Damian. “And if I’m right, maybe you’ll actually read a romance book and see what you’re missing out on.”

“Maybe. But I doubt I’ll lose.”

“Geez, are you always so cocky?”

“When I know I’m right.”

“You’re not right, dude.”

“Then prove me wrong and accept the challenge.”

My eyes rove over his face as I contemplate what to do. Then I lift my shoulders. “You know something? What the heck. There’s really nothing to lose. Well, other than your pride.”

“But you need to make a real effort to try to have a relationship with someone or this is invalid. You can’t claim real-life romance isn’t as good as book romance if you haven’t actually had a real-life romance.”

“So…in order to prove you wrong, I’ll need to actually meet a guy, have that guy like me enough to go out with me, have him like me even more so he’ll agree to be my boyfriend, and then eventually we’ll break up because real-life romance sucks?”

He gives me a face. “Everything besides the last part.”

“The last part will prove that I’m right and you’re wrong.”’

“Geez you’re stubborn.”

“Takes one to know one.”

He lays his hands on the table. “So we have a deal? You’ll need to find a guy to try this with. But it has to be real. You can’t string a guy along just to prove a point. That’s not fair.”

“I would never do that!”

“Okay, good. So you’ll need to put yourself out there and make an effort to meet a guy.”

“But the guys here suck,” I complain.

“Are you sure there are no decent ones? You and your friends aren’t the only scholarship kids. I’m sure there are plenty for you to choose from.”

“Think again,” I mutter.

“Well, I’m confident that there are lots of guys who would jump at the idea of getting to know you better.”

I narrow my eyes. “Are you being sarcastic?”