“What do you mean, that’s not everything?” Liv stood behind me and as I turned around, her brown eyes looked cautious. “You didn’t have sex with Scott, did you?”

“What?” My voice rose and my jaw dropped. “Hell no. Of course I didn’t sleep with Scott. How could you think that?”

“Well, you’re acting funny,” she said with a frown. “What else don’t I know, Alice?”

“Ahem.” Xander walked into the kitchen and cleared his throat. “I’ve put the movie on hold, but I’m wondering if I should just leave?” He looked at me and then at Liv. “It seems like you guys need to talk?”

“Thanks.” I nodded and smiled at him weakly.

“No.” Liv frowned and then gave me a look. “You don’t have to leave.”

“Are you sure?” He stood there with a smug smile on his face. “I don’t mind, and it seems like Alice really needs to talk.” He looked at me again, and I stood there with my heart in my throat. I couldn’t look at Liv. I was scared she was going to tell Xander he could stay. Which would mean that she was officially choosing him over me. Which would not be cool. I was her best friend. I had first dibs on her time. If she told him he could stay, I was going to feel very, very sad.

“If you don’t mind,” Liv said and walked over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll make it up to you.” My shoulders relaxed at her words. She wasn’t choosing Xander over me. Yet.

“I’ll hold you to that,” he said in a silky smooth voice, and I looked away as he pulled her mouth to his and kissed her firmly. Oh how I wished Aiden would grab me like that and kiss me possessively. “Feel better, Alice.”

“Thanks.” I nodded and chugged my chocolate milk.

“Alice, I’m going to walk Xander to the door then I’ll be back.” Liv looked at me. “Pour us two glasses of Merlot. I think tonight’s going to be a long night.”

“Okay.” I nodded and smiled. I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten so lucky as to get Liv as a best friend, but I vowed to myself that I would never take her for granted. I looked in the cupboard for some wine glasses and a bottle of wine. I then opened the fridge and took out some French bread and brie that I had not bought, and sliced the bread and put it in the mini toaster oven that we had. A couple of minutes later Liv walked back into the kitchen, and I tensed slightly. I was worried that she was going to be mad at me for making her send Xander home.

“Yummy, you’re toasting the French bread?” She sidled up next to me and grinned.

“Yup, and I took out the brie, too.” I looked over at her. “I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course.” She laughed. “I got chocolate as well.”

“Yay.”

“It’s dark, so it’s good for us.” She pulled out her bar of chocolate from the fridge. It was Lindt dark chocolate with mint, and I grinned. It was the only dark chocolate I liked because it didn’t taste all gritty and bitter. The mint in this bar made the chocolate taste creamy and delicious. Almost as sinful as real milk chocolate.

“I’m sorry I made you send Xander home.” I made a face as I turned the slices of French bread over so that they could be toasted on both sides. Our toaster was poorly made and it never seemed to toast the bread evenly on both sides.

“It’s fine.” She rubbed my shoulder. “I’m not going to just let you suffer; besides, he knows us both well enough to know that I couldn’t just sit there while you were upset. He knows you’re my best friend and—love it or hate it—he has to deal with it.”

“He hates me?” I opened the fridge and pulled the butter out.

“No.” She shook her head and laughed. “I think he hates—well, not hates, more like dislikes the fact that when we’re together we can be a bit immature.”

“Immature?” My jaw dropped. “He thinks I’m immature?”

“He thinks we’re both a bit childish.” She giggled. “I told him he was wrong, but you have to admit we do have a tendency to act like teenagers sometimes.”

“I take offense to that.” I laughed and then shook my head. “And it’s not all the time, it’s just sometimes.”

“That’s what I told him. Everyone is entitled to act young when they want.”

“Exactly, and we’re only twenty-two.” I placed the bread on a plate with the cheese. “I’ll take the food and you can bring the wine and the glasses.”

“Okay.” She nodded in agreement and followed me into the living room. I have to admit I felt bad when I saw the lit candles on the coffee table, with Liv’s favorite cream faux angora wool blanket thrown on the couch. There was also a single red rose on the table next to the candle.

“Oh, man.” I looked back at her with an apologetic look. “I ruined a romantic night.”

“It’s fine.” She smiled at me.

“He gave you a red rose?” My heart had a sudden ache. “That’s so sweet.”

“He said that he’s never given a woman a red rose before,” she said, nodding. “He said that he vowed never to give a woman red roses until he met the woman he loved.”

“Oh my God, that is so sweet.” I sighed. “Argh, why does he have to be so perfect?”

“He told me that he couldn’t believe that he was so lucky,” she squeaked out with a huge grin. “He told me that I made him a believer and that he doesn’t want to spend a day or night without me.”

“Wow, thanks for making me feel even worse,” I groaned. “How sweet is he?” I sighed. “I shouldn’t have made him leave. Call him and tell him to come back. We can talk tomorrow.”

“No, we will talk tonight.” She sat down on the couch and opened the bottle of wine. “I want to know what’s going on, Alice.”

“It’s not important. Call Xander and tell him to come back so that you can have hot sex and tell him you don’t want to spend a night without him either.”

“Alice.” She giggled. “He can go without sex for one night. Might make him miss me even more.”

“You’re silly.” I giggled. “Though, what’s that saying? ‘Treat them mean, keep them keen’?”

“‘Make them wait, get the hate’?” she said with a laugh.

“Or ‘Give them blue balls, get eaten by Jaws,’” I said.

“No, no, I’ve got it!” She laughed. “‘Make them jack off, make them cough.’”

“Cough? Eh?” I started laughing harder. “That makes no sense.”

“Make them cough up a big diamond ring.” She laughed and I watched as her head fell back and her eyes watered up in tears.

“That’s stupid!” I continued laughing and sipped at my wine. “But thanks for making me laugh.”

“Of course.” She grinned and then looked me directly in the eyes. “Now tell me, what haven’t you told me?”

I took another sip of wine, swallowed and took a deep breath. “I lost my virginity to Aiden,” I said softly, and I watched as Liv spat her wine onto her lap in shock.

Chapter Two

There’s No Such Thing as a Love Spell

You know that saying. The one about a watched phone never rings? Well, it’s not true. My phone has been ringing off the hook all morning. The only person who hasn’t called me is the one person I want to call me. I’ve had calls from the local satellite company telling me I needed to switch from cable. I told them I’ll switch if they can promise that I only have to pay a dollar a month for the next ten years. She cursed at me and then hung up when I told her I wanted a new 50” TV as well to sweeten the deal. I also had a call from my dentist. Well, his receptionist called to tell me that I’d missed my last two appointments and that I needed to come in for a cleaning. Yeah, right. Not anytime soon, Dr. Rosenberg. The last time I needed a cleaning, I had several cavities that needed to be filled. I’m still paying off that bill. Thanks for nothing, $300-a-month insurance premium. And of course, I also had a call from my dear old grandma, wanting to know when I was getting married and giving her great-grandbabies. I told her she can go to the local park and see some babies there, but she wasn’t amused. So yes, I’ve had a lot of calls today, but none from Aiden, the man I really wanted to hear from.