*Rolls eyes*
Of course she did. Not that I’m looking for forever, because I’m not. I’m just looking for a good time.
I’ve had too much loss in my life to commit to anyone. Yeah, I’m that guy. Psychoanalyze me all you want, but it’s not going to change the fact that my fear of commitment is a real thing.
But I’ll say this—if anyone was going to change my mind about that, it would be Kelsey.
She’s . . . hell, she’s all kinds of special.
From the first moment I saw her during her pitch meeting with us, I was wowed. But working closely together, I was enamored. Her smile, her positive outlook on life, her fucking gorgeous eyes, she stole my breath, and it was the first time in my goddamn life that I actually thought to myself . . . she could be my forever.
Talk about scaring the shit out of myself. It was like a Nordic breeze shot right up my ass. Absolutely chilling.
I couldn’t be thinking that way.
I couldn’t be thinking about gulp forever.
So, being a mature adult, I’ve chosen to deflect. To annoy. To keep her as far away as possible. And boy was it working. I got under her skin. Whenever she looks at me, she wants to murder me. Whenever I look at her, I think . . . well, she’s hot, but she wants to murder me, therefore, stay away.
And like I said, it worked. It worked so fucking well . . . until it didn’t anymore.
You can ONLY imagine what happens next . . .
Chapter One
KELSEY
Meant to Be Podcast
Alec and Luna
Kelsey: Welcome, listener, to the Meant to Be Podcast, where we talk to madly-in-love couples about the way they met. Alec and Luna, thank you so much for joining me today.
Alec: Our pleasure. Luna could not stop raving about you.
Luna: Guilty. I’m obsessed with this podcast.
Kelsey: Thank you so much. So then, you must know how we run things over here. The intro is you two giving us a quick rundown on your meet-cute. Think you can do it?
Luna: We can.
Alec: She made me practice.
Kelsey: Ha-ha. Well then, take it away. How did you two become meant to be?
Luna: My brother got engaged to his boyfriend and they couldn’t afford a big, fancy wedding, so I signed him up for a DIY wedding show called The Wedding Game.
Alec: My brother, Thad, was a groomzilla and wanted to win the grand prize at the end of the show, an apartment overlooking Central Park, and laid a guilt trip to force me to help.
Luna: First day of shooting, Alec assumed I was a PA and demanded I get him coffee.
Alec: Asked, not demanded. Let’s keep things straight, but, yes, I did. And you can imagine how the little spitfire next to me reacted.
Luna: I had it out for him. He was the competition and he was going down.
Alec: I didn’t care about the competition at all and was counting down the days until it was done. Then I realized what a bad brother I was being and how sad Thad was, so . . . I put in the effort.
Luna: Effort meant following me around a baking store so he could learn how to bake a cake.
Alec: I knocked over some nuts, and she helped me pick them up and found me out. She took pity on me and showed me how to bake a cake to help Thad.
Luna: That day in my apartment changed everything. I didn’t see him as competition. I saw him as a brother trying to make a difference.
Alec: She’s a sucker for family, and so shortly after that, I asked her out.
Luna: We got married last spring.
“Can you two stop making out? Honestly, I came here to have dinner with you, not see you lick each other’s faces.”
Lottie pauses and looks over her shoulder. “But he smells so good. Have you smelled him?”
“I haven’t, because he’s not my boyfriend.”
Huxley twists Lottie off him onto the outdoor couch they’re sharing and lifts her chin to his lips. “I’m going to go check on the pizza.” He presses the lightest of kisses to her lips and then stands. “Kelse, can I get you a refill on your drink?”
I hold up my wineglass to him and say, “Please, thank you.”
Huxley has the best wines. He doesn’t drink much of it, so I always make a point to put a dent in his labels when I’m over for dinner, which is at least once a week. And eating outside is always my choice. Huxley and Lottie have a gorgeous, coastal-style house with white walls and black accents just outside Beverly Hills in The Flats. The backyard has a breathtaking infinity pool that stretches the length of the property and expensive yet massively comfortable patio furniture. Tall palm trees add privacy. Their backyard is my favorite place.
When he disappears into the house, Lottie leans toward me and asks, “Kelsey, you know that vibrator I showed you the other night?”