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‘I’m just notdrawnto him. I don’t feel that attraction. There’s no spark.’

‘Not all romances are insta love. Some are slow burns. It’s only been twenty-four hours. There’s loads of time for those feelings to grow. Look at me and Max. I hated him on the first day. It was a week until we really connected.’

‘When you sayconnected,you mean,shagged!’ I cackled.

‘Oh, sweet memories…’ Her voice turned wistful. ‘Anyway, it wasn’t until our first excursion outside of the hotel that things started to change, so you never know, maybe that’s when it’ll click for you too. When’s your first outing?’

‘Tomorrow. According to one of the other guests I was chatting to, we’re going to Alberobello.’

Apparently the Love Alchemists didn’t usually tell us where we were going in advance as they preferred the locations to be a surprise, but this woman overhead Romeo talking about it to another staff member.

‘That place rings a bell. I think it’s the town with those cute cone houses. That’ll be the perfect place to help you connect. You’ll see.’

‘I really hope so. After everything you and Jasmine told me about the Love Hotel, I wassoexcited about coming here. Then when I arrived and saw how hot Romeo was, I was even more excited because I thought if I could feel a spark with someone likehimthen the whole place must be powered by some kind of magical romantic electricity and that when I met my match, the connection would be ten times stronger and…’

‘Wait, hold up, rewind.’ Stella raised her voice. ‘Who the hell isRomeo?’

‘Shit,’ I muttered under my breath. I shouldn’t have mentioned him. Now she’d get the wrong idea. ‘He’s just my Love Alchemist. My very arrogant and judgemental Love Alchemist.’

‘You have amaleLove Alchemist?’ Stella replied, completely ignoring my descriptions of his personality.

I mean, he wasn’t so judgy today. Bantering with him was kind of fun, but still, he was ridiculously good-looking and I’d dated enough of those kind of guys to know how self-absorbed they were.

‘Yeah.’

‘And what, you felt sparks withhim?’

‘No…’ I lied. ‘I just thought he was hot, that’s all. But then he opened his mouth and I realised he was a dick. Didn’t matter anyway because all I was interested in was meeting my match. It’s just that I thought when I met my Mr Right, I’d feelsomething.Y’know?’

‘I hear you, but it’s still early days. Like I said, everything could change tomorrow. In the meantime, try and focus on all the great things about Edward, like the things you have in common and why he’s the right man for you. Did they give you your Love Tasks?’

‘Yep. And I’m already struggling. I’m supposed to do a playlist with at least five songs that convey how I feel about him, but my mind’s more jumbled than a bowl of spaghetti soup. I can’t think of a single song.’

‘Iloveddoing the playlists! At first when they told us about them, I thought it’d be a nightmare, but then I really got into it. I’m sure that whatever you choose won’t be as bad as the songs I chose for Max during those first few days!’ She laughed.

That was true. At the beginning, she still hated Max because of the way things ended between them so I remember her choosing songs like ‘Dickhead’ by Kate Nash and ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ by Taylor Swift. But despite those angry early playlists, they fell in love again, so it all worked out in the end.

‘At least he sparked some kind of emotions from you – even if it was hatred. I don’t even have that. I don’t feelanything. At the moment, the only song that comes to mind is “Numb” by Linkin Park.’

‘Wow, okay…’

‘No, wait. I’ve thought of a second song.’

‘What is it?’ Stella replied excitedly.

‘“Don’t Blame Me” by Taylor Swift, because it wasn’t my fault we lost the volleyball game like he accused me of!’ My cheeks heated with anger as I remembered how much I hated how he glared at me in the pool. ‘Oh and I just remembered that earlier I thought that “All by Myself” by Celine Dion would be a great choice too.’

‘Why’s that?’

‘Because he left me to eat breakfastalonethis morning.’

I explained to Stella what happened and, like me, she thought it sounded strange and rude.

‘And he seems kind of obsessed with calories, which is fine if that’s whathewants to do, but I didn’t like his comment about the amount of pasta I ate. He made it sound like I was a greedy pig. He even asked if I wanted him to create a diet plan for me.’

‘What the hell?’ Stella gasped.

‘Exactly.’