Page 82 of Rival Hearts

I laughed and let Maya into the apartment, shutting the door behind her. She took wineglasses out of the cupboard—she knew her way around as if we were roommates—and she poured us each a glass, filling it to the top.

“You’re not supposed to do that,” I said with a laugh. “There’s a line to guide you and everything.”

“First of all, that line is bullshit. You never need that kind of negativity in your life. Besides, you said we needed a lot of wine. We’re going to have to refill as it is. I’m just being efficient.”

I giggled. “You’re such a forward-thinker.”

“Innovation at its finest.” She handed me a glass and held hers up so that I could clink mine against it. “We’re the future, after all.”

I laughed, and we sipped the wine together. We walked to the living room, and I sat down on the couch, kicking off my shoes. I tucked my feet under me, crossing my legs.

Maya did the same and turned to me expectantly.

“Are you going to keep me in the dark forever? Did you just invite me over to torture me? Spill!”

I smiled, blushing when I thought about what I was about to tell her and launched into the story.

Maya listened intently, gasping in all the right places, her eyes wide as I told her about a beach cleanup that had turned into a boat ride and then a game of survival.

Although, I couldn’t even call itsurvival. With someone as skilled at boating and knowing the island, knowing what we needed, I was pretty sure I wasn’t in any kind of danger at all.

“Oh, my God, Lottie!” Maya cried out when I was done. “Are you kidding me? This is the stuff straight from fairy tales!”

I tucked my knees to my chest and hugged my legs with one hand, sipping my wine periodically with the other.

“I know. And the fact that he wants to see me again, that he wants to make this work…” I squeezed my eyes shut andsquealed, letting out the excitement. “I can’t believe this is happening, either. I keep thinking I’m going to wake up and realize this was just a dream.”

“A dream can’t bethatgood.”

I didn’t counter her, but I’d had pretty good dreams of Alex more than once.

My heart raced when I thought about him, but my stomach twisted at the same time, and my smile faded. Now that I’d put it all into words, shared the events out loud, I was starting to really think about what had happened.

“Uh-oh,” Maya said, noticing my shift in demeanor. “What’s up?”

“This is never going to work.” I dropped my knees again, sitting back against the couch. I drained my glass and held it out to Maya. She reached for the bottle she’d hurried to get halfway through my story and promptly filled my glass.

“Why not? He sounds like he’s crazy about you. And you’re crazy about him too, right? You just said he’s nothing like any guy you’ve been with before.”

I nodded. “Yeah, all of that is true. But, Maya, he’s Gabe’s best friend. And he’s a Blackwood, for crying out loud. There are so many reasons this won’t work.”

“Didn’t he say he was going to talk to Gabe? Maybe your brother will be fine with it. I mean, he knows Alex a lot better than you do.” A cheeky smile played around her mouth. “Okay, maybe not exactlybetterthan you…”

I giggled and covered my eyes with one hand, blushing wildly.

“Stop it.”

“But Gabe should know who he is under all that tough-guy shit he’s got going on. I mean, he wouldn’t have been friends with him if he wasn’t a decent guy, right?”

I considered the frat-like guys Gabe also liked hanging out with.

“I don’t know if that’s completely true. I mean, look at his other friends…”

“He doesn’t confide in them though, does he?”

Maya was right. She’d been in town just about as long as I had, but she’d met Gabe a couple of times through our time studying together, and my brother had come to visit, and somehow she could sum him up just as easily as she had with me. Maya had a knack for seeing right through the images people liked to show the world and figure out who they really were.

Maybe I had to introduce her to Alex and let them spend some time together so she could tell me I wasn’t crazy, that he wasn’t just too good to be true.