Page 90 of Rival Hearts

“Well, today you’re changing things up. They do say change is as good as a holiday. It’s you and Choc Mint all the way, handsome.”

Alex cocked a grin at me when I called him handsome, and I blushed. The word had just slipped out.

“Teach me your ways,” he said.

I giggled and led the way to the living room.

“Thank you for the phone, by the way. I love it.”

“Good. By the looks of things you needed an upgrade, anyway. And that one will last. Mine was still fine, just dead.”

“Really?”

He nodded and peeled open his ice cream, dropping himself onto my couch. He sat with his legs wide, his colossal bodysinking into the cushions, and I swear my couch hadneverlooked this inviting.

I sat down next to him.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Alex sighed and scooped some ice cream into his mouth, thinking.

“I’m torn,” he said. “I can’t keep everyone happy, and I don’t know who to choose.”

“What are the pros and cons? Have you made a list?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well…” I hesitated. “What I’m about to tell you is a secret, okay? You can’t tell anyone, not even my brother.”

Alex raised his eyebrows. “Okay?”

“So, this is how I make all my big life decisions. I take a piece of paper and create two columns—pros and cons.”

“With you so far,” Alex said.

“Right. Then I’ll write all the pros in one column. Let’s say,Is this relationship working for me? So on the pros side, I’ll be like,remembers my birthday,orreally good in bed.”

Alex chuckled at that. “I don’t even know when your birthday is.”

“That’s fine, this list isn’t about you.”

“Good to know.” Alex put another spoonful of ice cream in his mouth. I had to focus hard on what I was saying and not on the way the T-shirt stretched around his bulging arms when he scooped ice cream and sucked on the spoon.

“Then, on the other side, I’ll write the bad stuff. Likesnores too loudlyorspends all my hard-earned cash.”

“That’s a big one,” Alex said.

I nodded. “Exactly. So when I do that, I add a value out of ten for each thing. Snoring might only get a three out of ten for a con, but the cash thing would get me a ten. I do that on both sides, calculate the total, and divide it by the number of pros onthe one side and cons on the other… and the final number on each column is the one that wins out. Do you get it?”

Alex just stared at me. “You’ve made big life decisions that way?”

“Every breakup,” I admitted.

He burst out laughing. “That’s the most analytical, emotionless way I’ve ever heard. You literallycalculatea breakup.”

I shrugged, feeling silly that I’d told him. “It’s notjustbreakups I do it with, you know. Moving to a new city, leaving an old job, buying a new car… it really works for everything, and the part where you’re not emotional about it is the point. I happen to overthinkeverything.I won’t break up with a guy, even if there are only cons on that list because I’ll keep thinking how it will make him feel, and I feel so bad that I don’t do it.” I held up my hand. “Hypothetically, of course.”

“Of course,” Alex said gravely, but I wasn’t sure if he was mocking me.