“Alice, you are family,” I said softly. “You’re my best friend, and my parents look at you like a third daughter, and my brothers look at you as another sister.”
Shit, why did I say they looked at her as a sister?I knew Alice had a crush on one of them, but I wasn’t sure which one.
“Well, thanks, I guess.” She sounded sad. “I’ll be there by nine.”
“Great! I can’t wait to see you.”
“Now, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do tonight.”
“I’m not going to do anything,” I said lightly and looked at my bedroom door. “I’m going to bed, and I’m not leaving my room until you get here.”
“You’re silly.”
“That’s why you love me.”
“I’m going to go pack now. I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”
“Okay. Bye, Alice.” I hung up and lay back down on my bed and groaned as I stared at the ceiling.
Images of Xander popped into my mind as I lay there. Where was he right now? What was he thinking? Was he thinking about me?
I rolled over and buried my head in my pillow. I needed to stop thinking about him, or I was going to drive myself crazy.
I sat up in bed and decided to leave my bedroom. I wasn’t tired as of yet, and being in my bedroom was making me think of things I could do in my bed—naughty things that I shouldn’t be thinking about.
I decided to go down to grab a Coke from the kitchen and then go into the backyard and rock in the rocking chair that my grandmother had given us when I was a kid. I loved the rocking chair; it made me think of my childhood and how happy I’d been, rocking on my dad’s leg or even one of my big brother’s, when they had time for me. I’d had a happy childhood, aside from the fact that my sister had driven me up the wall for most of my teenage years. I wasn’t sure if we’d ever have the kind of relationship that Alice and I had, and that made me sad.
“Turn around, and I’ll be the one you want to boom, boom, boom.” I made up words to the catchy song that was playing on the radio as I swung on the rocking chair on the back porch of my parents’ house.
The night air was cool, and I was grateful that it wasn’t another humid, balmy Florida night.
“Take me away, and we’ll boom, boom, boom on the moon, moon, moon.” I giggled as I sang along to some girl crying out about not having a candy bar, pop, or boyfriend. I felt that my lyrics were far superior to hers. “You’ll boom, boom, boombefore you come, come, come,” I sang out and then screamed as I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Argh.”
“Liv, it’s just me.” Xander’s voice was smooth behind me as he spoke, and my body tensed up immediately.
“Oh, hello.” I turned around and offered him a weak smile, ignoring his eyes and his chest. I stared at a spot on his ear and focused on that.
“I didn’t know you were a singer.”
“Huh? What?” I said stupidly.
“Have you hit any charts?”
“Charts?”
“Billboard? International? iTunes?”
“What?” I was so confused that my eyes left his ear and found his eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about your singing career,” he asked with a small smirk. “Have you hit any best-selling charts or won any Grammys or anything?”
“You’re an asshole.” My eyes shot daggers into his as he tried not to laugh.
“It was an honest question. You did seem to be into that song you were making up.”
He grinned, and I shook my head.
“Whatever.” I couldn’t stop myself from responding to his smile. “I know I can’t carry a tune, but that doesn’t mean I can’t sing.”
