Page 47 of It Must Be Love

"It's sad when a relationship ends," I mumbled, now looking at him. There was something about his smile, it was…affectionate. And panty melting.

I think I preferred hostile Amias because I knew how to handle that. This Amias, the one who was all but flirting with me, I had no clue what to do with.

"I'm not sad," he remarked, "in fact, I'm happy it's over."

"You are?" I hoped my eyes didn't go wide like in a cartoon, with the eyeballs going up and down like crazy.

"I didn't think we were suitable for each other."

Hallelujah! That you found out, Amias. Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

"Here is what I was thinking," he continued, "Since you don't have any Christmas plans, and neither do I, how do you feel about spending it with me?"

Okay, now my eyes were doing the eyeball around the socket thing like in a cartoon. "Pardon?"

He chuckled. "You heard me, Sparky."

I smiled at the nickname Darren used because he'd said he saw a spark in me when we first met, and I was absolutely down in the worst dumps.

"But…why?"

"Because we both don't have anywhere to go, and I'd like to not be alone," he explained as if it made sense.

It didn't make sense…at all. This was a parallel universe where Amias had been taken over by an alien who wanted to perform experiments on me. Sexual experiments?

Hell. Naya, focus!

"Ah…you can come over. I can cook," I offered.

His smile widened. "Yeah?"

"My apartment is small and not…you know, fancy or anything." I knew where he lived. Kara had shown me pictures of his luxury penthouse apartment with a private swimming pool for the love of god. My apartment didn't even have a bathtub.

I had one little bedroom. It could fit a bed and a foldable crib for when Magnus visited. One tiny bath that consisted of a shower, a sink, and a toilet. One small kitchen plus living room plus dining area. I could cook and serve food without walking too much.

"You'll cook?" he repeated.

"Yes."

"Awesome. What time should I be over?"

Amias was going to come to place. This was Earth 2, wasn't it? Was time the same on Earth 2?

"One?"

"I'll be starving by then, Naya. Have mercy."

"Noon?"

"How about I'll come by at eleven and I can even help if you like? Oh, and can you make that cauliflower dish you made when we used to come by your father's place? The one with almonds?"

He remembered what I cooked all those years ago?

"Sure," I squeaked out.

"I'll see you tomorrow. And I'll bring the wine."

"Good because I know what you like, and I can't afford that," I blurted out.

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