Page 34 of Rivals Next Door

I nodded.

“Wow.” Elena’s expression and tone became teasing. “Since he’s the only one who can get you off?—”

“He’s not,” I interjected, sounding like a first grader.

“You’d better sleep with him, girl,” Elena finished.

I guffawed. “Yeah, right.”

“Seriously, Liv. Think about it… sex with your rival.” She clasped her hands and rested her chin on them. “The intrigue, the tension, and the love-hate energy fueling the passion… Can you imagine the orgasm after all that?”

I watched Elena with amusement. She always made me forget the pressure of my responsibilities and who I was. I was able to laugh and relax… like I used to with Alex. My thoughts just kept going back to him.

“Somebody’s been reading too much smut,” I said.

Her broad grin was confirmation. “I’m telling you, Liv. There’s something deliciously dangerous about sleeping with the enemy. There’s this reporter at my office who I can’t stand. We butt heads at every turn. He’s a thorn in my side and my biggest competition. Yet each time we have a heated exchange, I want him to throw me down on the boardroom table and just?—”

“Oh, my God,” I groaned. “Please, I don’t need a visual.”

Wearing a wicked smirk, she lifted her cup and drank.

“I’m not going to sleep with my enemy,” I murmured. “No matter how good he is in bed.”

Elena slammed her cup down. “You can’t say things like that and not expound. How good are we talking?”

Heat seared my cheeks, but I shared because talking about the good times with Alex was probably the closest I’d ever get to achieving an ounce of my former happiness.

“Well… we were only nineteen when he took my virginity, but you’d think he was a man with years of experience in the art of pleasing a woman.”

Elena sat forward and plopped her jaw on her palm, all ears…

Eleven years ago…

It was quiet as Alex and I stared at the breathtaking view from the overlook, known among the locals as Cupid’s Cliff. The name was a tad dramatic but the place offered privacy and scenic views which made it a legendary spot for couples looking for a quiet escape.

I asked him to take me here after our movie date because I didn’t want to go home. I’d been cooped up in my apartment for days, studying.

“So…” Alex had an arm around my shoulders, and he drummed his fingers on the back of the leather seat. “Are we here to strictly admire the view or are we going to make out like every other horndog who comes up here?”

I glanced at him, wondering what he’d say if he knew what I was thinking. Butterflies created havoc in my stomach as I gathered the courage to speak. “You’re a horndog?” I asked.

He snorted softly. “Of course, I am, Princess. I’m nineteen. I’m obligated to be a horndog.”

A smile tugged at my lips. He said the most outrageous things. “Yet, you’ve waited on me for eight months…”

He turned to me with a slight frown. “Of course. I’m not with you just for sex, Liv.” He stroked my cheek. “I’ll wait for you for as long as you need, baby.”

I practically felt my heart turn into a puddle. I told him I wasn’t ready to have sex, and he didn’t bat an eyelash.

“You’ve never even looked at another girl,” I mused aloud.

When I told my last boyfriend that I wasn’t ready for sex, he hopped into bed with the first available cheerleader the next week. I had pretended not to know about it.

Alex’s lips curled into his sly smile. “That’s because…”

I listened with a goofy grin as he belted out the lyrics to The Flamingos’ “I Only Have Eyes For You.” My giggles filled the car when he sang the sha bop sha bop. He was the sweetest, most romantic guy I’d ever dated, and no one made me laugh as much as he did.

I must have gazed at him with hearts in my eyes. I knew Alex was sexually experienced, and I watched him exercise so much restraint for me. That was how I knew he was the right guy to be my first.

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