“Yeah, Liv wanted your dad to spend more time with Xander.” I nodded. “Though, it was mainly the four of us just playing board games and going out.”
“Sounds about right.” Scott laughed. “Dad just likes having us all around the house. Unfortunately, Aiden and Liv are the only good kids. Chett and I rarely make an appearance.”
“Aw, that’s sad,” I said and Scott leaned towards me with a small smile.
“I guess I would have made more of an effort had I known you were going to be there.”
“Oh.” I blushed at his words. I mean, what did you say to a man who was flirting with you when your crush was sitting right next to him?
“Maybe next time,” Scott continued. “Or maybe we can go to—”
“Scott, Liv is calling you.” Aiden cut him off with a brusque tone.
“Huh?” Scott looked at Aiden with a frown. “Calling me for what?”
“Go and ask her,” Aiden said, his lips thin.
“Fine.” Scott jumped up and then smiled at me. “We’ll continue this conversation later.”
“Okay,” I said and avoided Aiden’s stare.
“So what’s going on with you and Scott?” he asked me accusingly and I looked at him with an annoyed expression.
“What do you mean what’s going on with me and Scott?” I glared at him. Was he seriously going to go there? He was the one who had left me the previous evening.
“Do you like him?” he asked me point blank and I blinked slowly.
“Of course I like him,” I said with an irritated tone.
“Do you want to date him?”
“No, I don’t want to date him.” I glared at him. I wanted to add You big doofus to my sentence, but didn’t.
“Do you want to make out with him again?”
“We never made out. He kissed me. Once,” I said, my voice getting higher. “I didn’t ask him to kiss me.”
“But you didn’t stop him.” He frowned. “You seem to like kissing us Taylor brothers, don’t you?”
“I don’t like kissing the Taylor brothers, no.” I bit my lower lip and took a deep breath. “I only liked kissing one of the Taylor brothers.”
“Oh?” He froze and his eyes held mine.
“Yes,” I said, feeling light in the head. Was I seriously going to tell him how I felt, right here and now?
“Which one?” he asked and leaned towards me, so that I could see his pupils dilating.”
“I like—”
“There you are, darling.” A soft sweet voice echoed next to us and I looked up in shock. There, standing next to us in the flesh, was Elizabeth Jeffries. What was she doing here?
“Lizzie!” Aiden jumped up and beamed, his face transforming from a slightly angry mask to one of pure happiness.
“Sorry I’m late.” She wrinkled her nose, and even I had to admit that she looked cute while doing so.
“You’re not late. You’re right on time,” he said and gave her a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. I wanted to burst into tears at the sight of the two of them together. “Elizabeth, I want you to meet Alice. Alice is my sister Liv’s best friend.” He nodded towards me. “And Alice, I want you to meet Elizabeth, a good friend of mine.”
“Hi.” I nodded at her, and she gave me a wide, genuine smile. I couldn’t stop myself from studying her. Her nose was a little crooked and she had freckles across her cheeks. Her hair was a honey blond, but as I studied her dark eyebrows, I was pretty sure she dyed it. She looked prettier in person than she had in the photos, and I hated her for it.
“Nice to meet you, Alice,” she said cheerfully and leaned down for a quick hug. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“You have?” I asked in surprise. Did Aiden talk about me?
“Yes, Aiden’s always talking about his sister and her best friend and all the funny things you both do.”
“All the funny things we both do?” I questioned and then looked at Aiden. What had he been telling her?
“Like the pranks and stuff.” Elizabeth smiled. “Like Brock and Jock, the strippers you paid to pretend to be your boyfriends.”
“I see.” I frowned. Why was Aiden telling her this stuff?
“I think that your plan was ingenious,” she continued and sat down next to me. “And it worked.”
“It did?” I looked at her questioningly.
“Well, Liv got the boy, didn’t she?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” I nodded and sighed. “Yeah, I guess it did end up working for Liv.”
“I can’t wait to meet her.” Elizabeth smiled at me and my heart thudded as I realized that she was a completely genuine and nice person. She was the sort of person who I’d have as a friend if she weren’t trying to steal my man away from me.