"You were in his bedroom. In his bedroom?"

"Keep your voice down, holy crap Em." I shivered slightly as we walked along the sidewalk on Saturday morning. "I don't want the entire neighborhood knowing."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." she shook her head. "I just can't believe it! Do you think you'll start things up again? Like how it was when you were in L.A.?"

"I don't think so." I shook my head. "He's just too...him. He knows so much about me already and I don't know if I can really start things with him again without him finding out. And I can't go through the heartbreak that goes along with leaving him again."

"That makes sense." Emma nodded. "But you could always just try it out."

"Em!"

"Hey, just hear me out!" she laughed. "Last time, you approached the whole relationship like a game. Like this was something that you were just going to do for fun and for no other reason, right?"

"Thanks for reminding me of my flawed logic from freshman year, thanks." I rolled my eyes. "Sometimes I regret agreeing to exercise with you."

"Who are we kidding, we both hate exercising in general. That's why we're walking." Emma nudged me jokingly. "But anyways, back to my idea. You approached the relationship as a game. Which is totally understandable, since you were far away from home and it didn't matter. But, what if this time, you approached the relationship like...a real relationship? And before you butt in with a salty comment, listen to me. Don't just approach it like you would regularly: 'Oh, this guy likes me, I like him, let's see where it goes'. Instead, think of it as your one chance. You have one chance to have true love and to really live your life, and that's with this guy. Wouldn't you do some things differently?"

I thought about her words for a second. If this was my one true chance to have love and to find someone who would make me happy for the rest of my life, then I would put my all into the relationship. I would make every day count and I would act as though there were no one else on the face of the planet. There were so many things I could do with someone who was my one and only, and if Lincoln Carter was that person, then I could run up there immediately and ask him to marry me.

"If I acted like that, I'm pretty sure I would be put in an insane asylum." I rolled my eyes and shook my head, "But it was a decent idea in the beginning."

"Oh come on, Liv." Emma stopped dead in her tracks and forced me to face her. "You know that this could be something wonderful if you really let it! It could be something that changes your entire life. And you're going to let fear get in the way of that?" she shook her head in disbelief. "If there's one thing I know about you, it's that you don't let anything get in the way of what you want. Not fear, not love, not doubt--you go and you get it. Plus, you owe it to me for getting us in that car wreck." she winked at me before pointing to the path we had just walked, the path that led back to our houses. "Now go. Go down there, get dressed in clothes that don't reek of sweat and the outdoors, and see if your soulmate is in his room ready to talk to you."

I took a long look into my best friend's eyes; she was so full of determination and hope that I couldn't possibly tell her that I wasn't sure. I couldn't possibly tell her that I didn't know what was going to happen between Lincoln and I, and I couldn't possibly tell her that I wasn't even sure if I had the courage to say two more words to him.

As I was figuring out exactly how to let my best friend down easy, her eyes widened as she looked behind me. Swallowing loudly, she nodded towards my back, and I whipped around, smacking her in the face with my ponytail as I went.

"Ow!" Emma cried as my eyes widened and my heart started racing. Jogging towards us, perfectly casual and perfectly built, was none other than Lincoln Carter.

"Hey." He smiled and came to a stop as he neared us. "What's up?"

"Not much." Emma and I answered in unison.

"Sounds like a good time. Hey, Emma, if you don't mind, could I ask Olivia a question real quick?"

"Take your time, I've got no place to be." she replied, putting an earbud in her ear and quietly humming along to her workout tunes. Lincoln took my arm and led me a few feet away, pulling his headphones around his neck so that they weren't blasting in his ears and looking down at me. His eyes were so incredibly blue that I wasn't sure how I was going to be able to function with him standing so close, and the fact that his shirt was void of sleeves was also not a factor working in my favor.

"So I know that we literally just met a few days ago, but I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me tonight. I don't know many people here in Houston, and I don't want people to think that I'm just staying in my little house for the first few weeks of my move. I'd rather be out with people, and since you're right next door, I figured we could become friends quite quickly." his eyes showed the same hope that Emma's had just a few minutes earlier. "So what do you say? Join me for dinner tonight? Don't worry, there's no obligations or romantics attached to it, just a date with your new neighbor." he smiled widely as he waited for my response.

A date. With Lincoln Carter.

There wasn't much I could do besides agree to it and quietly try to contain my simultaneous fear and excitement. There was nothing attached yet I felt like there was so much attached, so much that could happen and that could come of this one simple date with my new next-door neighbor.

"I'd love to." I nodded. "As long as you explain to my mother that you're not going to kidnap me and whisk me off to some celebrity party or something. I think she legitametly worries about that."

Lincoln laughed.

"No problem at all." he picked his headphones back up. "So I'll pick you up at 6 o'clock sharp. Wear something nice; it'll be a fancy, incredibly over-priced place." he winked at me before jogging off, leaving me to stand there and stare after him as Emma approached me.

"You weren't listening to music, were you?" I laughed as my best friend linked her arm through mine.

"Not a lick." she replied, smiling from ear to ear. "Let's get you all showered and pampered. You're going on a date with Lincoln Carter!"

A/N: So I decided to update two days in a row because I may or may not have gotten carried away and written three chapters last night 😂 I hope you guys are enjoying it! And let me know your thoughts on the new cover!

-Katherine