Alice POV

"Hey, Kee!" I greeted when I answered my phone. "What’s up?"

"Nothing much. I was wondering if you wanna go grab coffee or something?"

"What? Now?"

"Yeah. You aren’t busy, are you?"

"Not really. I just need about ten minutes to get ready."

"Okay. I’ll pick you up then. I’m in your neighborhood anyway. Bye, Alice!"

"Bye, Kee!"

I hung up the phone and got off my bed.

What should I wear? I didn’t ask exactly where we were going but it can’t be somewhere fancy if we’re just getting coffee. Plus, Keegan didn’t do fancy.

I grabbed my short green jeans that I’d worn the night when the twins were here and combined them with a plain white singlet before heading downstairs to the kitchen.

"I’m going out with a friend for some coffee," I informed my aunts. "Should be back in a couple of hours."

"Do you need money?" Aunt Rose queried, lifting her head up from the book she was working on. It was almost finished and she was doing some last corrections before giving it to her publisher. She already had two books out and all of them were about herbs. Go figure, huh?

"No, I have enough."

"Very well! Have fun, honey!" Aunt Flora smiled at me.

They didn’t ask anything else. Good thing Aunt Azalea wasn’t here because she would’ve wanted more details and I had no desire telling her I was going out with a guy.

I got out of the house and walked down the street. The boys had made it a habit to park their cars round the corner so my aunts wouldn’t see them picking me up or dropping me off.

Keegan was already there. He was texting on his phone but the moment he realized I had arrived, he stopped and faced me instead. He looked good with his plain red t-shirt and blue jeans. His hair was in the usual style – a low ponytail, and his green eyes were shining with emotion. I couldn’t tell what it was but judging by the smile that bloomed on his full, succulent lips I’d say it was a positive one.

"Have you been waiting long?" I questioned as I sat in the passenger’s seat.

"Nope. You said ten minutes and it took you exactly that much." He laughed. "Usually when girls say that, they are ready in half an hour."

"That’s because most girls put on makeup and do fancy hairstyles. I rarely feel like doing that."

"And you don’t need it," he turned the engine on and drove off. "Even without makeup you look beautiful, Alice."

"Thank you!" I said taken off guard by the sudden compliment. "So where are we going?"

"There’s this really nice café opposite the park’s entrance. That is the park the carnival was held."

"I know it!" I exclaimed enthusiastically. "I’ve never been in it but I meant to go there sometime. Too bad it was closed during the carnival."

"Well, you’ll get a chance to go now."

Keegan snuck a glance my way and I saw the smile once again, only this time it was in his eyes.

*****

Keegan POV

We had just sat in the café and Alice was going through the menu. I myself thought she was much more interesting and was looking at her instead.

Damn it, she was hot!

Those green shorts had me drooling the first time I saw her in them and they hadn’t lost their effect on me. Her ass looked amazing in those. When we entered the café, I held the door for her so she moved in front of me. It took me all of my will power not to slap her butt then and there. The white singlet she wore was pretty plain but her fit body made even that look sexy. Too bad it didn’t show more cleavage though.

I moved my gaze to her face. I hadn’t lied before; Alice was beautiful even without any makeup on it. Her brown hair fell over her back and shoulders and framed her face. She looked really cute right now concentrating on the menu to such extend that a little crease had formed on her forehead and she was slightly pouting, probably unable to choose.

"I have no idea what to order," she sighed and tilted her head my way. "They have like a hundred types of coffee here!"

"Do you like hazelnuts?" I asked and she nodded. "They have hazelnut coffee here. You should try it; it’s really good!'

"If you say so…" she smiled at me, "… then that’s what I’m getting!"

I gestured for the waitress to come and placed our order.

"You know, Kee, I think this is the first time just the two of us out. I mean, I’ve ran into Asher a few times and gone out with just Caden…" I tried not to grimace when she said that, "… but never only with you."

"Well, we could always fix that. Unless you have a reason not to want to go out with me, Alice."

"Don’t be ridiculous, Keegan!" The girl rolled her eyes and laughed. "I like spending time with you. And this is really good," she added when the waitress came and served us our coffee.

"Didn’t seem like you enjoyed spending time with me in the beginning…" I muttered but Alice still heard me.

"That’s because you kept coming on to me and I’m not interested in you in that way."

Once again I tried not to show my emotions. But it stung.

Why wasn’t she into me? Would she distance herself if she knew I wanted her? I guess I really had a lot of work to do if I wanted to impress Alice.

And for that I needed information.

"Why not?" I queried, trying to sound casual.

"Huh?" She took another sip of her coffee.

"I’m curious why aren’t you interested in me? Girls usually find me attractive," I took a sip as well.

"I also think you’re quite handsome," she admitted as her eyes flitted over my body, causing me to feel a little self-conscious.

I fixed my ponytail, making sure it looked good.

Okay… So she liked my appearance. Then why did she push me away?

"At first it was an attitude problem," she continued. "The constant flirting was kind of annoying…"

Well, I had already figured out that! What I wanted to know was what was stopping her to be with me now. But I was a bit scared to ask straight forward because she’d probably figure out I was crushing on her. Thankfully she wasn’t done speaking yet.

"And now… Hmm… Well, come to think of it, I don’t actually know that much about you."

"Would you like to know more?"

"Definitely!" She nodded.

"What do you wanna know?" I questioned, attempting to sound calm. The truth was I was a bit worried. Some of the things I’ve done with Caden and Asher were not something anybody but us should know about. Well, it was mostly with Caden ‘cause Asher tried his best to stay out of trouble.

"I don’t know," she shrugged. "Just more."

"Then where do we start?"

"Hmm… How about with your family?"  Alice suggested. "Ash mentioned you have a sister."

"Don’t think you’d like to know about her." I shook my head but went on. "Morgan is one stuck up bitch."

"How come?"

"Well, she thinks she’s better than pretty much everyone. Gotta admit she has her reasons – she’s smart and beautiful, but still… If she wasn’t my sister and I didn’t love her so much, I’d probably slap her across the face."

"Where is she now?"

"She’s a year older than us so she studies in Uni."

"What major?"

"International relations," I answered pretending to take a sip of my coffee. What I was actually doing was using the cup to hide my relieved smile. Education was definitely a safe topic to discuss.

"Have you thought about studying something?"

"Economics."

"Wow! Didn’t know you were interested in that."

"It’s more of my dad’s idea but… to be honest it doesn’t seem like a bad choice. What about you?"

"Vet. Both Beth and I want that. And Sky will be studying finances. Cade seems to be the only one without an after school graduation plan."

What? Him again? How come we always end up talking about him? Were they together after all?

"You two seem pretty close…" I managed to fake a smile.

"I like spending time with him."

The dreamy expression on her face made me clench my fists under the table.

I cleared my throat.

"So… are you two… together?"

"No."

"Do you want to be?" I gulped, waiting for her answer.

"No," she repeated but her voice wasn’t as firm as it was when she responded to the previous question.

"You don’t seem sure about that." My voice shook a little as I spoke.

"But I am! I just don’t get it…"

"Don’t get what?"

"Well… It’s difficult to explain…"

"Try it!" My tone was harsher than I meant it to be but she didn’t seem to notice.

"When I’m with Caden I feel… calm and … safe. I feel like I could share personal things and he wouldn’t judge or tell a soul about them…"

Jealousy crept inside me as I listened. I wanted to be the one for Alice to share things with; I wanted to be the one she depended on.

"But it’s not only that. I also think he looks good." She smirked. "Actually, I think he looks amazing…"

My fists were clenched so tight right now that the nails were digging into the skin of my palms.

"And yet I don’t want to be with him. That is just so strange. I like so many things about both his looks and personality and still I don’t want to date him. I want to keep him as a friend."

"You…" I cleared my throat, "You really don’t want to date him?"

"No. I really don’t. It could ruin what we already have."

I felt like laughing. I felt so happy and relieved by her answer that I wanted to laugh. True, she wasn’t interest in me yet but at least she didn’t have her eye on Caden. And that meant I still had a chance to change the way she viewed me.

There was still hope.