“Oh?” Alani asked, with interest. “Do tell.”

“He and my brother met during their college orientation,” I said. “They hit it off right away and became instant friends. They’re very similar, my brother and Seth. I suppose they bonded over all the things they had in common. I had just turned fourteen the first time I met Seth. Jason brought him home for Thanksgiving to spend the weekend with us.”

“You had a crush on him,” Alani smiled, as though she lived for stories like this.

“I fell in love with him,” I said, laughing at myself. “I took one look at him as he walked through those double doors and I thought, ‘that is the man I’m going to marry one day.’”

Alani laughed. “Aw, that’s a strong reaction.”

“It was,” I sighed. “I spent the whole weekend finding any excuse to be near him. By the end of the weekend, I was convinced that Seth was the only man I would ever love.”

“And was he?”

I laughed. “I’ve still got the rest of my life to get through before I can answer that question. I don’t know if it was love or infatuation,” I admitted. “But I do know that I’ve never felt that way about anyone since then, except for Seth.”

“And, you never said anything to him?” Alani wanted to know.

“I never had the guts,” I admitted. “I knew it wouldn’t have mattered even if I had told him. He only ever saw me as a child, his best friend’s kid sister.”

“So, nothing’s ever happened between the two of you?”

“Well…”

“I knew it!” she cried triumphantly. “What happened?”

“We kissed,” I said. “It only happened the one time, and… I thought it meant something.”

“But?”

“Apparently, it only meant something to me,” I admitted. “Seth claimed not to have remembered the kiss at all.”

“Seriously?”

“It’s believable, coming from Seth,” I said. “He was always a player. Every time he and Jason came home during the holidays, they would regale us with stories about their conquests.”

“He’s had a lot of girlfriends?”

I smirked. “Seth’s never had girlfriends…he has flings. And apparently, the list is so long that he can’t even remember all their names. Apparently, even their faces blur together.”

“Wow.”

“Yup.”

“Considering what I know about his romantic track record, you would think I’d be completely disinterested,” I sighed. “But… I can’t seem to squash my feelings for him. It’s been six years since I saw him, and it hasn’t made one iota of difference.”

“He’s the one that got away, huh?”

“I never had him in the first place,” I said. “He’s only ever been a daydream for me.”

“He did kiss you, though,” Alani pointed out.

“Because he was drunk,” I said. “Or so he claims. I didn’t really think he was that drunk, but what the hell do I know? The ugly truth is that he probably would have kissed any girl in that situation.”

“I don’t know about that,” she said confidently.

I laughed. “How can you know that?”

“Because I saw the way he looked at you when you entered his office the day you arrived. He’s definitely noticed you the way a man notices a woman.”