Page 32 of Finally Loved

And Alba was just supposed tonothave a crush on her?

Maybe that made it all okay. If a crush was inevitable, the best thing to do was just ride it out, wait for it to pass. And the more time they spent together, the sooner it would, and she’d be left with a wonderful friend. Her plan hadn’t been weird at all.

“Where’s the fun in that indeed?” Alba glanced around conspiratorially. “When was the last time you pushed your limits?”

She laughed lightly. “I assume you mean other than right now, trying to survive on a few hours of sleep?”

“Naturally.”

She thought for a moment, and the sound of laughter drifted up from downstairs, transforming her expression into something much more apprehensive. “Last night.”

“What, did you try to eat your weight in pizza or something?”

She shot Alba a confused look before shaking her head. “How is that the first thing to mind?”

“I’m hungry.”

“For pizza?”

“Mm. Yes. Cold pizza for breakfast after a night out. Breakfast of champions.”

Neve hesitated. “Okay. That’s actually fair.”

“Why, thank you,” Alba said, putting on an overly grand voice in a terrible British accent.

Neve laughed. “No. Not that.”

“Then what?”

She chewed her lip again, drawing Alba’s attention. She did that a lot, usually when she was anxious, Alba was realizing. And, while Alba was really planning to get over the crush and just be friends, she couldn’t help but notice how plump and perfect that bottom lip was. They were both perfect, but the bottom lip especially… Very slightly out of balance with the top, but in the most mesmerizing way.

Alba cleared her throat, shaking the thought off. Zainab was going to know she was a goner whether Alba specifically admitted it or not.Delightful.

“By sneaking you in,” Neve finally whispered. “I’ve never actually snuck anyone in before.”

Alba furrowed her brow. “What? You live with a legit couple but you’re not allowed guests? What kind of agreement is that?”

“No, no. I am allowed guests, of course. It’s just that I’ve never snuck them in at two in the morning before.”

“Ah. That just makes it more interesting, don’t you think?”

She looked down. “Everything about you is interesting.”

Friendship was going to be tricky if she was going to keep saying things like that.

“Correct response,” Alba quipped, ignoring the swooping feeling in her chest.

Neve laughed, shaking her head before looking back at Alba.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so hard. So long as Alba made a joke every time Neve said anything that could be interpreted as flirty, they’d be fine. It was her usual setting anyway, and Neve wasn’t intentionally flirting. Maybe that would just be their rhythm—just like snark was her rhythm with Zainab.

“Did you ever sneak a friend into your room when you were a kid?” Alba asked, genuinely curious.

“Nope. Not once.”

“Wow. You sure know how to make a girl feel special.” Alba wasn’t supposed to be the one saying flirty things. Maybe she needed to adjust that dynamic. Two friends who were flirty and joked a lot? She’d had friends like that before. That could work.

Could she make it work with Neve? Could she make it work if Neve kept being interesting and funny and kept looking at her with those pretty blue eyes?

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