When she showed up at the library for a tutoring session, I should have known that I didn’t stand a chance. I fought the attraction as hard as I could, worried about her reputation because I knew she was different and could have the power to hurt me if I let her. But even as I denied it, deep down inside, I knew there was just no chance that I wouldn’t eventually make this girl mine. And now she was.

The sex was amazing. Mind-blowing even. But it was more than that. I liked spending quiet time with her, too. Like right now, as she helped me make dinner in my kitchen. I could easily picture years spent with her just like this.

“Hey, you,” Aubrey whispered as she wrapped her arms around me and tilted her face up to mine. “Everything okay?”

“Perfect, now that you’re here,” I answered, dropping a kiss onto her lips.

Jason was out of town to see his parents, so we had the apartment to ourselves. Since Valentine’s Day was only a couple of days away, we were celebrating tonight with a candlelit dinner for two because I had hockey stuff going on the rest of the week. We didn’t get complete privacy as often as we’d like since I had a roommate and Aubrey’s bed in her dorm room was small enough that we preferred to stay here. So when I’d asked Aubrey where she wanted to eat out tonight, she’d asked if we could just stay in instead. Sometimes she was just so damn sweet and easy to please. It made me want to do more for her when she was like this.

Aubrey put out the candles I’d bought and set the table while I finished making dinner. I’d bought things I knew she would enjoy eating because tonight was supposed to be all about Aubrey. I opened a bottle of her favorite wine to go with the meal and brought her a glass.

“Go ahead and sit down while I bring everything out to you,” I urged her.

“You’re going to spoil me,” she replied.

I grabbed our plates from the kitchen and placed them down on the table. “That’s the plan for the night, moya printsessa.”

I watched as Aubrey tasted her food and she smiled at me. We ate in silence for a few moments before I laid down my fork.

“I wanted tonight to be special for you, Aubrey,” I began. “Not just because it’s Valentine’s Day though. I just wanted to make sure you know how much you mean to me.”

“Oh, Luka,” she sighed. “Thank you.”

I reached over and held her hand in mine, rubbing my thumb over her palm. “No, Aubrey. I need you to listen to me. When I met you, I wasn’t exactly at my best. My life had changed a lot, and I let it make me a little bitter. I hadn’t planned on meeting someone like you though.”

“I wasn’t that much better, Luka,” she said.

“But you didn’t fight it like I did, and you need to know that was more about me than you. Any guy would be lucky to have you in their life, and I’m just glad I didn’t let my own stupidity stop me. If I had, then I would have missed out on so much,” I tried to explain.

Aubrey shook her head at that. “There’s no way I would have let that happen, Luka. I knew I wanted you when we met and I was finally ready to go after you myself.”

“It’s still a good thing that I pulled my head out of my ass and came to my senses so you didn’t have to do that,” I said, chuckling softly.

We finished our meal and enjoyed the dessert Aubrey had brought with her before my phone rang. I glanced down, saw that it was my mom, and showed it to Aubrey before answering.

“Hello, Mama,” I greeted my mom. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

I listened as she apologized for calling and explained that Kat’s mom had phoned her to see if I was home for the weekend. Apparently, Kat’s and my parents had finally found out why we had broken up and all of them were extremely angry with her. Since the school year was almost over, her parents were letting her finish it out while keeping her on a tight leash.

“Mama, this is no longer any of my concern. I know you haven’t met Aubrey in person yet, but you’ve talked to her on the phone. She means a lot to me,” I explained to my mom as I locked eyes with Aubrey across the table. “Kat is my past, Mama. Even though you’re still friends with her family, there is no place in my life for her anymore. I belong with Aubrey now.”

I watched tears roll down her beautiful face as she heard my words. Aubrey stood up and came around the table to climb into my lap. I held her close while I listened to the rest of what my mom had to say. She babbled excitedly because she was so pleased that I was happy again. She had worried about me after the breakup and spent months hoping that Kat and I would get back together even after she knew that I was dating Aubrey. It was hard for her to understand why I was so certain that nothing would ever happen with Kat again, and she just didn’t know Aubrey well enough to see why we were so good together even though our backgrounds were so different.