My ex-fiancé’s text fills the screen.

Reading his name makes my stomach cave in, but my anxiety gutters out before I drop the bag into the shopping cart.

Does he really have nothing better to do but badger me about clothes? How am I supposed to know where it is?

Dear James, I stab my reply. Kiss my ass.

I’m rooted to the spot with my thumb poised over the send button. Then I delete everything and tuck my phone away. I don’t do drama. I always rise above. Hell, I earned the Good Girl moniker because of it.

Shoving James from my mind, I push the shopping cart. Its squeaky wheels roll down the baking aisle, where I grab ingredients to make apple crisp. Mom should be home tomorrow, so I want to stock up on groceries. She doesn’t need to know I’ve sustained mostly on bananas and bags of chips while she was gone.

I pass the butcher counter, scanning the packaged, sterilized lumps of chicken breast. A man in a long wool coat leans over the glass, blocking my view of the prices.

"Two double-cut pork chops, please. And do you have ham hocks?"

God, it’s Ronan’s brother.

Growing up, the only person I hated more than Ronan was his brother, the co-conspirator to many of Ronan’s pranks. Liam and Ronan aren’t twins, but they’re very similar in Dave and James Franco way. Liam is his younger brother’s identical, except in his slimmer build and narrowed eyes.

Liam orders the food in his oily manner and spots me before I slink away. "Gigi Gallo!" He says my whole name as though I’m a student in one of his classes.

"That’s me."

Liam grins through flattened teeth. It’s a very Ewan McGregor smile. "How’re you doing?"

"Good." I have to get out of here.

"Stay and chat a little."

A harmless request, but I know better. The Smith boys are nothing but trouble. "Sorry, can’t."

The butcher slaps the bundled meat on the counter. I walk away, heels tapping the floor as I search for a place that a man like Liam would never dare venture—the feminine products aisle.

I wade to the center of the bright-pink packages, pretending I don’t hear his footsteps. My face burns as he walks past. I pray he’ll head straight for the craft beer section, but he stops and makes a beeline for me.

"Are you hiding from me?" Liam picks one of the heavy flow tampon bags, and offers it to me. "Is this what you’re looking for?"

"Asshole." I slap it out of his hands. The package bursts on the floor, scattering plastic wrapped tubes everywhere. "Damn it."

He chuckles heartily, bending to help me scoop them up. "Relax, I don’t bite."

"Since when?" An angry flush fills my face as he shrugs. "You and Ronan were the terror of the neighborhood."

"Sorry. I like to think I’ve learned the error of my ways."

Doubt it.

I face a wall of genital itch cream and Vagisil, hoping their proximity will melt his flesh away, but Liam is nonplussed. Maybe he really has grown up.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing, honest to God. We don’t talk very often. I only thought I’d say hello." Liam wears a tragic smile as he sighs, turning away. "I know when I’m not wanted."

Good riddance.

He takes a few steps before peeking over his shoulder. "Oh, come on. You’re supposed to tell me it’s okay."

The nerve of this guy. "Just because you apologized doesn’t mean everything is forgiven."

"I am truly sorry. I was a bastard." Liam returns to my side, looking somber. "But I’ve grown up."

"That’s what Ronan says." I need to find him a present. "What should I get Ronan for Christmas? I got him as Secret Santa."

"Get him a cat turd. What do you care?"

"Because I don’t like losing. I have a competitive spirit."

Recognition dawns on his face. "Ah, I see."

"What?"

"You’re into my brother. Gigi, I thought better of you."

Patches of heat burn my cheeks. "I’m not into your stupid brother!"

"Scream it louder. The whole grocery store might not’ve heard you."

I could slap that smirk. "Can you do anything but piss me off?"

"Probably not."

His laughter fills my ears. I feel small. Humiliated. An echo of two boys sniggering seems to boom from the past.

I grab the basket. "Are you done?"

He sobers. "Gigi, I’m teasing."

"I’m not into Ronan."

"If you say so. But he’s definitely into you."

I take a step, and it’s like walking into a wall of fire.

What did he say?

Liam wears an expression of absolute sincerity. "Seriously, he won’t shut up about you. It’s all Gigi this and Gigi that. Dude is lost in love with you. Or lust. Come to think of it, probably lust—"

"He talks about me?" Even stranger than picturing Ronan kissing me, is imagining him pining for me. I assumed his behavior was a continuation of the schoolyard pranks, not a serious crush.

"Oh yeah." Liam’s smirk widens. "Poor fool."

I play with my necklace, wrapping the chain around my finger. "Why?"

"Well, you said you weren’t not into him. Too bad." Liam shoved his hands deep into his pockets, avoiding my gaze. "Yeah, I guess I’ll have to spend the rest of Christmas consoling his ass. There are other fish in the sea, Ronan."

"You’re lying."

"I’m sorry, why do you think he pestered you all these years? The guy is obsessed with you."

I couldn’t believe it. "No way."

"Yes way." Liam rakes his head, frustrated. "Hasn’t he been asking you out? And you keep rejecting him?"

My mind is exploding. Ronan likes me. As in—harboring a secret crush for years—likes me.

Holy shit. "Well, yeah."

"See?" Liam picks up his basket, stricken. "The guy will barely eat."

"Get out of here." I wave him off, grinning. "Now you’re lying."

"He’s been in love with you since he was nine."

He’s in love with me?

My heart pounds with images of Ronan. Ronan as a lover, a boyfriend, a husband.

"It’d be a huge favor to me if you went on one date with him." Liam holds his hands out, placating. "Please. I can’t stand watching him like this."

Part of me likes the idea of Ronan suffering. "That’s a really bad idea."

"Please."

"No." I glare at him, daring him to ask me again.

"Go out with him and throw coffee in his face, for all I care! Just do it so it shuts him up. Do it for my sake."

"I don’t see why I should."

"Get a free meal at a fancy restaurant. Seriously, make the bastard pay for an expensive dinner. It’s the least he can do after everything he’s done over the years. Plus, you’ll get the satisfaction of rejecting him when it’s all over. You’ll hit him where it hurts." A smirk tiptoes across his face. "It’s a win-win situation."

Now that’s an idea. "Tempting, but a bit too mean. Even for me."

"Promise me you’ll think about it."

I walk away from Liam without responding, my brain buzzing with what he’s told me.

Ronan’s in love with me.