The Trouble With Flirting by Rachel Morgan Read Free Book Online

waits until I sit up and look at him. “You’ve always been pretty.”
    I tilt my head to the side and give him a smile. “Thanks. But you’re my best friend, so you kinda have to say nice stuff like that.”
    “Not really. Friendship is based on honesty, right? So if you were hideous, I’d have to tell you.” He turns back to the piano and begins playing a new piece. A slow waltz. “Are you too cool these days to play, ‘Guess the composer’?”
    “Ooh, no. Just give me a minute to get breakfast.” I love this game, but my stomach is protesting at not having been fed yet. I dash to the kitchen, get myself a bowl of muesli and yoghurt, and head back to the lounge as Adam continues playing. “Brahms,” I say between mouthfuls.
    Adam nods before changing to something else. “Okay, how about this one.”
    It’s a lively and instantly recognisable tune, bouncing happily along as my brain struggles to connect it to the right name. “Oh, I know this one. I know it, I know it.” I sit down and continue munching. “It’s … that Czech dude with the weird name … Dvo ř ák! And it’s one of the Humoresque pieces, right?”
    “Yes,” Adam says, already modulating into the next piece. “And this one?”
    A fast waltz this time. Bright and happy. The urge to dance is irresistible. I jump up and start spinning around in circles with my cereal bowl. Adam doubles over with laughter, smothering half the keys as I prance around singing, “ One , two three, one two three, one , two three.” I bump into the coffee table and say, “Brahms?” Adam recovers enough to shake his head. “No, wait, it’s Chopin.”
    “Yes.” He finishes with a flourish.
    I drop back onto the couch, and, after another mouthful of cereal, say, “Play that other Chopin one. The really fast one.”
    “Which one? Minute Waltz or Fantaisie-Impromptu ?”
    “Oh. I forgot about Fantaisie . I was thinking of the Minute Waltz .”
    “All right, then.” Adam wiggles his fingers as I lean on the arm of the couch so I can see properly. “Bring on the show-off piece.”
    His hands hover above the keyboard. He breathes in deeply, then takes off. His fingers fly over the keys at incredible speed, stumbling here and there as he tries to play the piece as fast as possible. When the slow part in the middle arrives, I can see he’s forcing himself to hold back, playing it as it’s written when all he really wants is to speed up. There’s the pause, and then … back to the flying fingers, rushing over the keys, his eyes darting back and forth as they try to keep up, notes tumbling over other other like a thousands drops of water, and then … finished!
    I jump to my feet, clapping and singing, “Standing ovation! Standing ovation!”
    “Um, Livi?” My hands pause mid-clap as I look up. Luke is standing in the doorway holding my phone out to me. “I heard it ringing,” he says. “Twice. I thought it might be important, so … here.”
    “Oh, thank you.” I cross the room and take it from him, my face warming up as my fingers brush his. I wonder if perhaps he’ll stay with us in the lounge—I’ve barely spoken to him in the three weeks I’ve been here—but he disappears before I can say anything else.
    “Why does he always go and hide?” I whisper to Adam.
    “Maybe he doesn’t like your creepy staring.”
    “I don’t stare , I just—” I break off as Adam gives me a pointed look. “Oh. I get it. You’re reminding me that I used to complain about Luke’s creepy staring, and now I’m the one doing the creepy staring. Well, I’m not. I’m just trying to get to know one of my housemates a little bit better.”
    “Really? You didn’t seem interested in getting to know him back when he was Gross Cousin Luke.”
    “Okay, so maybe I should never have called him that. Maybe I should have …” I trail off as I look at my phone’s screen and see two missed calls and three texts from Allegra.

    Allegra: Wake up wake up wake