Chapter Four

It had been eight years since Liv had seen Mathieu, but in her mind’s eye it was as if no time had passed and things were as they had been. She and Mathieu met at a high school football game their senior year. Liv had been walking around with her best friend, Sophie, while Mathieu had been walking around with his best friend Micah, who also happened to be Sophie’s boyfriend. The foursome had ended up walking in circles around the outskirts of the football field, and then going out for pizza afterwards. Liv and Mathieu seemed to be a perfect fit right from the start. They had many of the same interests and even shared best friends. Their relationship was idyllic for the first few months, until they had their first fight. Liv could even remember it as clearly as if it had happened yesterday and not almost ten years ago. “Come on, Liv,” cried Mathieu. “We’ve been dating for almost a year now. I think I know by now that you’re the woman I want to spend my life with.” “How can you be so sure, Mathieu?” Liv defended heatedly. “I don’t know that for sure. I mean, sure I love you more than life itself and I want to be with you always, but I don’t want to rush into anything. We’re so young.” “You sound just like my parents.” Mathieu turned away with a look of utter loathing on his handsome face. “They keep telling me that I need to go out into the world and live my life before making any rash decisions. They think I should go away to college and leave you behind.” Mathieu turned back to look imploringly back at Liv. “If I have to go, I want it to be after we’ve sealed our promise to each other. I want you so badly I can taste it.” He gently took her hands into his and rubbed his fingers along the backs of her knuckles, silently asking her for something she wasn’t ready to give. “I want you, too, Mathieu, but I’m just not ready. I’ve never been with anyone before.” Liv blushed crimson at the confession she had just made to her boyfriend. She knew if people found out she was a virgin, she’d be the laughing stock of the school. But she didn’t want Mathieu thinking she was an easy target by lying about it, either. “Neither have I.” He whispered softly to her, his own face blushing slightly as well. When she looked up at him in shock, he chuckled a self-deprecating laugh. “I wanted you to be my first.” Tears welled up in Liv’s eyes as she threw her arms around his neck, laughing and crying at the same time. She didn’t realize before just how much she meant to him, and this proved it in her adolescent point of view. She kissed him excitedly, and then leaned back so she could look lovingly into those dark passionate brown eyes of his and give him the one thing he seemed to want more than life itself. He wanted her and she agreed happily to give herself to him. After that fateful night, when things hadn’t happened as wonderfully as Liv had hoped, her relationship with Mathieu took a strange turn. Instead of happily agreeing to be together forever, he would hedge her questions. Instead of spending every free minute he had with her, he spent more and more time away. They fought regularly and it wasn’t until Liv found out that she was pregnant that Mathieu’s true self came to light. Even with the fighting, Liv still loved Mathieu with all her being. She couldn’t imagine ever being with anyone but him. She was so ecstatic about the baby; she couldn’t wait to tell him he was going to be a daddy. “What do you mean, you’re pregnant?” he asked quietly, the color of his face turning ashen as he spoke. “I mean we’re going to have a baby.” Tears gathered in Liv’s eyes as she happily told him the news. She was so certain he would be as happy as she was. She couldn’t have been more wrong. “Are you sure it’s mine?” The color of Mathieu’s face changed as drastically as his mood. Where he had just a moment ago lost all color, he now seemed to have an excess of color as he accused her. “You’re absolutely positive?” As Liv looked curiously at Mathieu, he started to rage, and then grabbed her arms forcefully. “You little whore. You’ve been sleeping around haven’t you? And now you’re trying to pin someone else’s kid on me!” Liv shook her head to the negative, violently denying what he was saying. Not as much because it wasn’t true, but because she couldn’t believe he was actually accusing her of infidelity. Couldn’t he see how much she loved him? “No, Mathieu,” she screamed vehemently. “It is yours. I’ve never been with anyone but you.” Tears were streaming down her face and blurring her vision. How had this happened? How had her idyllic view of her and Mathieu raising their child together have been so wrong? She had to do something. But what? As she tried to reason with Mathieu, she felt the pangs in her stomach, but she was certain it was because she was upset, or because she hadn’t eaten. Instead, as her picture of a perfect loving family was destroyed, so were her hopes of at least having someone to love her unconditionally. That night, as she was doubled over in pain, her father had taken her to the hospital, worried sick about his only child. There had been no sign of Mathieu. She had lost the only people in her life that mattered. She had miscarried her baby, and she had never seen or heard from Mathieu again. Liv awoke from her fitful nap, crying for the baby she had lost, and for her own impetuousness, but not for Mathieu. Him leaving and never contacting her again had been the best thing he could have done for her. After his betrayal, she had focused on college and her life ahead of her. Now, here she was in a master’s program, working on her clinical psychology degree. She was going to be a therapist for battered and abused women. She felt she knew at least part of what they had gone through with her experience with Mathieu. But no matter what she told herself about how much better off she was, she couldn’t stem the flow of tears streaming down her face. Sophie apparently heard her crying and walked into the living room, a mask of concern marring her lovely features. “Liv? You OK?” “No.” Liv answered her best friend quietly, with the complete truth. She never could hide her feelings from Sophie anyway, so there was no point in trying. “I was dreaming of Mathieu and …” “And the baby?” Sophie supplied softly as Liv’s voice broke. Liv began crying in earnest as Sophie walked over and sat beside her, wrapping one arm around Liv’s shoulders. “Do you want to talk about it?” “No.” Liv rose from the couch, gently displacing Sophie’s arm, then walked over to the closet and pulled her coat from its hanger. “I think I’m going to go for a walk. I need time and space to, I don’t know what. I just need to get out of here for a while, OK?” “OK.” Sophie agreed easily. “Just be careful, and call me if you need me.” Sophie rose and walked over to Liv, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her close. Liv gently laid her head on Sophie’s shoulder and cried softly as she nodded her head slightly. “Take my cell phone with you, just in case.” She handed Liv her phone and watched as Liv sadly walked out the door, looking as dejected and worn as she had that first day after Mathieu left. After Liv was safely out the door, Sophie muttered a pledge she had repeatedly made to herself over the past few weeks. “So help me, Grant, if you hurt her, I’ll kill you.” Liv wandered aimlessly away from her apartment complex without the slightest notion where she was heading. Not that it really mattered, she thought to herself. She had lived here for almost seven years. She and Sophie had moved in together after their first year in college and had been living together in that same ramshackle apartment ever since. Liv had no fear of the people around her in the neighborhood, or of getting lost. After that long in one place, she knew the area like the back of her hand. It wasn’t until Liv faintly recognized someone calling her name that she realized she had wandered onto the college campus. She had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn’t realize she had even gone that far. “Olivia, wait up.” Olivia? No one called her Olivia anymore. No one except her father that is, and he was gone to London on business. Liv turned to see who was calling after her and she spied Grant jogging slightly to catch up. She rolled her eyes slightly at the sight of him, thinking to herself, why today of all days? Why can’t he just leave well enough alone? “What do you want?” she asked shortly as he caught up to her. When Grant stood in front of her, he saw the ravaged look of her face, her eyes swollen and cheeks tear stained. It caused an unexpected urge to protect her always to rise up in his chest. “You’ve been crying.” It was a statement rather than the question she had expected. “What’s wrong?” “Nothing you’d understand.” Her voice was so soft he could barely hear her. She turned and started to walk away, but he strode in place beside her. “Try me.” He urged her gently, wanting to share and soothe her pain, if he could. It tore at his heart to see her hurting so deeply. Liv stopped then, and turned to face him. She looked up into his face and was surprised by the depth of concern in his eyes. Did she dare to tell him what was bothering her? Could she trust him enough to tell him anything? She’d only known him a relatively short time, and even that had been tense to say the least. She wasn’t sure if she could even consider him a friend. She barely knew if she could consider him an acquaintance. After all, he called her Olivia. Anyone that knew her knew she hated that name with a passion. But for some reason, the sound of it from his lips, in his tone of voice didn’t bother her as much as it did when others used it. But as she considered this, she also remembered the reason for her walk and crying, which brought on a fresh well of tears. “I don’t really want to talk about it.” She turned then, as if she was going to walk away, but Grant couldn’t let her leave. He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, effectively halting her intended escape and at the same time, turning her back to face him. He reached up and gently cupped her chin with his right hand, turning her face up to meet his. “It’s OK. You don’t have to talk about it. But whatever it is, I’d like to help.” He looked down at her face, the tears falling slowly down her cheeks, and felt his heart constrict painfully. He didn’t know what this feeling was, but he hated it. Almost as much as he hated the dejected look in her eyes. All he had wanted to do was apologize for the way he had acted last time he spoke to her. Now, he wanted to take her into his arms and hold her. He wanted to do whatever it took to make the pain go away. As she looked up at him he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her into his warm embrace, feeling a deep need that even he couldn’t name. He tilted her chin with his right hand and pulled her slowly to him, touching her lips gently with his own. The kiss itself had lasted barely a second and was so whisper soft Liv couldn’t say for certain it had actually happened. But it rocked her world unlike anything she had ever experienced before. She pulled back slightly to look up into Grant’s eyes just before he leaned down and kissed her again, this time with more power and passion. He was still gentle, but slowly the kiss deepened until Liv could feel the heat all the way down to her toes. She needed comfort so badly and it seemed her body only wanted it from Grant. As his tongue begged entrance, she responded fully, allowing him to take whatever she had to give. He pulled away slightly and looked down into her sparkling blue eyes, recognizing this surrender, and forcefully shook himself back to reality. “I think we’d better stop.” He commented, his voice husky and strained from the yet unleashed passion surging through him. “I don’t want to give you anymore reason to hate me than you have already.” “I don’t hate you,” she answered softly. “I don’t know what I feel, but I know I don’t hate you.” “You could you know.” His voice sounded almost wistful, as if he were waiting for her to change her mind about that potential lapse in judgment. When she looked up at him, questioning his words silently, he continued to explain. “I mean, I haven’t exactly been the nicest guy when I’m around you.” Liv looked down and stared at the button on his shirt rather than look him in the eye. She didn’t know if she could think if she were to look directly at him right this moment. She gently reached her hand up to gently touch his chest and ended up playing with the button with her fingernail as she answered him. “You’re right, you haven’t.” She took a deep breath and sighed heavily. “But I’m willing to overlook that. You’ve been so nice to me today. Concerned when you saw I was upset. People that don’t like you, at least a little, don’t act that way.” Grant pulled her more tightly to his chest and held her, gently pressing her head down onto his shoulder. As he spoke, Liv could feel the vibration of his voice against the back of her neck. “So, now what do you suggest we do?” He paused briefly, sighing softly at her silence. “You have this stupid research project going on. And I’m not going to sit idly by while the girl I’m dating goes on dates with several other guys.” “Well, there’s nothing I can do about the research project. Dr. Richards is expecting a full report on all the findings in a month, and we still have yet to get the guys to fill out the application, choose the select few for the dates, actually go on the dates, then decide which one is supposed to be perfect for me.” “You mean to tell me you’re still planning on going through with it?” Grant stepped back, releasing her quickly, as he stared at her with shocked amazement. “Well, yes,” she answered frankly. “I can’t abandon the project now. And it’s too late to change the basis for it, either.” She looked up at him again, realizing they were right back where they had started. This whole research project was the only thing standing in their way. If only she could get him to complete the application himself. Then, he’d be guaranteed to be one of her dates in the next month. But she could also see his side, where that wouldn’t seem as attractive to him as simply dating her now. “You could always fill out the application yourself, you know.” She looked up at him hopefully, yet knowing before the words were even out of her mouth what his answer would be. And he certainly didn’t disappoint her. “We’ve discussed this before, Olivia. I’m not completing that application.” “Why not?” she challenged quickly. “Tell me honestly why you refuse to fill it out. And don’t give me that claptrap about it being discriminating again or so help me I’ll choke you to within an inch of your life.” Grant looked around at the people passing by them, doing the best he could to avoid her gaze as he tried to come with a reason, any reason, besides the truth. But try as he did, nothing else came to mind. So, he battened down the hatches of his emotions and told her the truth. “I can’t complete the application because it would be a conflict of interest.” “A conflict of interest?” she squealed angrily. “How, pray tell, do you figure that?” She stood back and crossed her arms over her chest as she waited for his explanation. “Easy. Dr. Richards is my father.”

Chapter Three

Sophie grabbed the stack of papers that had just been fed out of the printer and sauntered over to the sofa where Liv was stretched out, shoved aside Liv’s feet and tossed the papers onto the coffee table as she collapsed into the soft cushions heaving a sigh of relief. “Thank God that’s over.” Sophie laid her head against the back of the sofa and stared up at the ceiling. “No kidding.” Liv agreed with her friend as she leaned forward and grabbed her can of soda from the table. “Who would have thought that putting together a boyfriend application would be so much work?” “Well,” Sophie explained, “If you hadn’t demanded that every question be in the application, we would have been done much sooner. But, NO! You had to use every question and then sort them into categories.” Liv looked at Sophie, astonished that her friend was blaming her for the length of time it had taken to complete the application. The whole mess was Sophie’s idea to start out with, for crying out loud! If I’d had my way, she thought silently, there never would have been an application in the first place. “Then, I, of course get stuck typing it out!” Sophie continued complaining. “Hey!” Liv admonished. “Can I help it if the whole thing was confusing me? It made more sense to sort the questions so the guys would at least have some idea what the next questions were about!” Liv rose from the couch and stalked over to the kitchen. She tossed her empty soda can into the trash, and then looked in the refrigerator – for what she didn’t know. “And anyway, I’m the one that went through all the questions, sorted them … “ “I know,” Sophie agreed easily. “Besides, now that the hard part is over with, we have to figure out how to get guys to complete it.” The girls watched each other for a few moments, each in deep thought as to how to solve this particular part of the dilemma. For the next couple of hours, they sounded ideas off each other, steadily coming up with reasons why each idea wouldn’t work. “We’re never going to figure this out!” whimpered Sophie as she fell back against the arm of the sofa. But Liv was lost in thought. Serious thought. Sophie could tell her friend had an idea by the ‘light bulb’ look in her eyes. She sat up impatiently and watched Liv pace the kitchen floor. “What?” “What if…” Liv started her sentence, and then stopped herself, shaking her head. “No, it’s a stupid as the other ideas we’ve had. Besides,” Liv dropped onto the couch beside Sophie dejectedly. “I’m not exactly the one with the great imagination, here.” “But, what’s your idea?” Sophie pressed her again and again until Liv finally caved in. “I was thinking we could have a couple of friends help us out, and have guys come to, I don’t know, the gym, maybe, where we could set up several tables like they do for conferences and stuff.” “Sounds good so far. Keep going.” “Well, we’d have to be standing at the door, and then splitting them up into sections.” Liv looked up to see a look of complete confusion crossing Sophie’s features. “See, I told you it was a stupid idea.” She leaned back against the couch as Sophie stood and began to pace the floor. She wore the exact look Liv had worn earlier. “Now you’ve got an idea. I can smell it burning.” “Ha ha, very funny.” Sophie cast Liv a look of consternation as she continued to think. “Actually, I do have an idea. I think.” “Well, it has to be better than mine.” “Well, actually it is yours.” When Sophie saw the questioning look she was getting from Liv, she continued carefully, thinking about the feasibility of her idea as she spoke. “Well, yours, with modifications.” Sophie continued to pace the floor as Liv watched her expectantly. “What if we have Adam and Xylia help us out? Adam could ‘sniff out’ the gay guys, and Xylia could sort out the really weird guys. She likes that sort. Then you and I can sort the rest between who you like and who you don’t.” “You mean sort the guys into categories kind of like the application itself?” “Yeah. As far as that goes, we could have Janice and Marlene help, too. Janice would be able to sort out the geeks and Marlene would be able to sort out the muscle heads. Then, all you and I would have to worry about is the guys left over. They’d be the ones you’d concentrate on.” Sophie’s voice had taken on a thoughtful whisper during the entire description, until that last sentence. For some reason, instead of scaring Liv the way it usually did, it excited her to think that they may have finally found their answer. She wouldn’t have to think about all of the guys, just the ones she was interested in. And from what she’d seen on this campus so far, that didn’t seem to be too much. After all, look at that Grant guy she’d met a couple of times. Yeah, he was cute and all. OK, be honest with yourself here, a little voice admonished. He was flipping gorgeous! But looks weren’t all that mattered. He had a horrendous personality! That doesn’t change the fact … the little voice started in on her again. “Oh, shut up!” she muttered, shocking Sophie quiet. “Not you, Sophie.” Liv was immediately contrite. How was she going to explain to Sophie the one she wanted to shut up was herself, when she hadn’t even been talking? How could she even consider thinking about him when he was such a pain in the ass? “You’re thinking about that guy aren’t you?” Sophie smiled knowingly. She’d seen that look in her eye every time Grant had been around, but she hadn’t said anything. But if there was one person on earth she knew better than herself, it was Livvie. They’d known each other their whole lives. “What guy?” Liv tried to hedge the question, but to no avail. “You know what guy. The one down in the quad.” “There were tons of guys down in the quad.” Liv’s brows furrowed in dismay. Had she been caught? Did every one know? “Yeah, but there was only one you were talking to.” Sophie placed her hands on her hips and stood awaiting Liv’s response. “You’re thinking about him.” “No, I’m not.” She denied it a little too quickly. Even she knew that. She looked up at Sophie to see that all-knowing look she got when she was right, she knew she was right, and no one could prove her wrong. The thing Liv hated about that look the most was that every time Sophie used it, she was right. And that meant Liv was busted. “OK, so I’m thinking about him. What about it?” “What I want to know is if we are going to have to send out a special invitation to make sure he fills out the application.” “What are you talking about?” Liv asked querulously. “This guy … what’s his name?” “Grant.” “See! I knew it!” “Knew what?” “You’ve got the hots for him.” “No I don’t!” “Yes, you do. You’ve named him.” “So?” “So?” Sophie’s mouth was agape as she stared at her best friend. “So?!” She sucked in a gasp of shock to realize that Liv had either forgotten or completely discarded the first cardinal rule of non-dating. “Unless you want to date a guy, you never name him.” “I didn’t name him!” Liv defended quietly. “His parents did.” “You know what I mean Livvie, and you’ve named him. That means there’s more interest there than you know or are willing to admit.” “I’m not interested.” Sophie harrumphed knowingly and stared at Liv as she tapped her foot on the parquet floor. “Well, I’m not.” Liv defended in a huff. “I was thinking about how arrogant and narrow-minded he seemed. I’m not at all interested.” Liv turned away from Sophie and walked into the kitchen and started looking through the refrigerator again until she came up with another can of soda. “Whatever, Liv.” Sophie sighed, resigned to the fact that Liv was denying interest that was so obvious it showed on her face. “Listen, I’m going to go call the gang and see what I can come up with as far as a time and place for this – I don’t know – fiasco to take place.” “Fiasco? I thought you were as excited about it as I was.” “I was. Until you lied to me and yourself.” “I didn’t lie to you. Or to me for that matter.” Yes, you did, the little voice nagged. You lied to both of you. “OK, Livvie. You didn’t. But don’t come crying to me when none of these dates work out unless it happens to be ‘him’, OK? I remember what happened the last time you didn’t lie to either one of us. Even if you don’t.” Sophie walked out of the room, leaving Liv in deep thought. She’s wrong. She has to be. This is nothing like Mathieu. Nothing at all. Liv lay back on the sofa dejectedly and stared up at the ceiling, refusing to give in to the urge to cry. Well, at least they’d gotten the hardest part of the project done. If she wanted she could close her eyes and nap for a while. And she did want to very much. Sophie walked back into the living room to let Liv know about the plans she had made, but, upon noticing her asleep, left the room and turned out the lights so her friend could get some much needed rest. Especially if she’s working herself up over this guy, Sophie thought to herself. I just hope he doesn’t turn out to be like Mathieu: more trouble than he’s worth.

Chapter Two

“Hey, pop.” Grant called as he walked into Dr. Richards’s classroom. “Hey, son. Why the glum look?” “Oh, it’s this assignment you give out every year. It’s playing havoc with my love life.” Grant looked up at his father, wondering if he could get true compassion or if he would instead get psychoanalysis. “What’s wrong?” Dr. Richards looked at his son knowingly. Grant sat his books on the corner of the desk, and then looked at his father curiously. “Come on, Grant. You know you can talk to me.” Dr. Richards looked at his only child expectantly. “If you don’t tell me what the problem is, how can I help to fix it?” Grant looked away, shoved his hands into the back pockets of his jeans and shuffled his feet nervously. “Grant?” he prodded gently. “Are you going to act like a dad or a Psychology professor?” “I’ll try my best to act like a dad,” Dr. Richards responded, grinning at his son. He lifted one hip onto the corner of his desk as he noticed Grant’s obvious nervousness. “But also remember, I AM a Psychology professor, so that may slip in a bit, too.” “I know. It’s just that right now, I need a dad’s advice, not psychoanalysis.” Grant looked around the room, trying to decide where to go from here. “You see, there’s this girl.” “There’s always a girl.” Dr. Richards answered quickly. “What is it about this girl that has to do with the assignment I give every year?” “Well, she’s in your class. And I want to ask her out, but I don’t think she likes me very much.” The crestfallen look on Grant’s face told his father more than his words ever could. “Why would you think she doesn’t like you?” Dr. Richards questioned. “Dad,” Grant sighed quietly. “I need a father’s input, not Psychoanalysis, remember?” “Sorry, son.” Dr. Richards smiled briefly. “Force of habit. But it is a logical question, even for a dad.” “I guess.” Grant conceded thoughtfully. He stared off into space, carefully choosing his next words. “I guess the reason I don’t think she likes me is because the last time I saw her, we argued about this damned assignment. She wasn’t too happy with me, I can tell you that for sure.” “Explain, please.” Dr. Richards urged. “Well, I told her I thought her idea for the assignment was insane.” Grant admitted hesitantly. “Oh, Grant, you didn’t.” Dr Richards looked at his son in shock. “I can’t believe you’d be so insensitive.” “I didn’t think of it as being insensitive, dad.” Grant defended his actions heatedly. “I thought it was a crazy idea and I told her so. I wasn’t going to sugar coat it, or say it was a great idea! That would have been dishonest.” “True, but you could have used a little more tact.” “I wasn’t thinking along the lines of tact. Hell, I could barely think at all. She’s got me so wound up I don’t know which way is up anymore.” “So, what is her idea for the assignment? It’s not one of the girls doing the Boyfriend Application, is it?” Grant looked up at his father without speaking. He looked at his father as if he should already know the answer to that question, which of course, he did, simply by Grant’s silence. “Oh, dear, Grant. You really are in a pickle aren’t you?” “Yeah, tell me about it.” Grant walked over to the chair behind his father’s desk and flopped down, sighing heavily as he laid his head against the back of the chair. “What am I supposed to do? I really like this girl, but I don’t think she’d agree to a date without making me fill out that stupid application.” Grant sat up and looked at his father incredulously. “Do you know what one of the questions is? She told me about it today. It’s ‘Can you describe a tesseract or the importance of the number 42?’ Can you believe that? She doesn’t even know what it means! Yet, she expects guys to be able to answer it.” “Do you know the answer?” his father queried. “Well, yeah, but I don’t think that’s the point.” “And what is the point?” “That not many people would know the answer. I told her I thought it was discriminatory.” Grant leaned back against the chair again and stared up at the ceiling. “And how did she react to that?” “She blew up at me, of course. Hell, if I’d been in her shoes, I would have blown up at me, too.” Grant rolled his head to one side to look up at his father. “What should I do?” “It sounds to me like the only thing you can do is apologize to her. Not necessarily for criticizing her assignment but for doing it so callously. Then, maybe, you can ask her out without feeling like you have to be in on the research.” Grant looked back up to the ceiling as he allowed his father’s advice to sink in. For some reason, ever since meeting her in the quad earlier in the week, he couldn’t seem to think of anything else besides her. His schoolwork was suffering and he didn’t even know her name. “Dad?” Grant prompted after several minutes. “Yes?” “What’s her name?” “Which one?” “What do you mean which one? The girl on the boyfriend assignment, of course. The one I’ve been talking about for the last half hour at least.” Dr Richards looked down at his son, smiling. “You never did tell me which one you’re interested in. There are two girls working on it together.” “The blonde, dad. The red head is a little too crazy for me.” Dr. Richards let out a breath of relief. “I was hoping you’d say that. Sophie is a bit much for you to handle. It would take a special man to put up with her.” “So the other one?” Grant prompted. “Her name is Olivia Carlson. She goes by Liv, though.” “Thanks, dad.” Grant stood and gathered his books off the corner of his father’s desk. “Liv Carlson, huh?” “Yes. She’s quite beautiful and seems to be fairly intelligent. She doesn’t seem to have a lot of confidence in herself, though.” Dr. Richards muttered thoughtfully. “No, she doesn’t. She was rather afraid of this assignment. I met her in the quad on Monday right after your class and she said she was worried about what kind of trouble Sophie was going to get her into.” Grant smiled briefly at the memory. “I guess she had good reason to be worried.” “Yes, I do, too.” Dr. Richards moved around behind his desk and occupied the chair his son had just recently vacated. “And now, she has your condemnation to cope with as well.” “Thanks for reminding me.” Grant sighed deeply as he considered what to do next. “Well, at least I know where one of her classes is, so I can find her to apologize.” Grant turned toward the door slowly, then called over his shoulder. “Thanks for the help, dad. I’ll do what I can to fix it.” “No problem, son. I hope everything works out OK.” “Me, too,” Grant muttered to himself as he left the room. “Me, too.”

Chapter One

Sophie chatted excitedly all the way back to their apartment, detailing her idea for their project. “Ok. The first thing we have to do is figure out what questions to put on the application.” “And just how are we going to do that?” Liv looked at Sophie, expectantly awaiting her answer. “Easy.” Sophie responded confidently. “We poll the girls on campus. We’ll put up signs in all the girls’ dorms and have a table in the commons where they can respond.” “Then what?” “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, here. First, we get the questions. Then, we move on to phase two.” Sophie jumped around, clapping her hands together. “This is going to be so much fun!” “Yeah.” Liv was obviously not as excited about the idea as Sophie. “I can’t wait.” She followed he roommate along, a curious feeling of foreboding settling over her. By the end of the evening, they had created signs to post in all the girls dorms and locker rooms across campus, and had formulated their plan of phase one. Every day that week they took suggestions, even going so far as to stop girls in the quad and ask what kinds of things they would want to know about a guy they were considering dating. “I can’t believe the responses we’ve gotten from this!” Liv cried in surprise. We’ve got five shoeboxes full of questions!” “I know,” answered Sophie with barely contained enthusiasm. “Isn’t it great? Now all we have to do is compile the questions into one list and we’ll have our first report ready for Monday’s class.” Sophie smiled brightly. “I can’t wait to get started on phase two. Micah won’t believe this! I have to call him!” Liv watched as Sophie ran out of the quad to go phone her boyfriend. She sat on the ground and began going through one of the boxes of questions to which the female population wanted answers. Most of the questions she had seen so far seemed pretty basic, asking for things like hobbies, and favorite foods and music. She came across one, however, that seemed outlandish. It caused her to laugh out loud. “What’s so funny?” A deep masculine voice interrupted her thoughts. Liv looked up to see Grant smiling down at her. “Some of the research my roommate and I are doing for this project.” Liv rolled her eyes and sighed. “I can’t believe someone would actually ask some of these questions, let alone expect someone to answer them.” “So, this is your research for Dr. Richards’ class?” Grant sat down on the bench directly behind her. Liv couldn’t help but notice the way his t-shirt stretched across his arms and chest, severely defining his broad shoulders and muscular physique as he moved to stack his books on the bench beside him. She felt a slight blush rise over her face as she realized he was watching her intense scrutiny. “Uh. Yeah.” She answered weakly, looking back to the stack of papers in front of her. I’m just kind of sorting through to get rid of duplicates and to see what kinds of things women think are important.” “OK.” He grinned slightly, and a look of confusion shone in his eyes, mesmerizing her once again. “What exactly is this research project again?” “The Boyfriend Application. We talked about it earlier this week, remember?” She rolled her eyes and looked up at him with a look of shock and surprise on her face. “Ah, yes,” he answered, nodding slightly. “The Boyfriend Application.” He shook his head ruefully. “And how is that research going?” “Well,” Liv gestured to the five boxes of questions spread out on the ground in front of her. “These boxes are all full of questions the female population of this campus thinks are important.” “That’s a lot of questions.” Grant was clearly amazed at the amount of responses. “You’ve gotten all of that in a week?” “Less than a week, actually,” she answered proudly. “We started polling on Tuesday. So, technically, this is only from four days of research.” “Wow. I’m impressed.” Grant nodded towards the card in Liv’s hand. “Is that one of the questions?” “Yeah.” Liv smiled as she re-read the question and additional comments, remembering her initial reaction. “I thought this one was funny, especially since I didn’t have a clue what it was about until I asked the girl that turned it in.” “What’s the question?” Grant leaned over her shoulder to catch a glimpse at the card. “It says, ‘Can you describe a tesseract or the importance of the number 42?’ I had no idea what either of those were until I asked her for the answer.” “You’re not actually going to use that question, are you?” “Well, sure.” Liv looked up at Grant and noticed a crease had formed between his brows as he considered the question. “We have to keep all of the questions or it’s just about what Sophie and I would ask. We can’t edit our research.” “But how can you expect a guy to answer that when you don’t even know the answer, yourself?” Grant’s voice dropped a bit as he spoke, belying his consternation. “I mean, is that really fair?” “Just because I don’t know the answer doesn’t mean no one does.” Liv sighed deeply as she explained. “I’m sure the girl that turned in the question knows the answer, and she may expect a guy she’d date to know it as well.” “But that’s a ridiculous question.” Grant’s voice held a hard edge as he continued to argue his point. “If I were to fill out that application, I’d refuse to answer that question based on the sole fact that it’s discriminatory.” “Discriminatory?” Liv’s voice rose at least an octave as she seethed. “How can you say it’s discriminatory? Wouldn’t it be discriminatory to leave it out?” “Maybe,” he conceded grudgingly, “but you’d have to know a specific type of information that not everyone is privy to in order to be able to answer.” Grant peered at Liv thoughtfully, then carried on. “Based on that, I’d refuse to answer.” He leaned back against the bench and crossed his arms, taking a position that showed he clearly thought he’d won the argument. “You probably wouldn’t even fill out the application.” Liv accused. She could feel the anger building up inside her. She didn’t know why his opinion mattered at all, but for some reason she didn’t want to explore, it did. It mattered a lot. “You’re right,” he sighed. “I wouldn’t fill it out. As I said before, I think the whole idea is insane.” “You said the idea held merit!” Liv reminded him angrily. “No,” he corrected calmly. “I said the idea for the research held merit.” He stretched his arm along the back of the bench and crossed his left ankle over his right knee as he regarded Liv smugly. “I’ve never liked the boyfriend application idea. It’s ridiculous and superficial.” “Well!” Liv’s barely holding control snapped. “I don’t know why I even asked you in the first place!” She began packing up the boxes, and in her haste, dropped one from the top of the stack. She muttered a quick curse as she glared at grant. “Now look what you’ve done!” “What I’ve done?” Grant stared at her incredulously as he leaned forward to help her pick up the quickly scattering papers. “Yes, what you’ve done!” she accused. “If you hadn’t ticked me off I wouldn’t have dropped the box in the first place.” Grant handed her a stack of papers he had collected and unwittingly brushed against her arm. The jolt of electricity she felt pass through her caught her unawares and caused a sudden shiver to pass through her body. “Oh, just leave me alone,” she admonished angrily. “I can get it myself!” Just then, Sophie came up to them and noticed the papers in grant’s hand, as well as a few that were still blowing gently in the breeze. “What happened here?” she questioned, glaring at Grant as if knowing somehow that this was his fault. “Nothing I can’t handle,” Liv challenged quickly. Once she and Sophie had all the papers picked up and placed back in the box, she looked up at Grant, realizing he still held some of the papers in his hand. She held her hand out, waiting for him to return them to her. She quickly placed them back in the box and slammed the lid shut, then handed three of the boxes to Sophie. Liv tossed Grant an icy shoulder as she walked away. “Good day!” She said it a bit more forcefully than she had intended, but he deserved it. He was insufferable! With the boxes split between her and Sophie, she stormed away, leaving Grant to stare after her in wonder.

Prologue of The Boyfriend Application

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations. My name is Dr. Philip Richards. I will be your instructor for this course." Dr. Richards walked to his desk as he greeted the class, dropping several books on the corner and his briefcase on the floor, then he leaned back against the edge. He was a fairly distinguished-looking man of about forty-five or fifty with brown hair, graying slightly at the temples. He wore what seemed to be the uniform of university professors: tan corduroy slacks, a plain oxford style shirt, and a darker brown corduroy blazer - the kind with the suede patches on the elbows. As he looked out across the faces of his students, he continued his description of the course itself. "In this class," he said as he stood, "we will be discussing, comparing and testing modern versus traditional dating customs, rituals, and theories centered primarily on the books Dating, Mating and Marriage by Martin King Whyte; Measurement of Love and Intimate Relations: Theories, Scales and Applications for Love Development, Maintenance and Dissolution by Oliver C.S. Tzeng; and The Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating by David M. Buss." Dr. Richards picked up a stack of papers from his desk and began distributing them as he continued. "This paper that I'm handing out now is a list of ten selected works to accompany your original syllabus that you should have received when registering for my class. If you will notice, the three titles I mentioned are listed here, as well. They will be our primary focus, but we will also touch on the others. Please feel free to utilize these books as your primary sources for research, but please do NOT feel obligated to purchase these books simply for this class." He smiled slightly at the overwhelming sigh of relief that moved through the class. "This list is suggested resources, not required reading," he chuckled lightly as he peered at his students. "Now, on to more important matters." Dr. Richards resumed his stance at the front of his desk, leaning casually back against the edge. He picked up a page of notes and quickly scanned the contents before re-addressing the class. "There will, of course, be various reading assignments, in addition to occasional tests and quizzes as we go. However," he continued as he stood and began slowly pacing the floor area between his desk and those of his students, "your grade in this class will be based primarily on an ongoing research project which will be divided into several parts. Each portion will receive its own grade and then those scores will be added and averaged to determine your final grade on the project." A cumulative groan arose from the class causing Dr. Richards to chuckle again. "Don't worry too much about it. This project is supposed to be fun. I know you don't believe me now, but you don't know the particulars of the assignment, yet. So, please hold judgement until I can explain it in more detail." Dr. Richards walked behind his desk and pulled out his chair as if preparing to sit down. He stopped midway and looked up as he addressed the class. "You may want to take notes from this point. The discussion is about to get quite detailed." He sat in his chair and organized his notes as he waited for the din of students scrambling for paper and pen to subside. Once the group was again silent, he continued his explanation. He could hear the students' writing as he spoke, their obvious anxiety and fear of missing a word of his description quite apparent. "The first part of this research project is to determine and classify modern versus traditional dating values and how they differ between the sexes." He looked around the classroom and noted the general look of confusion on the faces of many of the students. "What I mean by that is that I want you to compare and contrast what women want and expect versus what men want and expect. Then, taking the information you gather, determine which gender is more traditional and which prefers a more modern approach to dating. You can research this most easily by gathering information in an interview type process. We will be discussing your findings next week, so I suggest you get started formulating ideas. You are welcome to work with a partner or in a small group, but I prefer if groups be kept to four people or less. If you have any questions about the assignment so far, now would be the time to ask." As Dr. Richards fielded questions from the rest of the class, Liv turned to her best friend and roommate Sophie with a quizzical look on her face. "Dear God, Soph, " she whispered urgently, "this is going to take major work and imagination to get a decent grade. How am I gonna do that?" Liv was obviously frantic. She had one hand laced through her long blonde hair and her blue eyes were widened and sparkling with fear. "Don't worry, Liv!" Sophie tried to reassure her. "That's why you've got me." Sophie smiled brightly, flashing her perfect white teeth, as she tilted her head to one side, causing her flaming red curls to bounce wildly. The only problem was that Liv didn't look too reassured. Instead she groaned and rolled her eyes. "It's you that I'm worried about." She looked up at Sophie just in time to catch the obviously fake wounded expression form on her face, and the mirthful sparkle in her green eyes. "I'm scared to death of what kind of trouble you're bound to get me into." By the end of class, Liv was even more confused and concerned than she had been earlier, especially considering the thoughtful look on Sophie's face. "What are you thinking, Soph?" Liv asked cautiously. "Well, after Dr. Richards gave us the rest of the details, it kinda sparked an idea, but I'd better run it by him before I get too carried away." Sophie turned to go talk to the professor, then called over her shoulder. "I'll meet you in the quad. Then, if he says OK, I'll tell you my idea." Liv watched Sophie for a moment, incredulous that she had come up with an idea while Liv was more confused than ever. She shook her head ruefully as she turned and headed outside to find a bench in the quad where she could wait for Sophie. She looked around the quad and found a group of benches that surrounded a large tree, their backs leaning almost precariously against it. It looked to be a good place to wait because it was away from the hustle and bustle of the crowd, but the door of the building was in sight, so she could watch for Sophie without having to worry about being knocked around by passing students rushing on to their next class. She flopped down on the nearest bench and sighed heavily, dropping her book bag on the ground at her feet. "You sound either exhausted or frustrated." The deep, obviously masculine voice came from over Liv's left shoulder. She turned to see an extremely gorgeous guy looking as if he were awaiting her response. "OH. Uh, "she stammered, then smiled slightly as she felt herself start to blush. "I'm sorry. You kinda startled me." "Sorry." He smiled wryly, causing his eyes to sparkle and crinkle lightly around the edges. "I just said that you sound either exhausted or frustrated." "A little of both I guess." Liv answered ruefully. "My professor just outlined a research project that's going to take more imagination than I have, I'm afraid." "Who do you have?" "Dr. Richards." "Well, he usually allows students to work in groups-" "He is on this, too, " she interrupted, "but my partner on this is why I'm so concerned. It's my roommate and she can be quite eccentric in her ideas." Liv sighed meaningfully as she continued. "She's inside discussing her idea with him as we speak." "You sound worried." "I guess I am." Liv smiled as she looked at him. She couldn't help but notice the bright sparkle of his jade green eyes and the deep dimples that appeared when he smiled. "I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name." "It's Grant. Grant Ri-" "Liv!" Sophie yelled, unconciously interrupting him. Liv turned in time to see Sophie skipping and jumping toward her with a barely contained level of excitement. "He approved it!" she shouted happily. "He approved my idea! He said it should prove to be quite interesting and he couldn't wait to see how it turned out! Isn't that great?!?" Liv turned back to cast a playfully worried glance over her shoulder at Grant. As he chuckled, she turned back to Sophie. "Great," Liv muttered with no enthusiasm whatsoever. "Now are you going to tell me what kind of trouble you're getting me into or do I have to guess?" "Don't be such a spoilsport." Sophie admonished. "This is going to be fun. And who knows, it may turn out to be quite useful." Liv narrowed her eyes as she noticed the look of cunning and delight on Sophie's face. "Just what is this idea and how is it going to be useful?" "We're going to create a boyfriend application!" Sophie answered animatedly. "And then, we're going to have guys fill it out." "And just how, pray tell, is that going to be useful?" Liv wondered out loud again. "Easy!" Sophie exclaimed. "We're going to use it to find you a boyfrined." Grant laughed out loud while Sophie glared at him, and Liv groaned meaningfully. She turned toward Grant with a downtrodden expression on her face. "See what I mean?" Liv asked him quietly. "I told you she's eccentric." "I'm not eccentric!" Sophie cried vehemently. "I am simply a unique individual with a healthy, active imagination. It's more than most people can say." This caused Grant to laugh harder, which in turn caused Sophie to glare at him harder. "Soph," Liv broke in, "I do not want to turn my life into a research project." "Oh, come on!" Sophie whined emphatically. "It'll be fun! We can poll women on campus to find out what kinds of questions they would ask. Then, we can compile the questions into an application form and have a pre-determined number of guys fill it out. Then, we'll go through them and select a number of those that interest you to set up dates." At Liv's look of stern consideration, Sophie continued to plead her case. "Come on, Liv." She begged forcefully, "It's all in the name of research." Liv studied her friend for a moment, then turned to look at Grant. "What do you think?" "What do I think?" Grant repeated, grinning widely. "I think it's insane. But the idea for the research holds merit." Liv studied him a little longer than necessary, intrigued completely by the sparkle in his eyes, then turned slowly back to an expectant Sophie. "OK. I'll do it." Liv answered on a sigh as Sophie squealed in delight. "BUT" She held up one finger as if to point out a major condition. "I get to choose the guys." "No problem." Sophie agreed easily. She could barely contain her excitement as she grabbed Liv by the arm and pulled her to a standing position. Liv reached down to grab her book bag and swung it onto her shoulder. "Bye," she whispered to Grant. "Bye," he answered chuckling, "and good luck."