...I can’t say I ever looked forward to Valentine’s Day. I hadn’t really given it much thought at all. Not since childhood. It was not a holiday I liked. Not that I liked any.

I was kind of the Charlie Brown of the kids when I was growing up. Other kids would invite me to their parties if they were forced to or give me Valentines because the school made us give them out to every kid, but for the most part, being small, plain, and boring, I was overlooked.

So, when I came home from my morning courses at the local community college three days before Valentine’s Day, I barely glanced at the small, red, heart-shaped box of chocolates sitting on the coffee table. I figured either it was for my roommate, Gilbert Turner, or he’d bought it to give to someone himself.

Gilbert and I had become roommates along with my cousin, Stuart, when the three of us decided to get an apartment together shortly after starting college. Gilbert had been Stuart’s best friend since grade school and I had sort of just come along for the ride. But Stuart had moved in with his girlfriend recently, so it was just the two of us now.

I had a couple of hours before I had to be at work at a nearby department store, so I went straight to the kitchen to make myself a sandwich. I was bent over digging in the crisper drawer of the fridge when Gilbert spoke from the doorway.

“Hey, did you see something came for you?”

I paused as my hand closed around a head of lettuce and straightened. “For me?”

Gilbert was smiling, showing his perfect white teeth and the two dimples he had on either side of his mouth. Not that I had noticed or anything. But, hell, who was I kidding? Gilbert was gorgeous. He stood there with his perfect swimmer’s body wearing a tank top that showed off his swoon-inducing biceps, and a pair of ass-hugging jeans. His golden hair had been styled by one of those fancy salons.

“That’s what the card said,” Gilbert said. “It’s on the coffee table.”

Frowning, I closed the fridge and set the lettuce next to the loaf of bread, then walked out to the living room where I’d seen the heart-shaped box. Gilbert followed me and pointed at the attached card.

“See? It says Jesse.”

I blinked. “But nobody ever gives me stuff for Valentine’s Day.”

He shrugged. “They have now. Open it and see who it’s from.”