Chapter 1

Accidentally back in high school, I met Alex Carter, the school bully with platinum blond hair, and blurted out, "Hey, sweetheart."

He scoffed, "Get a grip."

What a total phony.

He’s just a husband. Like I can’t replace him?

I rolled my eyes at his posturing, pointed at the school hunk behind him, and said, "Sorry, my mistake. That's my future husband."

But Alex cornered me against the wall, his eyes bloodshot with fury.

"Babe," he growled, "take another look. I'm the one fated to be yours."

*****

When I woke up, I found myself back in high school.

In the back row by the window, a head of platinum blond hair sparkled in the sunlight, looking as fluffy as a cloud.

It was Alex Carter, my husband of five years.

He was sucking on a lollipop, wearing that cocky "I'm the baddest" look, and giving the whole class a side eye with those charming eyes that could make even a stray mutt feel loved.

Reflexively, I blurted out, "Hey, sweetheart."

The whole class went dead silent.

Alex's lollipop fell onto the desk with a clatter.

His sidekick Mike Turner was the first to react. He burst out laughing, "Geez! Alex, since when have you had a girlfriend?"

Alex was speechless for quite a while before he slowly turned his head, his hair bobbing with the motion.

Then he scanned me from head to toe with those eyes I'd kissed a thousand times.

"Who are you?" he frowned.

"Your wife," I replied, completely unfazed.

Alex looked like he'd just swallowed a fly.

He said angrily, "If you've gone mad, go see a doctor. Don't try to mess with me. For heaven's sake, how could I possibly like you?"

I was stunned.

He didn't like me?

Wasn't he the one holding me last night, begging, "Babe, don't ever leave me"?

Wasn't he the one sneaking over at three in the morning just to pull the blanket over me?

Wasn't he the one who gave me seventeen kisses before heading out for work?

Before I got transported here, I was arguing with Alex.

It wasn't really an argument. He tried to pin me against the wall in an overbearingly romantic way and accidentally knocked me against the nightstand.

I clutched the back of my head and snapped at him, "Alex, are you out of your mind?"

He rubbed my head while mumbling pitifully, "The internet says women love this kind of thing..."

"The internet also says the earth is flat. Why don't you buy into that?" I shot back.

"So, babe, what do you actually like?"

"Normal stuff." Then I drifted off to sleep.

Next thing I knew, I was staring at Alex at eighteen.

He had a shock of platinum blond hair, three studs in his ear, his school jacket unbuttoned over a black tank top, showing off lean muscles.

He seemed like an intimidating and unapproachable badass, nothing like the man I would marry years later—the one who'd snuggle up to me, beg for kisses, and couldn't even tie his own tie without my help.

But that little beauty mark by his eye was still there, and that cute canine on the right hadn't gone anywhere.

It was him, my husband—no doubt about it.

And yet, this version of my husband looked at me like I was a complete stranger.

"Lily," the Homeroom Teacher adjusted his glasses, "go ahead and sit next to Alex. That seat is open."

The whole classroom fell into silence before Mike's laughter broke it, "Alex, looks like romance is in the air for you!"

Alex gave him a swift kick and snapped, "Shut up."

Carrying my backpack, I sat down beside Alex and caught a faint scent of tobacco coming from him.

The 28-year-old Alex had long since quit smoking. He used to say he didn't want me exposed to secondhand smoke—it was bad for me.

"Hey, nerd," Alex muttered, his voice low and unfriendly, "what did you mean by that 'wife' nonsense?"

"I meant it literally," I replied, pulling a thermos from my bag. "Babe, want some green smoothie? It's good for your health."

It took a while before Alex found his voice. "No, I'm good."

"I don't want you to ruin your health." I moved closer to him and whispered, "I care about you, sweetheart."

His ears went bright red in an instant. He tried to play it cool, but his voice wavered. "What nonsense are you spouting? I'm gonna be just fine—"

"Just fine how?" I interrupted.

"I said I don't need it!" He shot back and turned away sharply, his hair swaying with the motion.

His ears were practically glowing red, but he still tried to keep up that tough, icy act.

Seriously, he seemed so adorable that I wanted to reach out and ruffle his hair.

From the time we began dating until we got married, Alex always had brown hair, so it was quite a novel experience to see him with platinum blond hair.

But just as I reached out, Alex spun around and snapped, "What are you doing?"

"I'm just giving my husband a little pat," I replied, totally unfazed.

Alex took a deep breath, trying to keep his cool. "Let me say this one more time—I'm not your husband."

"You're not my husband yet, but that could change," I grinned and then continued, "You'll end up marrying me—we'll see about that."