“Shh!” I hissed, spinning around to glare at her. “Do you want the whole neighborhood to know?”
She slapped a hand over her mouth, muffling her next words. “Oh my God. You kissed Nathan Edge. Your boss. The man you once called a cold-blooded cyborg.”
I groaned, dropping into the chair in front of my vanity. “Don’t remind me.”
“No, no, no, back up. Don’t sit there acting like this is normal. Tell me everything.” Kelsey bounced onto the bed, clutching my pillow like she was ready for a Netflix-level binge of my love life. “Who leaned in first? Was there tongue? How was it?”
Heat rushed to my cheeks. “He did. Yes. And it was... intense.”
“I need more details.”
I threw my hands up. “I don’t know how to describe it, Kels. One second we were just dancing. Next, he was looking at me like…” I trailed off, my throat tight.
“Like what?” she pressed, leaning forward.
“Like he saw me.” I whispered, the confession so soft it almost scared me.
Kelsey’s expression shifted, the teasing gone in an instant. She knew me too well. “Elle,” she said gently, “Are you catching feelings for him?”
I swallowed hard, turning back to my mirror before she could read too much on my face. My reflection didn’t lie. The answer was written all over my skin, my flushed cheeks, the way my lips parted at the memory of our kiss.
Kelsey’s question hung in the air like smoke I couldn’t breathe through.
Are you catching feelings for him?
I looked away, staring hard at the lipstick tubes scattered across my vanity, like one of them might hold the answer I didn’t have.
How could one look from Nathan make me feel both wanted and terrified in the same breath?
“I don’t know,” I admitted finally, my voice raw. “I don’t know what I feel.”
Kelsey was quiet for once, her sharp tongue held back. When I risked a glance, she was watching me with that mix of softness and fire that only she could pull off.
“Elise,” she said carefully, “just because you were hurt doesn’t mean you don’t get to want something good. Orsomeonegood.”
I pressed my lips together, fighting the sting in my eyes. “What if I don’t know how to tell the difference anymore?”
She stood, crossing the room to wrap her arms around me. “Then that’s why you’ve got me. To remind you.”
For a long moment, I let myself lean into her hug, even as my mind betrayed me flashing back to Nathan’s mouth on mine, his hand at the small of my back, steady and grounding in a way I wasn’t used to.
Safe.That’s how it had felt.
And that scared me most of all.
The silence between us stretched, soft but heavy, until my gaze flicked to the corner of my mirror and caught the red digits of my alarm clock.
6:20.
Panic flared. I had less than forty minutes before I was supposed to be at my desk and I still didn’t reserve an Uber since Marissa wasn’t able to pick me up this morning since I was having car trouble. Normally, I’d be rushing by now, adrenaline kicking in. Instead, my stomach twisted and I blurted, “You know what? Maybe I shouldn’t go in today.”
Kelsey pulled back just enough to give me the look. “Elle.”
“Hear me out.” I turned quickly, reaching for my phone like I was already halfway convinced. “What if I call out sick? We could spend the day together. I could make us breakfast. Mimosas, waffles, the whole thing. Or we could hit the beach. It’s supposed to be, like, eighty-five degrees today.” I plastered on my brightest smile. “An amazing girls’ day. No office. No TikTok drama. No…”
Her brow arched. “No Nathan?”
I froze, my excuses falling apart around me.
