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“Ow! What the hell, Sidney?”
“You promised you wouldn’t freak out,” I remind her.
Callie quickly shakes her head. “I’m not freaking out.”
The doll heads in the box she’s holding start knocking together with the way her body is vibrating with the need to jump up and down.
“I specifically said before I told you what happened, ‘You are not allowed to freak out about what I’m going to tell you,’ and you said, ‘No problem, Sid!’ This looks like a problem.” I point to her eyes that are looking a little too misty for my liking.
I’ve been freaking out enough for the both of us since last night.
Ford kissed me.
My best friend, who up until recently never gave any indication he thought of me like that, kissed the holy hell out of me. I can still feel the friction of his facial hair rubbing against my skin, and my lips still feel swollen and bruised from his mouth.
God, his lips were perfect—
Jesus, stop thinking about his lips!
This is why I’m spiraling. Kissing him made me think of a happily-ever-after, and I don’t do that shit, because it’s bad for my health.
Callie is supposed to be the strong one here. My rock. The person who remains calm when I am completely losing it, but I should have known better. I should have known as soon as I opened my mouth with even the tiniest detail about what happened at the Gore House that Callie would never be able to remain calm. She’s probably already planning our damn wedding.
“I’m fine.”
My eyes narrow when a giggle escapes out of her tightly clamped mouth after she says this.
“Don’t you dare cry,” I warn her.
“I’m not gonna cry,” she reassures me with a wobbly smile.
“Your lower lip is quivering.”
She tries to hold it together for a good five seconds; I’ll give her that. And then she’s wailing so loudly tourists stop in the middle of the sidewalk to see what’s wrong with her.
“It’s just so beautiful!” Callie sobs, the doll heads jumping around in the box and spilling some of their soil as she starts bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. “All of my dreams have come true!”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” I mutter, grabbing her arm and pulling her down the sidewalk, smiling and waving at the tourists. “It’s fine! She’s fine! She justreallyloves this time of year. Enjoy Harvest Grove! It will make you so happy you’ll cry.”
“Oooh, that should be the new town slogan!” Callie exclaims, sniffling her tears away. “But seriously, you guys kissed! Holy shit. Holyshit, Sidney! How are you so calm right now? Also, that was the worst explanationever,and you glossed over entirely too many details.We argued about my kitchen table, he told me he wanted to screw me senseless, and then we kissed, I went home and doodled in a notebook, the end.Are you kidding me right now? I’ve been waiting six years for this moment! Go back and do it again like a proper friend.”
“I gave you enough information.”
If I think about all those little details I glossed over again, let alone speak them out loud, my head will absolutely fall apart. Along with my body.
Like a pile of fall leaves scooped into a hand, breaking into a thousand tiny pieces like sand… never destined to be whole, as those pieces scatter in the wind like a lost soul.
My God… one kiss from that man and I’ve suddenly become a freaking poet, breaking Tanner rules left and right.
“I want to know style and heat level of the kiss, where he put his hands, what he tasted like, if there was any dry humping involved, and what color bridesmaid dress I’ll be required to wear. Oh myGod—the matron-of-honor speech is just going to write itself at this point!”
I roll my eyes at her as we stop together on the sidewalk.
“Who says you’ll be my matron-of-honor?”
Shut the hell up, Sidney. What are you even saying? Snap out of it!
“It was just a kiss. I told you, it wasn’t a big deal.”
