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“Yeah, we’ll circle back to that. So, I was surprised, and because of how stunned I was, I ended up standing too fast by the rear hatch and hit my head.”
“Oh my God. He totally took care of you,” Nora presumed, slack-jawed and wide-eyed.
“He took me inside and offered me water and helped me.” I carefully left out about a gazillion details, like the fact that he carried me, and how he cradled my head to his chest like I was the most fragile thing he’d ever held. Or how I’d grabbed his wrists because they seemed strong and, in the moment, I had felt weak.
Gathering my thoughts, I pushed on. “Anyway, we started talking and I got annoyed because he’s been forcing my parents to drive up the mountain for like two years, just to take him stuff, because he’s too lazy to come down, so I told him to fuck off, he told me to fuck off back, and when I tried to leave, he pulled me in and kissed me.”
Nora’s eyes searched my face, “like in a sweet way?”
Slowly, I shook my head, as a defiant smile twisted my lips, betraying my truth.
“Oh my God, you liked it!”
Pushing my cup forward, then tucking my fingers into the handle, I tried to ignore the rush of heat hitting my chest at the memory of his lips. “No, I didn’t.”
“You did,” she argued, as though it were as plain as the sky being blue.
I sipped from my coffee, shrugging my shoulder. “So, the man can kiss…doesn’t change the fact that I hate him. Like hate, hate, totally despise, so it doesn’t matter.”
Nora sat back and finally let her gaze drift up toward the ceiling, like she was considering everything I had said, trying to find a way to fix it.
“It definitely matters, Rae…this is your lifetime crush. The man you—”
“It wasn’t real,” I said more forcefully than necessary. Softening my tone, I added, “It was a crush, and it died. My feelings are no longer active, so it doesn’t matter.”
Itwasjust a kiss. And a lie.
Nora’s eyes sparkled with amusement as she sat back and smirked, drawing her gaze from the patron who opened the door, face down, eyes glued to their phone. We both watched as the man looked up, saw there was no one behind the counter then turned on his heel to walk out.
“So the kiss meant nothing at all?” She raised a thin eyebrow at me in challenge.
Shaking my head vehemently, I smiled. “Nothing at all. It was just physical, like two magnets that clunked together because of proximity.” I couldn’t bring myself to talk about what I had overheard him say to my father.
“Huh…interesting.”
I narrowed my gaze on my best friend. “Why is that interesting?”
She shrugged, sagging in her chair. “No reason… It’s just that…a kiss from Davis isn’tjusta kiss. It will always mean more because of what he meant to you for so many years.”
“It’s not like that at all.” I swallowed the thick lump in my throat, hearing his voice as he spoke last night. “I think it was all just for show, for my dad. I think Dad is worried or something about me. Either way, it wasn’t a real kiss, Nora. So this entire conversation is just a waste of our time.”
Her expression crumpled and then her left brow arched, which meant she was ready to throw a few more reasons on top of why she likely thought the kiss meant something. But I couldn’t talk about this anymore.
I stood and smiled down at my friend.
“I need honey—Mom and Dad are fresh out. Let’s go.”
* * *
The next morningI found myself yawning as I exited my bedroom and padded down the hallway.
“There she is!” my dad exclaimed loudly.
Wincing, I blinked against the brightness of the room. “Why are the shades open?”
“It’s almost ten, sleepyhead.”
Oh.
