“No.”
“Don’t you dare lie to me, Ella May Daniels.” Remi gives me an incredulous look, narrowing her eyes at me. “You literally just said you kissed.”
“Did I?” I’ve always been a terrible liar. Considering the fact that I just spoke the truth before lying isn’t helping my case at the moment. “I didn’t mean to say that.”
“Well, you definitely said it.” Remi lets out a laugh as she shakes her head at me. “Okay, spill. How and when did this happen? He looks like he would be a good kisser. Please tell mehe is because that would be so heartbreaking that your first kiss–after all the things you’ve been through–was terrible.”
I stare at her for a beat before I let out a laugh. “You are by far the most annoying person I’ve ever met.”
She clicks her tongue at me and taps on her wrist with her forefinger. “You’re wasting precious time here.”
“Fine,” I agree with a long, exasperated sigh. “He was not a bad kisser. It was actually quite enjoyable. It happened at my house, after dinner. He went to the bathroom and I found him looking in my art room and it kind of happened…”
Remi smiles the biggest damn smile I've ever seen. “El, this is huge. This is such a big step for you and I want you to know I am insanely proud of you.”
“It’s not that big of a deal,” I argue, trying to downplay the entire situation, but she is right. It is a big deal, considering the fact that I didn’t think I was ready for this again. “Okay, I guess it is a little bit of a deal.”
“Screw that!” She practically yells at me. I watch her face as she winces and glances at the elderly woman walking past us who is now giving her a disapproving frown. “Sorry,” she apologizes with a small smile to the lady before she looks at me again. “This is a big deal. You went from being afraid of asking him to get dinner to letting him kiss you.”
“I know,” I admit, nodding my head even though heat is creeping across my cheeks. Something flutters in my stomach and my heart is currently operating in overdrive. “Honestly, my mind is still reeling over the fact that it happened.”
“Did he kiss you and then leave?”
I shake my head, rolling my lips between my teeth to fight back my grin. “We didn’t make out, make out, but we kind of made out, you know?”
“Yeah, sure,” she says with a shrug. “You guys made out.”
“Not really. We kissed for a couple minutes and then stopped. It was getting late, so I walked him out to his car. He kissed me again and then he left.”
“That was it?” She questions me with a burning curiosity. “He left with nothing else? The two of you didn’t even make plans to see each other again?”
I’m giving her way more information than I intended, but I can’t stop now. If I’m being honest, it’s nice having her to talk to. Before Jacob, I was more open than I am now, but Remi is my best friend. She’s the closest thing I have to a sister. She’s a safe place for me to confide in. She has rightfully earned the opportunity to hear all the juicy details.
“He said he wants to make a habit out of kissing me.”
Remi’s jaw falls open and she smiles at me with her eyes shining brightly under the sunlight. “Holy shit, he’s good.”
“He is,” I agree with a soft laugh. These feelings are foreign to me. Feelings I can’t even put into words at this point. My mind is a jumbled mess from this man and I need a moment to straighten out my thoughts. “We’ve texted on and off the past few days.”
“Okay, okay,” Remi nods eagerly in agreement. “I like this plan.” A devious grin pulls on her lips. “I’d be willing to bet it won’t be long before he’s asking when he can see you again.”
I mull over her words, weighing them with my feelings. My heart knocks against my ribcage and there’s a lightness in my chest. Those damn butterflies flutter their wings again.
“Is it bad that I want to see him?”
“Not at all.” Remi’s smile doesn’t falter as Chloe comes running back to us. Remi rises to her feet and lifts Chloe into the air as she turns back to me. “It's a good thing, El. A real good thing.”
“What’s good?” Chloe asks the two of us in her sweet little voice. She pushes her hand into her pocket and pulls out hersmall pink truck and holds it out to me. It’s the pink truck Cole gave her.
I take it from her, smiling as I spin the wheels with the tip of my index finger.
“Everything is good, baby.”
Everything is good.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
COLE
