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I pulled the curtain to the side and poked my head out. “It’s not him, Soph. Looking back at it, there were soooo many signs. I think. I don’t know, all my conversations with him were super confusing.” My head was going a mile a minute. How had I not seen it? It seemed so obvious now.

“Well I at least need some examples.”

“At dinner he said he didn’t tell me he was my kiss thief because I was dating Jacob. But he’d stolen my first kiss way before I started dating Jacob.”

“Okay,” Sophie said. “So when he was ready to tell you, you were already dating Jacob. Not a good point.”

“Fair. But when I mentioned third base stuff to him at dinner, he said all guys like third base stuff. He didn’t reference our third base stuff at all. And when I mentioned it again today, I told him he was good at it. And he said I guess people talk. Like I wouldn’t know first-hand!”

“Hm.”

“And when I told him I thought Mr. Halifax was my kiss thief, he acted like we hadn’t already texted about that. He thought I had a teacher kink via text but he was clueless in person.”

“I mean, maybe he was uncomfortable with you having a teacher kink?”

“No. He said he’d spank me with a ruler whenever I wanted when he texted.”

“So hot.”

“And when I mentioned how he could have texted me the truth, he kind of acted like he doesn’t text all that much. Even though he was constantly texting me. And oh my God, Soph! I told him to text me today and he said he didn’t have my number! I’m such an idiot. And he didn’t know the last first he needed to steal was sex. I don’t think Leo had any idea that the kiss thief was even stealing firsts. And he likes is when I call him Leo the Rugged Thief instead of my kiss thief. And my kiss thief was into the kiss thief name. I know he was.”

“Maybe he’s trying to move forward from the kiss thief part of your relationship?”

“Then explain the not having my phone number thing!”

“He probably meant in his real phone?”

I groaned as I rinsed out my hair. The vinegar smell wouldn’t go away. I lathered more soap onto my body. “And Leo said he never would have guessed I had a wild streak. And my kiss thief knows I do because I’ve been hooking up with him in dark closets! And my kiss thief called me baby all the time via text. And Leo’s never called me that in person. Has your brother answered your text yet?” I needed to have a word with him.

“Yeah, he said he just asked to use the bathroom to get out of class. He should be here any minute.”

“God, what if RJ lied about this whole thing because he’s actually my kiss thief?”

“Not this again,” Sophie said with a laugh.

“It would explain everything. And why does he keep calling me baby doll if it’s not a sex thing?”

Sophie laughed. “Because he likes the code name. My brother is not your kiss thief. Don’t be gross.”

I wanted to scream, but I forced myself not to.

“And you’re thinking about all these little things that don’t add up, but there are a million things that do. We’ve narrowed it down to Leo from a huge list.”

“It only takes a few little things to make the whole theory crumble!”

“But Leo confessed. And maybe he slipped into the photo development room without you noticing.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Come on, isn’t there anything that points to it still being him?”

I rinsed the soap off of me. I was finally starting to smell a bit better and that helped clear my head. “Well, the kiss thief knew I liked crab cakes. And Leo ordered them for me at dinner.”

“Oh, I told him about that,” said RJ.

“RJ’s here,” Sophie said.

Yeah, I got that! I covered myself with my hands even though there was a curtain separating us. “What do you mean you told Leo that?!”