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I roll my eyes. “Jeff wasn’t that boring. But I get your point.”

“Good.” She shoots me a smug grin. “People can be attracted to all different types. For example, Aragorn from Lord of the Rings is extremely sexy because he’s so rugged and manly. But Legolas is equally as hot because he’s got that whole beautiful elf thing going on.”

I laugh. “You’re so strange.”

“It’s part of my charm.” She shrugs.

A notification chimes on Noel’s phone and she takes it out of her hoodie pocket, a hoodie that says the best boyfriends are fictional, and looks at the screen. She grimaces and turns to me, facing her phone screen so I can see it.

I look at the screen, confused for a few seconds. It’s a photo—actually a myriad of photos—of Katarina, West, and myself at the cafe this morning. In the first few, it just looks like the three of us are chatting, but as we scroll through, there are photos of him wrapping his arm around my waist, and then more of him kissing me.

“Oh no. This cannot be happening.” I groan and thread my hands into my hair. “Wait, do you have Google notifications on for West?”

She ducks her chin, knowing she’s been found out. “Um, yeah. Just wanted to keep tabs on the situation.” She leans forward and studies the photos. “Girl, that kiss looks hot.”

She puts her phone right in my face and I shove it away. “Don’t make this a thing.”

Noel laughs. “Mel, this is already a thing. It’s all over the internet. There’s even a trending hashtag… #KissinKershaw.”

My eyes widen with panic. “Noel! My boss is going to see these!“

She grimaces. “Probably.”

I gasp. “And my brother!”

She nods and puts an arm around my shoulder. “It’ll be okay. You’re a young, single woman. Sometimes you’re going to get caught sucking face with famous hockey players.”

“You make it sound like this happens to all twenty-three year olds.”

She chuckles. “If it makes you feel any better, when I was your age, I was dressing up like Hermoine from Harry Potter for Comic-Con. And other nerdy things. Nothing as awesome as sharing hot kisses with yummy guys.”

I try to hold back my laugh, but it’s impossible. “You’re only two years older than me, you know? And I love that you’re a huge nerd.” I rest my head on her shoulder. “But thanks for making me feel a little better.”

“Anytime, girl.”

CHAPTER NINE

WEST

The moment I walk through my front door after arriving home from dinner with Colby, my phone rings. Slipping my shoes off on the front mat, I pull my phone out of my jeans pocket. It’s Harrison.

I let my head drop back and look at the ceiling in agony. All I want to do is relax and wind down. But I know I have to answer. I can only assume the pictures people took at the cafe have hit the internet by now. It never takes long.

With a deep, steadying breath, I answer, “Hey, Harrison.”

“Care to explain to me why there’s a billion photos featuring you making out with my little sister?” He grits out the last part. He’s most likely clenching his teeth like he always does when he’s angry.

“We were not making out, it was just a peck.”

He scoffs. “Didn’t look like a peck from the photos!”

I walk into my kitchen, grab a water glass from the cabinet and fill it up while I explain to Harrison what happened with Katarina and how Melanie pretended to be my girlfriend.

“Okay, but nothing in that story indicates a reason for you to kiss my sister,” He says matter-of-factly. But his voice does sound more calm now. Whew.

I lean against the countertop and sigh. “You’re right. I didn’t have to kiss her, and I apologized to her about that.” I roll my lips together before adding, “But… if I’m being completely honest, I’ve had feelings for Mel for a long time, and when I saw an opportunity to kiss her… I took it.”

“Excuse me?” Harrison’s voice is getting angry again. “Did you forget about a certain pact??”