The Kiss

some extra hours of rest in, which she couldn’t do when she shared a bed with her boyfriend. Knowing Eliza, there would be no sleeping for either of them in the near future.
    She let her shoulder bag drop to the floor, kicked off her sandals, and sat on Eliza’s bed. “How was the party?”
    She didn’t need to ask a second time. Eliza started talking, and Krista could feel her eyes widen with every new bit of info.
    “You called Greg ?” she asked when Eliza was done. She propped one elbow on Eliza’s bent knee and laid her cheek in her open palm. “And he sounded scared, instead of yelling at you and calling you names?”
    “I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m lost, Krissy, help me out.”
    “I’m trying.” She was also trying to stay awake. She folded her legs under her. “That thing with Greg…it’s really weird. Why would he be worried about you telling people?”
    Eliza shrugged. “I know you love puzzles, but can we stay with the Nate-shaped one for the time being?”
    Krista took a moment to decide how to ask for the piece of information that was missing, if she were to help her friend. She chewed on the inside of her lip. “Eliza, now that you know it was Nate…do you want to kiss him again?”
    *
    “No. Definitely not.” Eliza shook her head seriously. “Yes.” She looked at her hands. “Maybe?” With a grunt, she pulled the pillow from under her head and covered her face with it. “I don’t know. I think I’m in for a world of pain if I say yes, but—I don’t know.” She honestly didn’t. She felt completely stupid for not being able to think straight. She felt even more stupid for seeing him in a positive light because he’d been nice to her once. Once . “After almost two years of constantly being on my case, he smiled, said a couple of nice things, and kissed me—okay, and he took a couple of punches for me—and I suddenly possibly like him?”
    Maybe she’d been taken over by aliens, too.
    Then again, she’d always found him attractive in that obnoxious way of his. He knew how to walk in a crowd; that was for sure. His swagger made women’s gazes lock on him with appreciation. And he had a hot body. Sculpted, lean, with his wide shoulders and narrow hips forming that V-shape that was the epitome of the male physique. His eyes were pretty too, especially the way they lit up when he smiled. And his lips…
    She pressed the pillow harder against her face.
    Krista pried the pillow from her hands. “Let’s go over every time you two have talked. Maybe we’ll decrypt Mr. Mixed Messages.” She emphasized her promise with a yawn.
    “You sure you can stay awake?”
    “I’ll manage.”
    “Okay, where do we start?”
    “I have a theory.” Always the one to see the best in people, Krista offered her optimistic point of view. What if it wasn’t a game to Nate? Maybe he liked Eliza but couldn’t move in on a friend’s ex. Surely there was something they hadn’t considered, something fitting that theory, that could explain why he’d been an ass to her since the first time he saw her. They just had to find out what that was.
    That would mean the kisses Eliza and Nate had shared hadn’t been meaningless.
    Eliza was extremely upset with herself for liking that scenario. Sadly, past experience indicated there was also the possibility that maybe Nate was just trying to sleep with her, like his buddy had done.
    Her mind was reeling.
    “Could Bill be in on it too? He sort of tried first.” Conspiracy theories were extremely easy to come up with after a sleepless night.
    “Sweetie—” Krista shook her head. “ I asked Bill out for you. He never made a move before that.” She smiled dreamily. “And he’s too nice for something like that. He’s kind and considerate—”
    “Maybe that was his evil plan: playing Mr. Nice-guy.” Eliza grimaced. “Okay, so I’m being silly. Scratch Bill out. He’s your man, and he’s cool in my books.” Seeing her friend barely keep her eyes open made her realize she too was finally getting drowsy. “We better get some sleep. Think about it some more tomorrow.”
    Krista didn’t need to be told twice. She crawled into her bed, not bothering to change into her pajamas. “Best thing you’ve said all night.”
    “I think I may try to talk to Nate tomorrow. I doubt he’ll be forthcoming with the answers, but this has to be talked about.”
    “Good idea,” Krista mumbled sleepily.
    “So, how good was your night,