Page 41 of Never Kiss Your Brother's Best Friend

“Yep. Not much else has happened since our last meet up.”

“You’re being weird.”

“What? No, I just don’t have much else to say.”

Mia grabs my hands. “Girl, don’t make me use your full name, especially since you don’t like it. You just said we don’t keep things from each other. Spill it.”

I find a stray strand of hair and twirl it over and over. Why is it hard for me to tell them? They like Sterling.

“Ok, so there might have been a kiss.”

They both suck in a breath at the exact same time, eyes sparkling.

“No,” Mia says emphatically.

“Yes.”

“Details. Pronto. Every. Last. One.”

I chuckle. “Ok, I give in. We decided to watch a movie after our day on the town. It was a cheesy romantic comedy with a scene where the girl jingles her keys at the guy and it’s her way of telling him she wants him to kiss her. I don’t actually know why that was a signal. But, whatever."

“We had been kind of flirty throughout the day, having fun together. Then, Sterling ended up telling me he had a crush on me in high school but Peter made it known I was off-limits.”

Zoe pops out of her seat and turns to Mia. “I knew it! Hand it over.”

I look at the both of them, puzzled.

Mia fills me in. “We made a bet after the festival about how long it would take him to confess his feelings for you. Zoe took the under.”

“Ha, ha. And I was right. Gimme that twenty bucks.” Mia grabs her purse from the chair and fishes out the money. Zoe wiggles her fingers until Mia puts the twenty in her hand.

“You guys! That’s terrible, betting on my love life. And I’m not sure that telling me that he had a crush on me in high school counts as confessing his feelings, anyway.” Mia grabs the money right back from Zoe as she scoffs.

“Anyway, we cleaned up and I was about to head out for the night when I got a sudden surge of courage. I jingled my keys in front of Sterling—”

“You didn’t,” Zoe cuts in.

“I did. I know. Completely out of character for me. Then he made the move. He kissed me, it was… amazing. I might have also pinned him up against the wall with my body.” I bite my lip.

Zoe and Mia both pretend to melt off their chairs, but then quickly pop back up.

“That’s so awesome, Emma. You two really are made for each other. So, was that the end? What happened after the wall?” Mia asks.

“Um, not too much. I think we were both taken a little aback at what just happened. We decided to call it a night. He walked me to the door and as I was backing down the stairs, I ran into Peter.”

“Oh, no,” Mia groans.

“Exactly,” I agree.

“Peter ended up walking me back to my hotel and told me about Sterling having an ex-fiancée who broke his heart. Long story short, he pretty much said that getting involved with Sterling wasn’t a good idea. He said that Sterling might not be ready for a relationship. And he didn’t want me getting hurt.”

They both grab my hands in support. “Sterling sent me a text that night, but I never answered. We haven’t talked since. I just don’t know what to do. I’m so confused. If Sterling didn’t tell me about that important relationship, what else don’t I know?”

Zoe puts her arm around me. “Emma, you need to give him a chance to explain. I know it was hard to hear that story, but you guys haven’t had any time to really talk about those kinds of things yet. When exactly would he have had the opportunity to tell you?”

I take a big breath and slowly blow it out, trying to relax. She’s so right. I’m an idiot. We haven’t talked in years and are just getting to know each other now, so why did I expect him to say, “Hey Emma, long time no see. By the way, just in case we happen to kiss at some point during your visit, or explore being more than friends, I have an ex-fiancée you should know about.”

I need to fix this. Sterling and I should talk. I just need to find the courage to make that happen.

---