Then we smile.

Then we both open our mouths at the same time.

Then he zips up his lips with one hand while indicating for me to go first with the other.

"Okay. What I was going to say is, maybe we could add kisses to the hot girl summer list? Unless your doctor thinks that might be overdoing it?"

He unzips his lips faster than our grandmothers at the first hint of gossip. "No no. My doc is totally fine with it. Recommends it, actually. Daily kisses are ideal."

"Daily kisses." My head bobs a few times. "I like that. Okay. Your turn. What were you going to say?"

"I was going to say that I was thinking maybe we should add kisses to our nightly routine."

I giggle. "Great minds think alike."

"They sure do."

"So, daily slash nightly kisses it is."

8

Culver

That unsteady feeling inside me has now blown into full-on post-rollercoaster-ride dizziness…with some exhilaration thrown in for good measure.

Adding daily slash nightly kisses to Hannah’s hot girl summer list after our wedding last weekend was bound to do that.

Emotionally, I've taken so many twists and turns I don't know up from down anymore.

Hannah and I are fake married.

We're real kissing—daily in the morning before she heads off to work, and nightly as many times as we like because we can and because hot girl summer rules are in play.

If it feels good, do it.

And believe me, kissing Hannah feels good to the power of infinity.

I can't believe this is really happening. It feels better than any of the short relationships I've been in because…because it's her.

I've loved Hannah for a long time, but that love has always been neatly contained within the boundaries of friendship.

What I'm starting to realize is that it isn't nausea I'm experiencing. It's something else.

Something else that is such a scary thought, it's enough to make me nauseous.

So I'm doing the right thing.

The thing that sees me using my head and not my heart so I don't make a terrible mistake the way I did when I lent money to two former friends and ended up losing both the money and those friendships.

I have to be smart about this and that means burying whatever inkling of a possibility I sense forming between Hannah and me deep, deep, deep down.

Hannah is the most special woman in the world. I cannot mess things up with her. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did anything to ruin our friendship.

But for now, I'm not going to worry about that. Instead, I'm focusing on the incredible thing right in front of me.

"I can't believe we're here, Culver. This is amazing."

I take in the stunning, vibrant blanket of purple that stretches along the expansive rocky coastline.