Page 64 of The Kiss Countdown

Our ride back from the restaurant was filled with silence while we both contemplated the night. At least, the scene replayed over and over inmymind, all the while I was wishing I had a time machine to undo what I’d done. Then, when we got back to the cabin, Vincent took a long shower, and I pretended to be asleep when he came out. I wasn’t ready to talk to him then, and I’m not ready to talk to him now. And seeing as Vincent is now gone, maybe he’s avoiding me as well. I try to ignore the lump of dread the thought gives form to.

What I need is a nice hot shower to help take my mindoff Vincent and engagements and this bizarre situation I’ve gotten myself into. Then, and only then, will I be ready to face the day. But when I step into the bathroom, I realize how hopeless the endeavor is. There is no tub, only a shower stall where Vincent placed a wooden stool for me to get cleaned up without putting pressure on my ankle. He did it without me having to ask, and I paid him back by making him propose.

My resolve to go ten minutes without thinking about Vincent is gone in less than five seconds, and my shower turns out to be anythingbutrelaxing as questions swirl through my mind. Why does he always have to be so considerate of my needs? Where did he go? What if he doesn’t come back?

Once I step out of the shower, my phone begins ringing. It’s lying beside the sink, and I’m able to reach it before the call goes to voice mail.

“Hey, stranger” is Gina’s chipper greeting. “I’m glad you picked up. You haven’t sent me hourly updates.”

“I got engaged last night,” I blurt.

There’s half a minute of silence from the other line.

“Come again?” Gina says. “I think the FBI agent that monitors my phone is trolling me. I could’ve sworn you said you were engaged.”

I sigh as I look at myself in the mirror. Steam saturates the room, leaving my image blurred and fuzzy. Just like my mind. “We went to Vincent’s mom’s birthday dinner last night, and his aunt showed up,” I begin, going all the way up to the fake proposal. When I’m done, I suck in a gulp of hot air and shake my head. “Girl, it was a mess.”

“Wow,” Gina says after a few moments of stunned silence. “You really are serious. You’re engaged to Vincent. And before me.”

She’s using his real name, so I know she’s realized the gravity of the situation.

“Fake engaged, if it makes a difference,” I say.

“It really doesn’t, Mimi. From what you’re saying, it sounds to me like things are starting to get real between you two.”

It’s become too easy to lie. From my parents to my ex and Vincent’s family, it seems like it’s all I do. But when I open my mouth to tell Gina how wrong she is about my relationship with Vincent, the thick bitterness of this lie coats my tongue before a single syllable can form, and I remain silent.

“Are you sure the only thing you feel for him is friendliness?” she continues. “There’s no butterflies when he smiles at you, and you didn’t enjoy when he carried you after you hurt your ankle?”

Well, there have been a few tingles here and there. And I did enjoy being in his arms... and waking up plastered to him these few past days.

“And was it simply feeling sorry for him that led you to act last night? You’ve caught feelings, just admit it.”

“We’re just friends,” I persist, but the argument sounds weak even to my own ears. Gina makes a hum of disapproval over the line and I sigh. “Fine. Maybe my feelings toward him have grown a little more than I anticipated.”

“Go on.”

“I mean, he still gets on my nerves. But he’s really sweet too.” He didn’t have to carry me and feed me and let me have his room. I catch myself smiling in the mirror and immediately drop it. “Regardless of any feelings I may or may not be developing for him, we’re not a real couple and we’re not really engaged.”

“Okay, Mimi. Where is Vincent now?”

“I woke up and he wasn’t here. God, Gina, for all I know, he’s furious that I just complicated everything and can’t stand to be around me.”

I’m glad Gina’s calling instead of video chatting. Otherwise, she’d read my face and see clear as day how stressed I am at the thought that Vincent might be upset with me. If he is, it would be fully justified.

“I’m sure that’s not the case,” Gina soothes. “He doesn’t seem like the type to run from his problems.”

“If the roles were reversed and he’d suddenly proposed in front ofmyparents, I would have called an Uber and sent him on his merry lying way.”

“You say that, but I don’t think it’s true. Sure, maybe when you first met him, but you’ve come a long way since then. I feel like I’m seeing more and more of the Amerie who isn’t afraid to take risks.”

“What? You know I hate risks.”

“Well, the kind that don’t run the chance of bodily harm. Can you honestly sit there and say yourfriendVincent, Mr. Rocket, had nothing to do with that? Not to mention, I’ve never seen you go to bat for anyone other than me like you have for him.”

Ididhate seeing him upset by his mom’s words.

I hear the door open and shut.

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