Page 51 of Friends Don't Kiss

She throws up her hands. “You’re perfect for him! How could he mess it up so much?”

I can already tell she’s ready to go to bat for me and have a talk with her brother. That’s the last thing I want. “Maybe it wasn’t him. MaybeIdon’t want to datehim!”

“What’s wrong with Colton?” Grace asks, offended.

“There’s nothing wrong with your brother. It’s …” How am I getting out of this one? Lying seems like the only viable option, one where no one gets hurt. “I don’t want anything serious. I just want to have fun and be able to… you know, move on once the fun has worn out.”

Grace considers me as if this were a totally new idea. “Oh. Oh, sure.”

“That’s why I can’t date Colton. Or anyone I know, really. Including Ethan’s new guys.”

She frowns. “Right. Makes sense. And so… apps, huh?”

Willow waves my phone at me. “There! All set!”

“Lemme see?” The picture she took is cute enough without being staged or over-promising. It looks like me. For interests, she wroteRunning experiments on my friends, Exploring how to make the world a sweeter place, one bite at a time.

“Good enough,” I say. I’ll play with it later, maybe change a few things around.

Ms. Angela takes out a stack of Christmas cards from her canvas bag. “Welp, these aren’t going to write themselves!” She takes a comfortable seat next to the fire, uncaps her pen, and gets to work.

Meanwhile Sophie, the town librarian, pulls out a tarot deck and sits cross-legged on the floor. “Anyone need a little wisdom?” she asks.

What’s the harm? I sit in front of her.

Half an hour later, slightly unsettled, I sit back as she reads cards for Alex’s unborn child, hearing without really listening.

“Honey, why don’t you follow me,” Cassandra says, holding her hand out. She pulls me up and leads me out of the room and into her boutique, flicking lights on as she goes.

Oh, this is good. Cassandra is known for giving single women lingerie that she claims has magic powers—like making them meet the man of their life. I always laughed about this, but I’ve been supposedly proven wrong recently. I maintain Cassandra is intuitive, and she was only giving them the extra nudge of self-assurance they needed in their new relationship.

Cass rummages through her drawers, lifting folded garments. “There,” she says. She unfolds a thin black fabric, holding it out in front of her, then sets it aside on her high counter, takes out silk paper, and wraps the garment. “The most beautiful gems are best left to shine on their own,” she says while she ties the small package with twine. “You know I’ve given your friends lingerie that gave them the confidence they needed at the right time.”Ha! I knew it. No witchcraft involved in Alex’s bodice, Chloe’s negligee, or Grace’s swimsuit.

She slips the mysterious black garment I didn’t even try into a purple bag adorned with an owl. “Turns out, you just need to warm up to the idea,” she adds with a smile. “Hence, this thermal. Oh and—you’ll want to make sure to wear this cami with it, because of the zipper,” she says as she adds a rolled-up black garment to the bag.

Athermal? I mean, these things are expensive as shit, and Cass only sells top quality. I should thank her before she thinks I’m disappointed. “I don’t know what to say, Cass. Thanks so much, this will… this will be super useful.” And it will. It really will. Layers make all the difference here.

And I get the message. I really do: Sexy lingerie isn’t for me.

“Make sure to wear the cami underneath it.”

Thermal. Cami. Got it.

“You heard what I said earlier, right?” she says, not letting go of the bag just yet.

“I need to keep warm?” I thought she’d said something about warming up to an idea, but I must have heard wrong.

She rolls her eyes in a cute way. “The most beautiful gems are best left to shine on their own. Just remember that.”

nineteen

Colton

“Sothatwholethingwith Kiara is over, huh?” Willow asks me when she picks up her CRV that I’ve been servicing at the garage.

“What’cha mean?” I hand her the paperwork. “Keys are on the dashboard.” I walk her to the car, wanting to know what she’s talking about.

She has a playful smile. “No more dating? Fake or otherwise?”

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