Page 57 of Friends Don't Kiss

Ethan interrupts us. “Guys, we got a problem. The girls are onto something,” he repeats. “Grace asked me to do a reverse-image search on your—”

“Did you find something?” Grace asks, sneaking up on us. I shut down my app. “Awww you guys are cute! Everyone’s researching the guy. So, what’s the verdict?” she asks Ethan.

He frowns at his phone. “Guy is legit. Lessee… LinkedIn, over five hundred connections.” He makes a face and Grace swats him playfully. “That’s good! That’s all we need.”

“What are you guys up to?” I ask Grace with a scowl. She’ll sense something’s up if I don’t show interest.

“Just… helping Kiara with something,” she says as she leaves.

Kiara

“He’s legit,” Grace says as she comes back. “What’s up? You look like someone killed your cat.”

“He went offline,” I explain, looking at my phone. Next to the profile picture, the heart that symbolizes whether the person is online or not is now barely visible instead of red.

Grace hoists herself back on the vanity. “The guys were so cute. They were all looking at their phones, searching for this guy. Lemme tell ya, you don’t need brothers with a group like that.”

“What did they say?” I ask, curious what Colton’s reaction was. I’m kind of dreading it, to be honest. I used to ask him for feedback on my dates, but with everything’s that’s gone down between the two of us now, it doesn’t feel right this time.

Grace blushes slightly. “I kept it vague. I think my brother has a thing for you—didn’t want to rub it in his face. I texted Ethan the basics, so he’d know it was serious. He might have shared.”

Guilt with a side of almost-shame settles in my ribs. Colton didn’t need to know this. Not yet. He’ll find out eventually—the perks of living in a small town, amply demonstrated by the Bitch Brigade convening in the bathroom. But this is early stages after a roller-coaster weekend for the two of us. Emotionally and otherwise.

“Oops!” Willow says, pointing to my phone. “He’s back on!”

Sure enough, the heart next to his name is no longer grayed out.

Colton

Once Grace is safely back in the bathroom, Noah gestures for my phone and pushes his glasses up his nose as he resumes the study of my profile. “‘I’ve been told forever might never come, and I’m good either way.’ Okay, that’s… cute and… girly.” He frowns at me, a what-the-hell look on his face. “‘Foodie. Cars. Sports.’That’s more like it.”

Clicking my phone back to the chat function, I explain, “Willow thought it would work on Kiara. Clearly she was right. Means I’m serious but also open to casual. Since Kiara doesn’t know what she wants, we’re covering our bases,” I add, hoping the guys don’t ask me follow-up questions on Kiara’s wishes in terms of romantic involvement. There is no world in which I tell them she’s a virgin, and no alternate reality where they discover what she asked of me. “Kay, question. Um… so something about lemons, maybe?”

Chris and Justin both grunt their disapproval.

“What? How ’bout, ‘Hi there, totally dig the lemon thing—’”

“Dig? Nobody says that!” Ethan looks horrified.

Kiara

“He messaged!” Willow screeches. You’d think she’s the one potentially dating too-hot-to-be-real. “Read it!”

“Shouldn’t we go back to the table? It’s kinda rude, disappearing like that,” I say. Who knows how long a chat with this guy is going to take?

“Are you getting cold feet?” Grace asks. “It’s totally normal. Just see what he has to say.”

I take a deep breath. “Okay. Here goes.‘Totally dig the—’”

“Eww,” Grace says. “Who even says ‘dig’ anymore? How old is this guy? Ask him how old he is.”

Willow tuts. “It’s on his profile. Don’t be rude. He’s probably nervous.”

This whole dating app thing was a mistake. I don’t want nervous. I don’t want tobenervous. Yet here I am huddled in a public toilet so I can plot with my besties how to get a guy. I’m just going to get this over with and go back to dinner with my friends. All my friends. I’ll read the whole message, shoot an answer, and forget about it until tomorrow. “‘Hi there, totally dig the lemon thing, and I want to know more. I’m not sure where to start, though. How about thank you for hearting my profile?’”

“Awww,” Willow coos. “That’s so sweet. Right?”

Itissweet. I guess? I type an answer.

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