Page 10 of The Kissing Challenge

"You mean the kiss? Or running away after?"

Wow, he'd really called me out. "Well both, I guess. Mostly for surprising you and then bailing. It wasn't right of me."

"That kiss was definitely a surprise," he murmured. "I didn't see it coming. Why did you do it anyway?"

"It was a challenge," I said, grasping for a bit of the truth—just not the part I was desperate to keep hidden. "Kiss your best friend. It's a whole thing. There are a ton of videos out there."

His eyebrows went up. "Oh yeah? That's interesting."

I forced a laugh. "You know I have trouble backing down from a challenge."

"I do," he said and gazed at me with that same intense expression he'd worn the other day right before the kiss. "But was that the only reason?"

I nodded as the lie got stuck in my throat. "Yep. What other explanation could there be?"

"Ah, I see." He paused to run a hand through his hair. "So you're not…in love with me or anything. Right?"

I swear I nearly swallowed my tongue.

"What makes you say that?" I stuttered.

Captain rolled his shoulders back. "Well, I saw the video, and"—my eyes closed at that. Of course, he had seen it. Captain had been my very first follower, and I'd been his. Gah, I was going to murder Gemma—"it just made me wonder."

He laughed as if to himself.

"Though I doubted it was true," he said.

My answering laugh sounded all wrong. "Why is that?"

"I just think I would've known," Captain said. "I mean, we're best friends. We tell each other everything. Don't we?"

I smiled, but I kind of felt like crying.

"Plus, I have a hard time believing you'd put something like that out on social media. You're a private person, Anne."

Forcing a laugh, I said, "You got me. It was Gemma who posted the video."

Captain nodded. "That makes more sense."

"Yeah," I said, shoving my hands into my pockets. "She just went ahead and shared it, didn't even ask me. She liked the kiss a lot."

"I liked it, too," he said.

"What?" I squeaked.

Captain held out his phone and showed me where he'd hit the heart button. The video. He'd been referring to liking the video, not our kiss. That was good, right? Then nothing had to change between us. He was taking everything, our kiss and the video, in stride. I should've been happy about that…right?

"So, you won the challenge then?" he asked.

"You don't really win anything," I said. "But yeah, I guess so."

"And I helped with that?"

Seeing his grin, I gave him a smile. "Yeah, you did. Thanks, Cap. I owe you one."

"I'm thinking I'm the one who owes you," he said. "Gemma tagged me and the band in that video. You wouldn't believe how many messages I'm getting."

"Oh?" I said.

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