“Never believe that bullshit Nate said to you. He was negging you. You’re a stone-cold, perfect ten, Amy O’Brien.”
Again, I stare at Colin, willing him to put two and two together—to realize he’s giving me mixed signals here to the point of being a total douchebag. If I’m such a perfect ten, if I’m so fuckable and attractive, then Colin would be ripping my clothes off right now and doing everything he said to me last night. Not rejecting me.
“Okay, well, thanks,” I say. “Good talk. Are we ready for everything that happened from our kiss until now to be erased from our memory banks?”
“Absolutely.” He smiles and sighs. “Whew. I’m so glad you’re reacting so calmly. I thought for sure you were gonna cry and I was gonna feel like shit . . .”
I narrow my eyes, yet again, feeling anger rising inside me. What the ever-loving hell? He thought he was going to come here and break my little heart, did he? Even though I know, for a fact, he was every bit as into that kiss as I was! I didn’t imagine his moans. I didn’t imagine his hard dick pressing feverishly against me! But I’m the one who’s going to shed a tear that we’ll never get to do the things he promised me last night? Ha! Maybe I was planning to reject him when I woke up this morning! Did he ever consider that?
I clasp my hands in front of me. “Do you still feel comfortable having me work for you on the movie?”
“Of course,” Colin says. “I’m excited about that. I think having a friendly face with me that week will be a fantastic thing for me. It’ll be a win-win.”
“And am I still invited to be your plus-one to Laila’s birthday party?”
“Of course. Nothing’s changed, Ames. We were drunk. Drunk people do stupid shit. You said yourself Drunk Amy has a track record of doing and saying highly regrettable things. Well, unfortunately, so does Drunk Colin.”
Dick.
I suck in my cheeks for a long moment, feeling the urge to punch his handsome face. That kiss wasn’t “highly regrettable,” and I’m insulted he’d say that. But, again, I decide to let it slide for now, to save face over my unfortunate texts.
“Gotcha,” I finally say.
“So, we’re good?” Colin asks, his eyebrows raised.
“Yep. We’re great. Same as before the kiss. Friends. Honorary siblings. Nothing more. Poof.”
Colin exhales like I’ve taken the weight of the world off his shoulders. “Awesome.” He shifts his weight. “So, are you hungry? Violet ordered enough breakfast to feed an army. It’s already been delivered to the room.”
“Let me throw on some clothes.”
“Take your time.”
I rummage into my overnight bag, grab some clothes, and head into the bathroom. And when I emerge a few minutes later, I’ve got full clarity. Colin doesn’t want to be anything but friends with me, despite the fireflies we both felt during that kiss? Fine. That’s his choice. But he’d better be good and ready to live with the consequences of his choice.
“Whew! I’m starving,” I say, striding across the hotel room. I grab my purse and keycard and follow him when he walks to the door and opens it for me. “Thanks.” Smiling sweetly, I pause in the doorway. “Thanks so much for telling me what Caleb did to me during the tour,” I say. “I can’t tell you what a confidence boost it’s giving me to know the truth about that.”
“Good. You should be confident. You’re amazing.”
“And so are you, my friend. Look, I promise I won’t mention our kiss again, once that door closes. But I feel the need to thank you for kissing me last night.”
He looks confused.
“I fully accept the fact that you didn’t feel sparks when we kissed. But I sure did. Which means you were absolutely right: I’m not defective. I’ve absolutely got all my working parts. In fact, I’m now convinced I’m an intensely sexual person, who’s ready, willing, and able to have an extremely active and fulfilling sex life with the right guy—someone who wants me as much I want him.”
Colin’s nostrils flare, but he says nothing.
“I hope that doesn’t freak you out to hear, since I’m like a sister to you,” I add, and somehow keep myself from snickering as I do. “But that kiss was so incredible for me, I had a sex dream about you this morning and woke up having a real-life orgasm.”
“Uh . . .”
“That’s a first for me! Awesome, right? Ha! I guess that means, whether you like it or not, you’re the first man to give me an orgasm. Whoops. Don’t worry, brother, I’ll take that naughty little secret to the grave.” I wink and then pivot like I’m going to leave the doorframe, but quickly return to his shocked face. “Oh! Also, thank you for telling me about The Sure Thing. Thanks to you, I watched Ball Peen Hammer’s video about it on repeat and now I’m super pumped to find someone to try it out on me. Someone who gives me fireflies when he kisses me. I know that someone won’t be you, of course. I fully accept that. But now that I know about that video, I can show it to whichever lucky guy I decide to have sex with next.” I cross my fingers. “Hopefully, the technique works the way Ball Peen Hammer says it does—because, damn, that sounds fun. Can’t wait to try it out!”