Chapter 17

Wednesday Night – Ellie

Earlier, on the phone, Meg had gone on to say that a little kissing never hurt anyone.

"But your brother's a complete player," I had replied. Clinging to old arguments was apparently my thing.

"He claims he's not a player anymore, but what does it matter? A little kissing never hurt anyone. As long as you know you're both not interested in anything long term, I don't see why you should freak out about a few smooches. You're both grown-ass adults."

The thing was, she'd made sense. I was acting a little crazy. Like the choice was get married or never speak again. And that was bananas. Now, hours later, I had calmed down and was seeing everything much more rationally. I could hang with Luke. Hell, I could even make out with him a little. That didn't mean we had to go to bed with each other. It didn't mean I was expecting him to propose, or he was expecting me to be his next two-month fling.

Meg was right. We are two grown adults. What was the harm? With that unsettling—and slightly thrilling—thought in mind, I marched down to dinner that night, fully prepared to kiss my smoking hot housemate again if things led in that direction.

Luke was already in the kitchen eating guacamole and tortilla chips that Linda had no doubt left for us. The fixings for fajitas were still steaming on trays and in bowls on one of the kitchen islands.

"Smells great," I said with a bright smile.

"Don't worry," Luke replied as Dolly came at me with her tail wagging. "The tequila is downstairs, and I have no intention of fetching it."

Okay, here it was. My first chance to be sassy. "I wouldn't mind. Last night was kinda fun."

* * *

Two seconds later – Luke

Wait.What? What the hell? Was it my imagination or had Ellie done a complete one-eighty from earlier? Did she want more tequila? Did she want more?—?

No. No. No. No. No. No.

"I can get you some red wine," I offered, acting as if I hadn't even really heard what she'd said.

"Sounds good."

I made my way toward the wine room, arguing with myself the whole way. First, why did Ellie have to be so smoking hot? She was wearing tight jeans and an emerald-green sweater that brought out the gorgeous color of her eyes. Couldn't she have like one gray tooth or something that was just enough for me to focus on and not be attracted to?

And why was she acting kinda flirty now after being clear earlier that our hot tub make-out session had been a mistake?

Women were confusing. And in this particularly complicated situation, I needed the advice of an expert. "Be back in a sec," I said brightly to Ellie as I took my phone and entered the giant pantry and then the wine storage room beyond that. Ostensibly, I was looking for another bottle of Ellie's favorite wine, but really I was speed-dialing my sister.

"Hello," came Meg's voice on the other end.

I lowered my voice to a loud whisper. "It's me, Luke."

"No, kidding. I kinda have your number in my phone."

"Look, I need your advice."

"About what? And why are you whispering?"

I didn't have time to explain that I was hiding. "Did Ellie say anything?"

"About what?"

Damn. Okay, I guess Ellie didn't tell Meg anything. I figured she would have told her about the kiss because they were so close, but I wasn't about to be the one to spill the beans to Meg. I'd never hear the end of it. "Nothing. Nevermind."

"I mean, she told me you kissed last night," came Meg's perfectly calm voice.

There it was. "And?" Way to bury the lede, Meg.

"And what?"

I squeezed my eyes shut. She was going to make this difficult, wasn't she? "And did she…say anything else?"

"Are you seriously asking your sister if the girl you like said anything about you? Like we're back in seventh grade?" Her voice was dripping with a you've-got-to-be-kidding-me tone.

I gnashed my teeth. "No. I just mean… I mean…" Damn it. Why was this so weird and seventh-gradeish?

"You mean you want to know what she said about the kiss?" Meg continued. I could hear the delight in her voice. She was enjoying this.

"Did she say anything about anything?" I blurted, wishing I'd never even brought up this topic but still wanting to hear what Ellie had said.

"Well, I'm not going to tell you everything we talked about because she's my bestie, and I don't break confidence like that, but I will tell you what I told her."

"What?" It was all I had, so it was going to have to be enough.

"Who cares about a little kissing?"

I blinked and snapped my mouth shut, completely bewildered. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why can't you two make out a little and not turn it into a big thing?"

I frowned. "You told her that?"

"Uh huh."

All women were confusing, even sisters. "What did she say?"

I could hear her sigh. "Look, you've got plenty of experience with the ladies. You don't need me in this department, Luke. Kiss Ellie again or don't, but it doesn't have to be such a big deal either way. Goodnight."

The line went dead, and I stood there staring at my phone for a few moments as if it would reveal more somehow. Kiss Ellie again or don't? What kind of advice was that? A few seconds ticked by. I cocked my head to the side. Was it really that simple?

And if that's what Meg had told Ellie, was that why Ellie seemed flirty tonight vs. her completely businesslike demeanor earlier when she was tending to my shoulder?

I shoved the phone back in my pocket and ran the fingers of my non-injured hand through my hair. Fine. If the choice was kiss Ellie again or don't, I was firmly in the "kiss again" camp.

I mean…Pandora was already out of the box.