The Kiss List

Twelve

💋 THE LIST 💋

- Drew (Lip ring)
- Harvey
- Nathan
- Roman

I wake up the next morning, lips buzzing with the memory of Roman's kiss, and immediately send a message to Nicole and Maia, asking them to meet me at our favourite brunch spot.

I get ready quickly, throwing on a cozy cable knit sweater and brown plaid printed pants. I toss my laptop and notebook in my bag so I can head straight to the library afterwards.

Maia and Nicole are already waiting at our go-to corner booth when I arrive. I can't keep the smile from my face as I slide into the seat next to Maia, facing Nicole, who matches my expression.

"You've got something juicy to share, don't you?"

I tilt my head coquettishly. "It turns out... that Roman has been hitting the gym in recent years," I say. Maia squeals, but I hold up a finger as I continue. "And... it turns out he's also a great kisser."

Now, Maia really squeals. "I don't know HOW you went from no guys on your radar to two makeout sessions in just over a week, but I'm so proud of you," she says as she wraps her arm around my shoulders and squeezes.

Nikki leans in excitedly. "How long is he here for?"

"Just for the long weekend, I think," I reply.

She sighs wistfully, smiling. "I wish I had hot family friends coming to visit for Thanksgiving."

Maia clasps her hands together and closes her eyes. "We express the utmost gratitude this Thanksgiving for the existence of hot guys who don't think kissing has anything to do with tacos."

Nicole and I laugh loudly, startling the waitress who arrives to take our orders. When she walks away, Nicole clears her throat.

"I've got some long weekend plans of my own," she says, "Aaron's coming over tomorrow." She winks as she toys with a lock of her black hair.

Now it's my turn to squeal as I grab Nicole's hand.

"Ooh," Maia grins, "a re-do of last week?"

Nicole shrugs innocently and smiles.

"Hey wait," I say, "did you ever give Matthew your number?"

"Actually... I got his number from the group chat and decided to text him last night," she replies coolly, flicking back her hair. She slides her phone to the middle of the table. Maia and I lean in and see a lengthy and flirty conversation.

"You're so good at flirty texting," I groan, sliding her phone back to her.

"It's an art form, but you're a quick learner," she says as she pats my hand.

"So you guys are telling me that you're both going to be hooking up with hot guys this weekend?" Maia chimes in. "AND Nikki's already texting another guy? I need to catch up! I've been focusing on actual schoolwork."

Nicole groans. "Don't remind me, Rach and I have a major English essay due next week and I haven't even started."

I spot our orders making their way to our table and smile at Nicole. "I'm heading to the library after this; want to join for an essay-writing session?"

She tilts her head. "Maybe! I might just grind it out at home; I work better with quiet anyway, less distractions."

After our waitress spreads our orders out on the table, I look at Maia to find her smiling at me.

"How about you? Join in on my library sesh?" I ask innocently.

"Just you?" She asks curiously.

I purse my lips. "Officially, yeah. Nate said he was going to be there but I didn't give him a time or anything."

She nods with a knowing smile. "Then I think I'll leave you two to it," she giggles, digging into her blueberry pancakes.

I roll my eyes at her and cut into my eggs benedict as Nicole rattles off essay topic ideas.

--

As soon as I step off the bus, I spot Nathan sprawled out on the library steps, sunglasses on and a cigarette hanging from his lips. He's dressed for the weather in a cable knit sweater and a black denim jacket. As if he can feel my gaze, he looks up and matches it, lips spreading into a wide grin.

"I almost thought you forgot about our standing library date," he says.

I take a seat next to him and stretch out my legs. "Can you call it a standing date when it's only happened once?" I tilt my head at him.

He smirks. "Ask me again in two months... we'll be at 10 by then. Besides, you were supposed to say that you could never forget about me."

I can't help smiling at him. "I thought that much was obvious. Should I go in and save us a seat?" I look at his cigarette, smoke idly swirling around the cherry.

"I'll go in with you," he says, ashing it and standing up to offer me a hand.

I take it but frown at him. "Dirty habit, you know."

"What, smoking?" He asks.

"Littering," I reply, "but that too."

He smirks at me. "I've heard girls like bad boys."

I roll my eyes as he leads me up the steps and into the library.

The library is busier than I had expected, but we manage to find two seats across from each other. Surprisingly, we actually end up focusing more on our work than each other—probably a good thing; I do have an essay to work on, after all.

When the seats next to us clear out, I look up to see Nathan stretching, his sweater rising up and exposing the waistband of his boxers. I look away before he can catch me staring. His legs stretch out, too, trapping mine between them.

"Are you playing footsie with me?" I smirk at him.

He leans back in his chair and grins. "You make it sound so unromantic."

I roll my eyes at him and force my gaze back to my laptop, although my thoughts couldn't be further from my English essay. Instead, I'm thinking about how strange it is that it always feels like Nate is flirting with me, but I can never tell if he's serious. Even now, I look back up to find his eyes still fixed on me... but for all I know, he could be like this with every girl.

"What are you thinking about?" I ask.

"I was going to ask you the same question," he says.

"Hmm, good thing I asked first," I smile.

"Why? Thinking about something dirty?"

"No more so than usual," I reply, coyly biting my lip. Why is it so easy—and fun—to flirt with him like this? I don't even feel nervous.

He smiles back. "Why haven't you answered Ethan yet?"

I groan. "Why are you so invested? Can't you find another girl to break his heart?"

"I probably could, but you'd be so much better at it. I mean, look at you already making him wait just for a text. I couldn't have planned it better if I tried. I just want to know why."

I shrug. "I'm a busy girl. More on my mind than just boys, you know." A lie, but he definitely doesn't need to know that.

He pouts playfully. "Not even me?"

I roll my eyes again. "You're practically in my dreams with how late you keep me up."

He smiles contentedly. "Mmm, say that again but slower, louder, and like you really love it."

I shake my head at him. "Did I say dreams? I meant nightmares."

He laughs and turns his attention back to his notebook. I return to my essay and pretend not to notice how often he sneaks glances at me. I give myself a mental pat on the back for keeping my gaze focused, although the same cannot be said for my thoughts... especially when his legs are still practically wrapped around mine under the table.