“What?! No! He’s actually a really, really good kisser. But…”
“Bad breath? Ugh…that is the worst. Remember the football player I dated in college—Brett? He kissed like a dream but his breath just always stank!”
“His breath was fine—a little minty actually—but…”
“Was he handsy? Like did he try to cop a feel too soon?”
“I didn’t mind the hands,” she admitted. “But am I crazy for even considering…”
“Whatever it is you’re about to say, no,” Mia interrupted.
“You don’t even know what I was going to say!”
“I know!”
“But…”
“No buts, Syd. If you want to have a fling, then do it! If you want to tell him thanks but no thanks, then do it! Although, if I get to have a say, I’d vote for a fling.”
“Why?”
“Because your life is crazy right now and it’s been a stressful couple of months, to say the least. Go and get you some! Sex is a great stress reliever and you totally deserve some of that. Plus, you already know the sex will be good. You used to talk about it a lot and compare every guy you dated to him. Most women wish they had some sort of guarantee before jumping into bed with someone. You’ve got one. And it’s not like you’re looking for something serious right now, are you?”
“Honestly? I’m not sure.”
Mia didn’t respond.
“What? Is that wrong? See? That’s why I don’t know if I’m crazy!”
“Okay, okay, okay…so…wait, are you serious about him already?”
Was she?
“I don’t know if I’d say serious, but…I have to admit I’m more attracted to him than I thought I’d be after all this time.”
“Why?”
“Why?” she mimicked. “Seriously? Um…maybe because he’s really good-looking, and he’s got an amazing body, and his hair is almost stupidly long, and yet I can’t help but want to run my fingers through it and…you know…tug.”
With a low laugh, Mia replied, “That wasn’t quite what I meant.”
“Oh.”
“What I meant was why you didn’t think you’d be attracted to him.”
She sighed. “Well…history. When I first saw him standing out in the yard, it was like I was immediately back in school and…everything came flooding back to me.”
“Yeah, I can see where that would be weird.”
“Then he called me Pixie and…I swear it was like pushing the launch button. I totally went off on him over it.”
“Okay, you really need to get over that. Pixie wasn’t a bad nickname. You could have been called worse.”
“Worse? Why? What else could they have called me?” she cried, indignant.
“First of all, relax,” Mia said wearily. “I didn’t mean you deserved another nickname, I just meant that people have been called worse by an ex. Personally, I always thought it was a cute name. Pixie. Some would see it as an endearment.”
“Oh yeah? Well some people weren’t getting called it by complete strangers.” With a snort of disgust, she went on, “You know, I always knew I never should have been in that damn play. That’s not who I am. I don’t like having all the attention on me. I prefer to be behind the scenes.”
“And that’s why you needed to do it. You needed to break out of your comfort zone for a little while and know that you could do it!”
“Great,” she deadpanned. “Great lesson. See how well it worked out? Ten years later and it feels like I still have PTSD from it.”
“That’s not even funny, and you’re being way too sensitive.”
“No, I’m…”
“We’re not talking about Peter Pan anymore!” Mia cried. “We were talking about Kyle and why you’re uncomfortable with the whole kissing thing.”
“Mia, I don’t have time to think about a relationship right now. There’s way too much on my plate with Haley and the house and starting my job with you. I shouldn’t be entertaining a distraction or whatever it is this thing with Kyle may be.”
“Well, shit. When you put it like that…”
“I know.”
Letting out a long breath, she asked, “So what are you going to do?”
“Maybe I’m just blowing it all out of proportion. I mean…it was one kiss.”
“Oh. Well that’s a little disappointing. Nothing else?”
“Not much. I mean, we were on my bed, and things were definitely getting heated when his boss showed up…”
“His boss showed up and you’re just now mentioning it?” And her giddy voice was back. “How heated were things? Were any clothes gone? But more importantly, is the boss good-looking too?”
That made her laugh. “I never really thought about it...”