I spend more time than I should thinking about last night. After calling my sister, Ashley, and filling her in, she offers to come stay with me for the weekend, but I tell her I have plans with Nate again tonight.

“Let me get this straight. You made out with him last night, are afraid of ruining your relationship with him, but are going to keep your date for tonight?”

“It’s not a date. Nate and I are always together. You know that.” I take the teakettle off the stove and pour hot water into my mug.

“Right, but that was before you kissed. What happens now? Do you kiss good night after dinner? Does he come back to your place? Do you have wild monkey sex and then pretend it never happened?”

“What? No!” I put the kettle down and dunk the tea bag several times. “And why ‘monkey’ sex? Nate is too hot to be compared to a monkey.”

“So you admit he’s hot!”

“Of course. I’d have to be blind not to notice.” His turquoise eyes demand attention. Not to mention the rest of him, which is perfectly sculpted. The man could be on display in a museum.

“Sweetie, I thought you were blind the first time you brought him home and introduced him as your new best friend instead of your future baby daddy.”

“Shut up. We were kids at the time. Who thinks of having children at thirteen?” I was too busy worrying about making the tennis team to think about boys. I sip my tea while she contemplates a solution to my situation.

“Oh, I know. You could be friends with benefits. I always wanted a hot guy best friend to do that with.”

“Yeah, but you married your high school sweetheart. You’ve only dated two guys in your entire life.”

She huffs into the phone. She and Neil met freshman year of high school, and it was love at first sight. Ashley was seeing a guy named Brandon but quickly ended it because she couldn’t deny her feelings for Neil. “Seriously, though, why have you and Nate never dated? You’re both good-looking and you have so much in common. You must have at least thought about it.”

Sure I have. On several occasions—but Nate always had someone else in his life. “He dated a lot, and I didn’t want to ruin our friendship by becoming another notch on his belt.”

“Please, you could never be that to him. He loves you, Aria, even if it’s not in the ‘want to rip your clothes off’ way. Although”—she pauses for dramatic effect—“after last night, maybe that’s changed. Or he’s been hiding his true feelings all along.”

“You didn’t see how quickly he ran out of here.” At least I was able to save face by playing the drunk card. He has no idea I wanted to take things further—that I still want to.

“Give it time. And hey, worse case scenario, get drunk at dinner tonight and have a repeat of your make out session.” She laughs, but it’s obvious she’s only half joking.

“Yeah, I don’t think so. I should go. I’ve wasted most of the day thinking about this and Nate will be here in an hour. I need to get ready.”

“Shave. Everywhere. You can’t be too careful.”

I roll my eyes even though she can’t see me. “Bye, Ash.”

“Good luck, little sis.”

I hang up and head to my bedroom to pick out my outfit. Alejandro’s isn’t too fancy, but it’s not exactly a pizza joint either. I flip through my tops, not happy with any of them. It’s warm enough for a sundress, even though it’s early June, so I settle on one with a low neckline. I slip it on and assess myself in the mirror. I don’t exactly have the biggest boobs in the world, but I’m a solid B-cup and the dress makes them look more like Cs. I second-guess my choice as I fix my hair and makeup. Maybe this is too much. If we’re taking things back into the friend zone, I shouldn’t be trying to entice him with my boobs. I start for the closet again when I hear my name.

“You decent?” Nate calls from the living room.

I should really start locking my door. I check the time on my phone. Why is he a half hour early? “Um, just a sec. Still deciding what to wear.”

He walks into my room with one hand over his eyes and the other reaching in front of him to feel along the wall so he doesn’t bump into anything.

“I have clothes on. You can look,” I say, laughing at how adorable he is.

He lowers his hand, and his mouth drops. “Wow. New dress?” He clears his throat.

“Yeah, bought it last weekend when I went shopping with Ashley.”

“It’s...great.”

I follow his gaze to my chest and cross my arms in front of me, but that only makes my boobs pop out more. I lower my arms again and move toward my closet. “I don’t know. It doesn’t feel right for tonight.”

“Why? What’s tonight?”

Crap. Why would I say that? I’m implying this is more than us hanging out. “Nothing. I just mean it might be too chilly for this. The nights are still a little cool.”

“Grab a sweater then.” He moves toward my closet and goes for my favorite black sweater. “Here.”

What can I do now? If I protest, he’ll know something’s up. “Good idea. Thanks.” I take the sweater and put it on, except my body temperature is skyrocketing.

He brushes a thumb across my cheek, and my body goes still. “Eyelash,” he says with a smile. “You ready?”

“Yeah, let me grab my purse.” I take deep breaths as I walk over to my bed where I left my purse and phone. “Why are we leaving so early?”

“I thought we could go for a drink first. Caleb’s working tonight, and he said he hasn’t seen you in a while.”

Drinking may be the only way to get through tonight, but what if it lowers my inhibitions like it did last night? Can I really go through that again? Feeling Nate’s lips on mine, on my neck...and then pretending it never happened?

“What’s wrong?” Nate steps toward me, so close I can feel his body heat on my back.

“Nothing. I was reading a text,” I say, holding up my phone. “Sorry.” I shove my phone in my purse before he can realize the screen is black.

The drive to Last Call is awkward, but luckily, it’s short. Caleb walks around the bar with a big smile as soon as he sees me. He’s kind of like my honorary big brother.

“Hey, squirt. Long time no see.” He wraps me in a bear hug. The guy has muscle a weight lifter would be jealous of.

“I’ll be twenty-six in a matter of days. When are you going to stop calling me ‘squirt’?”

“When you’re older than I am.” He steps back but keeps his arms draped around me.

“You have one year on me. That’s it.” Caleb repeated sophomore year after having to take time off to take care of his dad, who had a stroke. It all worked out in the end because he and Nate became inseparable.

Caleb lets go and looks at Nate. “Speaking of, what do we have planned for Aria’s birthday? I’m assuming you’re in charge of the festivities as always.”

“She hasn’t told me what she wants to do yet. I was planning to get it out of her at dinner.” Nate smiles at me. “I think it should be something big. You are officially breaking into the other half of the twenties.”

“Yeah, I think I see a gray hair.” Caleb reaches for the top of my head, but I swat his hand away.

“Very funny. Not five minutes with you two and I need a drink.”

“What will it be?” Caleb asks. “Something sweet or something sour?”

“Sour,” Nate and I both say.

Caleb looks back and forth between us. “Sickening. You two seriously share a brain.”

If only. Then I wouldn’t have to hide my feelings because Nate would be feeling the same way.

We head to the bar, Nate’s hand on my lower back, guiding me. I try to remember him touching me so much. Maybe he always has and I never noticed because I knew he saw me as nothing more than his best friend. It’s like the kiss last night has me questioning everything, no matter how small.

I take a seat at the bar, and Nate slides onto the stool next to me. Caleb already has two drinks—Tom Collins, if I had to venture a guess—already waiting for us. His regulars never actually order drinks by name. Caleb asks, “Sweet or sour?” That’s all. Then he works his magic from there.

I sip mine, noting an extra sour flavor. “You added something,” I say.

“You like?”

I sip the drink again. “Very much.”

Caleb smiles, pleased with himself. “And you?” He looks at Nate, but Nate’s focus is on me. “All right then. I have other customers to tend to.” Caleb walks away, but not before winking at me.

Nate and I fall into our usual banter while finishing our drinks. Just as I’m laughing at something he said, the door opens, drawing my attention. Aaron walks in with some brunette on his arm. I focus on my drink instead of him, but Nate’s another story. He keeps eyeing Aaron over my shoulder, and I might be crazy, but I feel like Nate is using every opportunity to touch me—a hand on my arm, brushing my hair behind my shoulder.

“I’m fine, you know. You don’t have to put on a show for him,” I finally say, unable to stand any more affection out of pity.

“That obvious?” He finishes his second Tom Collins.

“Probably just to me.” I bob one shoulder. “No worries.”

“You don’t care that he’s moved on?” His eyebrows rise again.

“Why would I? Aaron is an ass. I really don’t know what I ever saw in him. I think I wanted someone to call my boyfriend at the time, you know? I don’t even miss him. Not at all.” I take another sip of my drink, but I can see Aaron and his date in the mirror behind the bar. With his blond hair and thin build, he’s not my usual type. Not that I’ve ever let appearance stop me from dating someone. As much as I don’t miss Aaron, I am hurt that I meant so little to him. He drapes his arm across the brunette’s shoulder and whispers in her ear, which makes her laugh.

“You’d be more convincing if you weren’t secretly spying on him.” Nate spins on his bar stool so he’s facing the mirror instead of me.

“I feel like I should warn that girl that he’s...” I can’t find an adequate word to describe Aaron. I shake my head instead. “I need to use the restroom,” I say, getting up from the barstool.

“Want me to walk you?” Nate starts to stand, but I put my hand on his shoulder to stop him.

“I’m a big girl. I can handle walking past them.” I doubt they’ll even notice me anyway. I turn and start for the bathroom, my clutch purse in my hand. I grip it tighter as I walk by the table where Aaron is sitting. His date isn’t with him, though.

He looks up when I pass by, but I quickly remove my phone from my purse and pretend to answer a call. Aaron knows my phone is usually set to vibrate, so he won’t question the fact that it didn’t ring. I keep my eyes ahead as I walk into the bathroom.

The brunette is stepping out of the stall and toward the sinks. I lower the phone and put it back in my purse. She eyes me suspiciously.

“Get hung up on, or did you use the ‘fake phone call’ trick to avoid a pervert trying to get your number?” She smiles sympathetically.

“I guess you’ve done that, too,” I say, moving toward the mirrors and fixing my hair.

“What woman hasn’t?” She laughs and dries her hands with a paper towel.

I can’t stop the words from pouring out of my mouth. “That guy you’re with—Aaron—”

“You know Aaron?” She tosses the paper towel in the garbage and turns to face me.

“Unfortunately.” I change my tone so she doesn’t think I’m just a woman scorned. “We used to date. Very recently actually. He even called me the other day.”

“We aren’t exactly exclusive. This is our second date,” she justifies, her tone never faltering.

I hold my hand up. “No, don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not interested in Aaron at all. I...”

“Want to warn me?” Her eyes narrow, and the friendliness is completely gone from her voice.

Fine. If she wants to learn the hard way what Aaron’s really like, so be it. “You know what? No. You’re a grown woman. I’m sure you know what you’re doing. Have a nice night.” I turn and walk out as the woman’s cell rings. Before I can turn the corner, I hear Nate’s voice and stop short.

“Stay the hell away from her. She doesn’t need you calling her or even looking at her.”

“I always knew you had a thing for her.”

Aaron? Why would Nate be talking to Aaron? I lean against the alcove wall, trying to hear better and hoping the shadows will keep me from being seen.

“No matter how many times you two swore you were just friends, I knew it was complete bullshit. I bet you jumped the second I ended things with her.”

“You don’t know crap,” Nate says.

“Oh really? I saw the way you were touching her at the bar. Are you going to try to tell me you aren’t sleeping with her? That you never have?”

“No. I never have.” From the sound of it, Nate must be clenching his jaw.

Aaron laughs and takes a step back, which makes me retreat into the shadows of the alcove more. “Wow. So that’s it. This is one-sided. You’re in love with her and she doesn’t have a clue. How can you stand to be around her? That’s got to be a major kick in the balls day after day.”

Aaron totally misread Nate’s attempts to console me at the bar. I know Nate was trying to make Aaron jealous. Nothing more.

The bathroom door opens behind me, and Aaron’s date nearly walks into me. “What the hell?” She holds her hand to her heart. “Were you waiting for me?”

“No.” I’m not about to tell her why I’m really here because after our conversation, she won’t understand why I was spying on her date and my best friend.

She scoffs and walks past me.

I follow—because what else am I supposed to do at this point? Nate’s eyes rise to mine, and Aaron’s gaze goes back and forth between the brunette and me. Then Aaron takes his date’s hand and leads her back to their table.

“You ready? We don’t want to be late for our reservation,” Nate says, motioning toward the door.

I look past him to the bar, where Caleb gives me a wave. I return it and head for the door, wishing I had finished my drink, because I could really use one right about now.