The Kiss (6 page)

Chapter Eight

Eliza opened her dorm room door just a sliver and stuck her head in. “Krista? You here?”

There was no answer, not even after the third time she called out, and Eliza smiled to herself. Krista must have decided to spend the night with Bill. “All’s clear.” She threw the door open the rest of the way and went straight for her closet. “You go wash your face, while I find a shirt for you to wear. There’s alcohol under the sink—”

“A drink would be—”

She turned to face him, hands firmly planted on her hips. “Not
that
kind of alcohol. The putting on wounds type.”

“I’m not dabbing alcohol on my eye.” Still, when she tapped her foot and arched an eyebrow, he peeled his shirt off and bunched it up. After a moment’s hesitation, he threw it on the floor, before disappearing into the bathroom and closing the door behind him.

He came back as Eliza was taking off her own top. Her back was strategically turned toward the bathroom door, so he wouldn’t see anything. “No funny business, or I’ll have to kill you. New shirt’s on the back of my desk chair.”

“I’m not dry yet. And I’m not looking. Although one has to wonder why you couldn’t wait until I was gone to do that, if you were so worried about your virtue.”

“If
one
hadn’t sprayed blood on my favorite shirt,
one
wouldn’t have to wonder that.” She leaned to the side to get her pajama top that was all stretched out on her bed. “Besides, we’re mutually-hating adults. Not like I have something to fear.” She was such a liar. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she felt all kinds of stupid for not having waited until he left—mostly because hearing his voice made her nipples hard. She shouldn’t have such reactions around the jerk, no matter that he’d behaved like a human being earlier.

“I don’t get why you sell yourself short the way you do. Why you go out with men like Greg, like Mr. Muscle. I don’t even get why you put up with
me
—why I’m here right now. You’re above all this, Eliza.” His voice was even, if slightly choked.

Eliza froze; no way he’d just said what she’d heard. She tried hard not to turn and look at him, not daring to break whatever spell made him sound like he didn’t hate her. She needed to hear what came next.

“I—you’re just too good to be wasting yourself, is all I’m saying.”

She didn’t know where his words had come from, any more than why all she could think at the moment was that she owed him a kiss. If not for butting in to save her from the verbal abuse Cal was subjecting her to, then because they’d never gotten their turn during the game of
Spin-the-Bottle
.

She turned on her heel, pajama top held firmly in front of her breasts. He sat there, on her floor, shirtless; arms straight, holding his body up; legs spread in front of him. His body was even more perfect than what the glimpse of him going to the bathroom had allowed her to see, but it wasn’t his body she focused on. He kept his head down, as if it weighed him to be nice to her, and it only made it mean more somehow that he chose to be nice despite it.

She knelt between his legs, sought his gaze, and—when he looked at her questioningly—touched her lips to his.

She’d meant it to be nothing more than a peck, but the moment his tongue slipped between her lips, a familiar scent flooded her senses.

Her top slid to the floor, and Eliza gave in to the kiss the way she had that first time, mindlessly surrendering to sensation as Nate seemed to devour almost all logic.

Almost
.

If Nate was her mystery kisser, he had to have an agenda. He’d hated her for too long to have just kissed her when the opportunity arose. She pushed him away and wiped her lips with the back of her hand. “It was you! Why—”

Before she could finish asking what the hell he’d been thinking—what twisted game he was playing—he sprang to his feet, grabbed his shirt, and stormed out.

***

It took Eliza a few long moments to get over the shock of discovering Nate was the man she’d built up so much in her fantasies, and then she was on her feet, dashing towards the door. She already had her hand on the doorknob when she realized she was about to enter the dorm’s main corridor topless.

By the time she was fully dressed and out of her room, Nate was nowhere to be seen.

She contemplated calling Bill and asking for Nate’s address, his phone number—anything that would help her get hold of him and demand some explanations—but decided against it. She’d have to think first. What would she ask Nate? Why he’d kissed her in the dark? If he’d been willing to answer that, he wouldn’t have run out of there as if hell was after him.

Sleep on it was the way to go, she decided.

It would have been a good plan too, if only she’d managed to actually get any sleep instead of tossing and turning for hours. Her mind kept ignoring her better judgment and scanning through all her meetings with Nate—as if on a loop—trying to make sense of his kissing her.

He’d seemed to despise her from day one, and yet his lips had been so infinitely gentle against hers. He kept insulting her but had jumped to her defense and gotten a torn cheekbone for his trouble. He’d mocked her mercilessly for two years then told her she was worth so much more than what she wasted herself on.

And then he’d kissed her and run.

There was only one explanation that made sense to her at three in the morning: he wanted to drive her crazy! He was sending her so many mixed signals that there was no way to take him seriously and avoid going cuckoo.

It was disturbing that she took him seriously.

Another couple of failed attempts to fall asleep later, Eliza sat up in bed, reached to the nightstand, and picked up the phone receiver. She dialed a number she hated still knowing by heart and waited for the person on the other end to pick up.

It took seven rings for Greg’s groggy voice to say, “
Hello?”

“What’s wrong with you and your friend Nate? Better yet, don’t tell me. Whatever fucked up plan you have, you better quit it. Now.” The last word came out as a bark.

“What? Huh? Who is this?”

She’d have found his confusion adorable when they were still dating. Now it just bugged her. Rolling her eyes, she told him her name and waited for his reaction.

“Eliza?” He sounded incredulous. “Are you crazy? What time is it?”

“I don’t know and I don’t care.” She huffed. “And I’m definitely
not
crazy.”

“No. No, you’re not. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.” He suddenly sounded awake, panic evident in his voice.

“Whatever.” His panic was not her business. She didn’t care. “Will you and Nate cut the crap?”

“I don’t know what—”

“You know perfectly well what. Nate’s acting all civil and gallant toward me lately.” She didn’t know why she didn’t mention the kiss. The
kisses
. “I don’t know what you’re playing at, but stop it. This is my last warning.”

“
Nothing
. We’re playing at
nothing
, Eliza. Please believe me! I’ve got no clue what you’re talking about.” He sounded near tears. “Have you talked to anyone about your… suspicions?”

“No.” Eliza frowned. Was she missing something? She knew she’d hurt him when her knee had connected to his groin all that time ago, but really didn’t think he’d be intimidated by her.

“Please don’t tell anyone.
Please
.”

“Um, okay. But you owe me.” She was definitely missing something but decided to let it slide, since it seemed to be working in her favor.

“Sure.” His eagerness would have been heartwarming if she didn’t despise him like the worm that he was.

She hung up without saying goodbye. Great, now there was another mystery floating around her head. Why had Greg acted so weird? He’d sounded afraid of something—so much so, that he’d convinced her he wasn’t in on whatever Nate was doing.

She flipped onto her stomach, wondering if all the males she knew had been taken over by aliens.

***

Krista tiptoed into the bedroom a bit after five in the morning, only to let out a yelp when the light was switched on.

“Have a good night?” Eliza was grinning, arms crossed over her chest.

Krista nodded vigorously. “Uh huh.”

“Glad it was good for one of us!”

Krista rolled her eyes. Her best friend’s exaggerated sighs showed that she itched to talk about whatever had transpired. She felt a pang of guilt for thinking maybe she should have stayed at Bill’s. The point had been to get some extra hours of rest in, which she couldn’t do when she shared a bed with her boyfriend. Knowing Eliza, there would be no sleeping for either of them in the near future.

She let her shoulder bag drop to the floor, kicked off her sandals, and sat on Eliza’s bed. “How was the party?”

She didn’t need to ask a second time. Eliza started talking, and Krista could feel her eyes widen with every new bit of info.

“You called
Greg
?” she asked when Eliza was done. She propped one elbow on Eliza’s bent knee and laid her cheek in her open palm. “And he sounded scared, instead of yelling at you and calling you names?”

“I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m lost, Krissy, help me out.”

“I’m trying.” She was also trying to stay awake. She folded her legs under her. “That thing with Greg…it’s really weird. Why would he be worried about you telling people?”

Eliza shrugged. “I know you love puzzles, but can we stay with the Nate-shaped one for the time being?”

Krista took a moment to decide how to ask for the piece of information that was missing, if she were to help her friend. She chewed on the inside of her lip. “Eliza, now that you know it was Nate…do you want to kiss him again?”

*

“No. Definitely not.” Eliza shook her head seriously. “Yes.” She looked at her hands. “Maybe?” With a grunt, she pulled the pillow from under her head and covered her face with it. “I don’t know. I think I’m in for a world of pain if I say yes, but—I don’t know.” She honestly didn’t. She felt completely stupid for not being able to think straight. She felt even more stupid for seeing him in a positive light because he’d been nice to her once.
Once
. “After almost two years of constantly being on my case, he smiled, said a couple of nice things, and kissed me—okay,
and
he took a couple of punches for me—and I suddenly possibly
like
him?”

Maybe she’d been taken over by aliens, too.

Then again, she’d always found him attractive in that obnoxious way of his. He knew how to walk in a crowd; that was for sure. His swagger made women’s gazes lock on him with appreciation. And he had a hot body. Sculpted, lean, with his wide shoulders and narrow hips forming that V-shape that was the epitome of the male physique. His eyes were pretty too, especially the way they lit up when he smiled. And his lips…

She pressed the pillow harder against her face.

Krista pried the pillow from her hands. “Let’s go over every time you two have talked. Maybe we’ll decrypt Mr. Mixed Messages.” She emphasized her promise with a yawn.

“You sure you can stay awake?”

“I’ll manage.”

“Okay, where do we start?”

“I have a theory.” Always the one to see the best in people, Krista offered her optimistic point of view.
What if
it wasn’t a game to Nate?
Maybe
he liked Eliza but couldn’t move in on a friend’s ex. Surely there was something they hadn’t considered, something fitting that theory, that could explain why he’d been an ass to her since the first time he saw her. They just had to find out what that was.

That would mean the kisses Eliza and Nate had shared hadn’t been meaningless.

Eliza was extremely upset with herself for liking that scenario. Sadly, past experience indicated there was also the possibility that
maybe
Nate was just trying to sleep with her, like his buddy had done.

Her mind was reeling.

“Could Bill be in on it too? He sort of tried first.” Conspiracy theories were extremely easy to come up with after a sleepless night.

“Sweetie—” Krista shook her head. “
I
asked Bill out for you. He never made a move before that.” She smiled dreamily. “And he’s too nice for something like that. He’s kind and considerate—”

“Maybe
that
was his evil plan: playing Mr. Nice-guy.” Eliza grimaced. “Okay, so I’m being silly. Scratch Bill out. He’s your man, and he’s cool in my books.” Seeing her friend barely keep her eyes open made her realize she too was finally getting drowsy. “We better get some sleep. Think about it some more tomorrow.”

Krista didn’t need to be told twice. She crawled into her bed, not bothering to change into her pajamas. “Best thing you’ve said all night.”

“I think I may try to talk to Nate tomorrow. I doubt he’ll be forthcoming with the answers, but this has to be talked about.”