Ki$$ & $ell

Ki$$ & $ell: Chapter Twenty-Six

            “You think?” I asked, surprised to hear him say this.

            “Yeah. He seems like a good guy—and he’s crazy-into you,” he said, then chuckled. “For a second there, I thought he was going to fight me.”

            “Okay,” I said, overwhelmed by all this news. What else were you supposed to say to the guy who’d just bought your kiss but didn’t want to kiss you?

“Okay—but if I still haven’t kissed anyone a year from now, then I’m coming to collect.”

            He laughed. “It’s a deal.”

            We said our good-byes and hung up. I sat there on my bed for a few minutes, going back over what had just happened. In a way, I could see what he was saying. And I knew that I should feel lucky to have such a great guy looking out for me. But the fact was that I was back where I started.

Kissless and alone.

            But what about Cade? How weird was it that Ryder had brought him up? Had he seen something that I didn’t?

I mean, Cade was good looking. He had that tall, dark and handsome thing going for him, and had perfected his smolder so well that any girl practically melted in his presence. Also, we got along. At least, when he wasn’t upset with me because I was keeping things from him or going to Homecoming with another guy. And he had great taste in food…

Wait, where was this going? Did I like Cade? More importantly: was Cade into me? I couldn’t forget the fact that he’d gone to the dance with Kristi. And in my world, that was a capital offense punishable by public shunning.

Still, I couldn’t shake this feeling that was growing in my gut. I got onto my computer and looked over my new messages again. Right in the middle of about a dozen, was Cade’s e-mail, sitting where I’d left it, unopened. Taking a breath, I clicked on the subject line and felt a tingling bubble up in my stomach as I began to read.

TO: Arielle Sawyer

FROM: Cade Jones

Hey. I saw you run out of the dance last night. You looked upset. Sorry I was sort of a dick about everything. It was a weird night. Can we meet up? I’d like to explain, if I can.

*Cade*

P.S. I don’t like Kristi. I owed her a favor and she asked me to help her out. I had no idea she was going to say all those things.

I smiled and without thinking, hit reply and started writing back.

TO: Cade Jones

FROM: Arielle Sawyer

Can you be at Chat & Chew at 3pm? I want to talk to you about something, too.

Arielle

P.S. I’m glad you don’t like Kristi.

I hit send and started to get dressed while I waited for his response. Jumping into the shower, I attempted to wash away all the bad memories of the night before. The more I thought about this new thing with Cade, the more excited I got to talk to him. After a few minutes, I emerged from the steaming room clean, refreshed and on a mission.

I glanced at my e-mail and saw that Cade had responded.

TO: Arielle Sawyer

FROM: Cade Jones

I’ll be there.

*Cade*

P.S. I’m glad you’re glad.