“And Merry Christmas to you, too.” Blair smirks at me from the mirror on her dressing table, then turns around in her chair to look me in the eye. “Did Julia make you eat cold mashed potatoes or something?”

“No, way worse.”

“Worse than when Ross says the wrong name at the altar?” She starts playing our usual game of comparing situations to things that happened in TV shows and movies.

“Worse. Everyone hated Emily.”

“Mmm… Better or worse than when Ben Stiller rescues the wrong cat in Meet the Parents, sprays his tail with paint, and then gets caught?”

“Funny one.” I chuckle. “Worse.”

“Okay.” She concentrates. “Better or worse than when Patrick Dempsey was killed off of Gray’s Anatomy?”

“Ah! Dead McDreamy, that’s a low blow. Better.”

With a smug smile, Blair orders, “Tell me what happened.”

I bite my lower lip. “I made out with Diego all night.”

“Oh, that doesn’t sound bad at all. Why the pout? Is he a bad kisser?”

“No, it’s not that.” I drop on her bed. “The kissing was great. Epic.”

“So?”

“You don’t understand.” I sigh. “The man knows too much.”

“What does he know?”

“That I’m such a screw-up with men I needed to hire a fake boyfriend for the holidays…”

“And apparently he doesn’t care; he wouldn’t have kissed you otherwise… Did you start it, or did he?”

Well, he brushed his hand against mine first. And he was the one who suggested we kiss in the garden, too.

“He did, I think.”

Blair flashes me an evil grin. “Was it only kissing?”

“Yeah, same as I used to do with Jackson Spencer and you with Andy Bryant before, you know, we discovered sex?”

My best friend stares at the ceiling in awe. “Those were the most romantic afternoons of my life. I don’t think anyone ever kissed me like that after junior year.”

“Not even Richard?”

“Richard is a great kisser, the best, really. But we never spent a whole night just kissing.”

“Try it when we get back to New York. Last night, I was sixteen again.”

Blair’s face lights up. “I’m so happy for you.”

I scoff. “There’s nothing to be happy about. Do you really think Diego could like me?”

“He spent the night kissing you silly… Seems like a good hint.”

“But he’s so good looking, and we’re so different. Could it ever work between us?”

“Wait, you want this to get serious? So you’re not just having fun?”

I hesitate to answer.

“Oh, gosh, are you falling in love with him?”

That’s too scary a thought to even consider, so I deflect the question. “I’m definitely falling in lust.”

Blair narrows her eyes at me. “And what about Paul?”

“See, the weird thing is, the more time I spend around him the less I see him that way…”

“Seriously? Just like that, you’re not in love with him anymore?”

“Was I ever?”

Blair’s face turns smug.

“What?” I ask.

“Nothing.” She shrugs. “You came here to hear my wisdom, and I’m going to give it to you. The thing between you and Diego is great. Don’t you dare go all insecure about it and try to sabotage yourself for no reason. He’s a wonderful guy, and he’s clearly into you. And, no, he’s not too hot for you, because there’s no such thing.”