A sudden rush of heat spreads over my cheeks. Oh gosh, the guy knows so much about me. Too much. Like my non-existent romantic track record. I can’t date someone who knows all my secrets. I need a consultation ASAP.

“Mom.” I throw the last peeled carrot into the bowl. “The vegetables are ready; you need something else? I wanted to drop by Blair’s house and wish her Merry Christmas.”

“No, sweetheart, you go right ahead. And please wish Mr. and Mrs. Walker happy holidays from us.”

“Will do.”

I wash my hands, put on my jacket and boots, and march across the street.

***

I barge into Blair’s room. “We need to talk.”

“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.”