Page 20 of The Good Girl's Guide to Being Bad

“Yes, of course,” he said. “You know my deepest secret, Sadie.”

“I do, and you know I’d never tell a soul,” I said—but he wasn’t getting off that easy. Something was going on that he wasn’t telling me. I knew it; he knew it. Which reminded me… “Okay Kyle, since we shareeverything, you want to tell me why you kissed Anna last Friday?”

His lips flattened into a thin line. “I was drunk.”

“Yeah for the second time in your life,” I said.

Kyle stayed silent.

“Don’t forget I know you, too, best friend. I guess the real question is: Why’d you get drunk in the first place? You can talk to me if you want. No judgements.”

It took him a moment, but with a deep breath, he fessed up. “It’s nothing really. I just kind of…like someone.”

Whatever I’d been expecting, it wasn’t that.

“You do?” I said, eyes widening as a thought hit me. “Who? Anna?”

Kyle rolled his eyes, his voice thick with sarcasm. “Yeah Sadie, I woke up one morning and found myself straight. Come on, of course, it’s not Anna.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled. “I just thought since you kissed her that maybe it was possible.”

“I kissed her because she kissedhim,” he explained.

“Wait,” I said and held up a hand. “You’re saying you kissed Anna because she kissed the guy you like?”

Kyle nodded excitedly. “Yeah, it was kind of like I kissed him through her. Like one degree of separation or something. You get it?”

“That…makes an odd sort of sense. It’s kind of romantic actually,” I said. But it was also pretty messed up. “Makes me feel kinda bad for Anna, though.”

“Exactly. I knew you’d understand, Sadie. I felt so bad about kissing her, for using Anna that way, you know? I drank to try and forget, but I won’t do that again.”

“Well?” I said after a beat. “Are you going to tell me who the lucky guy is?”

“Not yet,” Kyle said. “Maybe if things progress, but…yeah you’re right. I guess we don’t share everything.”

“I get it,” I said, disappointed he didn’t want to tell me—especially since I’d almost had to sacrifice one of my favorite cardigans to his drinking shenanigans—but at least he knew I’d listen if he ever wanted to talk. “See there, I respect your privacy, and I understand you don’t want to share all of your humiliating moments with me. Hence, why I feel so betrayed about my list.”

“But your list is awesome!” he said, shaking the paper again. “There’s nothing humiliating in here.”

I groaned. “I still can’t believe you read it.”

Kyle was just trying to protect my feelings. I knew what I’d written, what he’d read—the one thing I didn’t know was how it came to be in his possession in the first place.

“How did you find it anyway?” I asked. After searching the studio from top to bottom, I’d gone home empty-handed.

Kyle shrugged. “Found it after I left your parents’ studio. I was cleaning my shoes, and there it was on the bottom of one of my wingtips.”

Aha! Ithadgotten stuck to someone’s shoe. Just my luck it was the one 17-year-old boy who always shines his shoes before bed and would recognize my handwriting anywhere.Must stop it with all the smiley-faces, I thought.

“When I first read it, not going to lie, I was surprised.” Kyle’s grin made me nervous. “It was…interesting.”

My cheeks flamed as I pictured the list in my mind. Yes, there were a few…questionable items. But in my defense, I’d never thought anyone would read it!

“Honestly, I was impressed.”

I blinked. “Really?”

Kyle nodded. “Yeah, I mean, it takes a lot of guts to write something like that down. How’d you come up with this anyway? I’ve heard of a Bucket List but never a ”Carpe Diem” list. Nice twist.”

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