“What?” he exclaimed.
“I found a picture of him in the newspaper kissing some other girl, and then while we were fighting about that, you left the message on my answering machine, and then he flipped out on me and I told him to leave. He did, and I guess we’re over.”
“I’m sorry. This is my fault.”
“No, it’s not. I should have told him the truth from the beginning. He probably wouldn’t have minded so much. The fact that I got so mad at him for kissing someone else when I had made out with you didn’t settle too well with him.”
“Do you want me to come over?”
“Could you, please?”
“Sure. I’ll call in sick for you today, too, because I’m not gonna let you go to work in this condition.”
“Thanks, Matt.”
In fifteen minutes, he was at her door. “Where’s your roommate, anyway?” he asked. “Why isn’t she comforting you?”
“I don’t know. She left this morning. I think she went to visit her family or something for the day.” She fell into his arms. “I’m so glad you’re here. Thank you so much.”
“It’s no problem. Shhhh…” he whispered, smoothing her hair down and tightening his grasp on her. “If he’s gonna kiss other girls, he doesn’t deserve you.”
“I must not deserve him, either, because I cheated on him last night. He isn’t the only bad one.”
“It was my fault, Maggie. I initiated everything last night.”
“I went along with it, though.” She pulled away and then looked into his eyes. “Why did you kiss me, anyway?”
“You want the truth?” He looked down at the floor guiltily.
“Okay, you wanted me in bed.”
“No, of course not!” he exclaimed. “That’s not the truth.”
“Well, then, what is?”
“Because I like you, Maggie. I have since the first day we started talking at the coffee shop. I saw my opportunity to act on it last night, but after you pulled away, I realized I was taking advantage of a friend, and that’s a terrible thing to do, so I stopped. I knew you loved Nick, and I wasn’t going to let you screw that up.”
She shook her head. “Why would you like me?”
“Because you’re a wonderful person. You’ve got this glow, this shine. Besides for being pretty, you’re sweet, caring, optimistic, and, well, I really fell for you.”
“I liked you so much when we started working together.”
He let out a sad sigh and rubbed the back of his neck. “You used the past tense there. You LIKED me.”
“I didn’t say I don’t like you now. I just…I’m really confused right now. My emotions are on a roller coaster ride right now. With the whole Nick thing and now this thing with you, and it doesn’t help that I have PMS… I honestly couldn’t tell you how I feel about you.”
“Take your time, Maggie. I don’t wanna screw things up for us.”
“Thanks.”
“Thanks for what?”
“For being my best friend. Here you are, comforting me about a guy, when you feel the way you do. That’s gotta be tough.”
“Yeah, but that’s my job. Like you said, I’m your best friend.”