Free Shut Up and Kiss Me by Madeline Sheehan, Claire C Riley

obvious how he’d felt. The note had been left out of politeness, and I was not going to be that girl.
    “ No, no, no,” Josephine said, giggling. “You’re not leaving me hangin’, girl. Tell me the whole damn story.”
    “ Mila hooked up with someone,” Nikki announced gleefully.
    “ Shut up!” I shouted, slapping at her.
    “ Mila!” Josephine squealed, jumping up and clapping. “Sweet, shy, little Mila!”
    “ Don’t you dare,” I hissed, when Nikki opened her mouth to speak. Shushing her, I turned back to Josephine. “I met a guy,” I said. “It’s no big deal. We had a great night. We shared a thing. It’s done now. No biggie.”
    “ They bumped uglies,” Nikki unhelpfully supplied.
    “ I hate you,” I groaned. “You’re so vulgar.”
    “ Mila!” Josephine squealed again. “Get it, girl!”
    “ I’m sorry,” Nikki shot back, “I’ll try to be less vulgar next time. How about ‘Mila hizzit the skizzins’? Or ‘Mila played hide the sausage’? Oh wait, I know! ‘Mila was doing the jiffy stiffy with the man from doooown under’!”
    “ Mila went and got herself some stankie on the hang down,” Josephine drawled. “She went ridin’ that flagpole, poundin’ the punanni…”
    “ Doing the horizontal biblical bop!” Nikki shouted, her shoulders shaking with laugher.
    “ Oh my God!” I shrieked, nearly choking on my laugher. “Stop! Please, please, stop! We shared one amazing night, and now we’ve gone our separate ways.”
    “ Oh, for the love of…” Nikki huffed in annoyance. “Stop making it sound like Pretty Woman . It was a one-night stand, Mila, and that’s okay. You don’t need to make it out to be any more or less. No one is going to think any less of you.”
    “ I still can’t believe you had a one-night stand.” Josephine continued to laugh. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk about a man before. And yet here you are all doe-eyed over some guy you picked up at a bar.”
    “ I did not pick him up,” I said indignantly.
    “ She’s turning into a real hussy, isn’t she?” Nikki jerked her thumb in my direction and shook her head sadly while Josephine fell into a fit of hysterics.
    “ What are we laughing about?” Carlos called out. Rounding the bar, he headed for the small beer fridge. Pulling out a bottle of his favorite imported he gave us a questioning glance.
    “ Mila got laid,” Josephine said, smiling smugly.
    Carlos’s mouth fell open, and his eyes went wide. “You met someone?”
    “ Why is this such big news?” I asked, exasperated. “I’m not Mother Theresa!”
    “ Because it’s you,” Carlos said. “And you don’t meet men.”
    “ It has been a long time, Carlos,” Nikki said, “But you know, she is a woman, and she has needs. Things that need to be scratched and such.”
    “ Please stop, Nikki,” I groaned. “Please, you’re killing me here.”
    “ It’s okay, we’ve all been there.” Josephine patted my hand gently. “It’s just surprising. I mean, you’re so shy, I didn’t know you could be so…”
    “ Slutty?” Nikki finished for her, and then laughed as I glared at her. “Oh, stop that. It’s good. It’s nice to see you letting your hair down for a change.”
    “ You don’t deserve a friend like me,” I huffed.
    “ You really liked him, huh?”
    I shrugged. “I guess.”
    That was an understatement if ever there was one. I really, really liked him. I liked how he had looked at me, how he had kissed me and made the world fall away. I liked the feel of his hands on my body, but most of all, I loved how he had made me feel about myself.
    “ I’m sorry he left without saying goodbye,” Nikki said softly, so only I could hear. “That was a dick move.”
    I stared into my drink. “It was a dick move, but he’s a man, and men are dicks, right?” Turning my head, I smiled at Nikki. I didn’t want her to know how I really felt, how much I was actually thinking about him.
    “ Have you thought