Page 6 of Branded

“Are you sure? That looks like hot chocolate. That will absolutely stain.”

He is, without a doubt, one of the most attractive men I’ve ever seen in my entire life, at least in person. He is taller than me by at least a foot, and considering I’m five foot three, he towers over me. His shoulders are broad with arms extending from them that aren’t huge, but they are clearly strong, considering the way the sleeves of his tee cling and stretch over them, and don’t even get me started on the face. Wow.

He shakes his head, sending whichever thought that was there speeding away and a smile takes its place.

“I’m positive. It’s no big deal at all.”

“At least let me buy you another drink. It’s the least I could do.”

“You look familiar,” Olivia, who has been unusually quiet, pipes in. “Where do I know you from?”

“Maybe I just have one of those faces,” he answers her but his eyes are squarely on me, and it sends a delicious chill up my body that I haven’t felt in so long.

“No, I definitely know you from somewhere.” She scrolls through her phone for a second, like it’s going to have all the answers, and then she exclaims loudly. “Ah ha! You’re June!”

“He’s what?” I ask, confused.

“June. In the Sunset Valley Fire Department Calendar. He’s the month of June.” She flips her phone around to show the man in front of us dressed in a pair of fireman pants and nothing else.

Of course, he’s a firefighter, because the universe likes to mess with me.

“Uh,” he rubs the back of his neck in what I can only assume is embarrassment, “yeah, that’s me. I’m Isaac Black.” He holds out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you…” The question lingers, implying we should introduce ourselves.

“Sawyer.” I slide my hand into his. His grip is strong and firm. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Olivia,” she chimes in, shaking his hand after I do.

I shift on my feet a bit and catch him staring again, but this time he smiles at me, very brazen in his clear display of checking me out.

I’m just about to call him on it when a flashing red flag comes bounding in.

“Sorry about that, Isaac. I’m back.”

The voice from my left pulls my focus from him and our hands drop to our sides.

The pretty redhead, who startled me in the bathroom, snuggles up at his side, dropping a kiss to his shoulder.

“What happened?” she asks, when she notices his shirt is completely covered in hot chocolate.

I chime in, “I wasn’t watching where I was going and I collided into your boyfriend. The drinks went everywhere. I offered to buy more, but he wouldn’t accept it.” I arch my brow, silently calling him on the carpet for checking me out while on a date.

They speak in complete unison.

“I’m not her boyfriend.”

“Oh, that’s okay we—”

Awkward.

“Well, on that note, Sawyer and I should get back to the festival,” Olivia says. “Isaac aka June, it was nice meeting you, and… you too, Not Isaac’s Girlfriend.”

I offer my apologies again about the incident and then we get out of there as fast as we can, all the while mouthing, “Oh my God” to one another.

Chapter 2

Sawyer

“Cananyonetellmewhat the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock in East Egg represents or symbolizes for Gatsby?” I stand at the front of my classroom with a Smart Board behind me, staring out into a group of high school juniors. Some are paying full attention and completely engaged, some are trying to sneak in their phone, but they aren’t doing a great job, others are staring off into space.

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