Page 2 of Just Another Meet Cute
After all, he already left his other kids once. What made me special enough to keep him around when it’s just me?
Sometimes I wondered if Lucy and Adam even saw it coming. Or maybehe disappeared from their lives just as quickly as he appeared in ours. One second he’s with them andpoofhe’s with us now. Like a bad magic act. The Vanishing Dad.
Gah. I could already feel a throbbing headache popping up. Rubbing my head between both hands, I sat down on a nearby rock. Hard.
And immediately felt something cold and wet beneath my butt. I sprang upright, but the back of my shorts was already completely soaked. Trickles of something sticky ran down the back of my thighs and into my socks.
“What the hell?!”
The light fruity scent was a dead giveaway. I flipped open my purse. The half-empty juice box was busted on one end. There was a strange yellowish stain on the white satin lining of the bag that matched the back of my drenched shorts. Basically, it looked like I peed myself.
Definitely a bad day to wear white.
“God, could this day get any worse?” I half expected to hear thunder or something in response.
At least there wasn’t anyone around. Thank goodness for small miracles. Tiny as it was. Hopefully I could get down the trail without bumping into anyone or twisting an ankle.
After dumping the rest of the juice out, I wiped my legs to get the extra liquid off and rubbed my sticky palms on the end of my T-shirt. My wet socks rubbed uncomfortably against my ankles, but there was nothing I could do about it now. Unless I could fashion a pair of shorts or something out of leaves. Even if I was that handy, I’m not sure I could pull off the Tarzan look.
Suddenly—and because apparently God thought today would be the perfect Screw with Nina Day—I saw someone coming up the narrow path, blocking my way. A guy with a backpack, maybe around my age, but I couldn’t exactly be sure.
At first, I thought he was a mirage, since the sun in the background made his frame sort of glow like a Greek god. But sadly, no mirage. Just a full-fledged guy who became hotter the closer he got to me. Tall and lean, but I could tell by his fitted T-shirt that he had muscles on his arms. Not too many, just enough.
His baseball cap was pulled a little low over his face as he clutched at the straps of his black book bag. His dark hair was cut short around his ears, which stuck out a bit beneath his simple black-and-white baseball cap. A perfectly straight nose. His lower lip was a bit fuller than his top lip. When he was about five feet away, he glanced over at me and smiled. A cute, almost boyish, shy smile that was the tiniest bit lopsided. And he had a dimple in his right cheek. A freakin’ dimple.
Yep,definitelyhot anddefinitelymy type. Double damn it. Why did I have to bump into him now?
Flustered, I stumbled backward into a huge rock jutting out in front of a couple of trees. My hands immediately sprang to my hair and smoothed the damp strands off my face. I didn’t need a mirror to know that my face was probably super red though; the only trait I inherited from Mom. Instead of sweating like normal people, our faces got so red that we resembled an overripe tomato about to pop. But somehow, even with the lack of sweat, I stillsmelledsweaty.
Needless to say, guys always stayed away from me in gym class.
Oh God. Did I even remember to put on deodorant this morning?
I resisted the urge to sniff myself, but I had a feeling the answer was no, since I ran out of the house earlier. Yeah, probably not.
On second thought, now probably wasn’t the best time to meet the love of my life. I adjusted the frames on my face and ducked my head a bit so my bangs fell over my eyes. I hunched over and froze like that would help me disappear into the trees.
Please let him pass me right up. Please …
At first, I thought that he really was going to walk right by, but at the very last second, he suddenly stopped in front of me.
Damn. Time for plan B.
I straightened my back and tried to look nonchalant, but flirty. Cool, but approachable. Sounds impossible, but I swear Linh perfected this look in middle school. I, however, could barely pull any looks.
Would it be too obvious if I leaned casually against the rock? Maybe even crossed my legs to make them look longer? Probably.
The Cute Guy cocked his head to the left and he pointed down at my knee. His dark brown eyes were wide with concern. “Are you okay? You’re bleeding.”
“I—what?” I glanced down at the blood dripping down my leg. A steady, straight ruby-red line from the top of my knee down to my ankle, staining my sock. The cut itself wasn’t too bad or deep. Barely bigger than an inch or two. And it was the exact height of the rock beside me.
As soon as I spotted the blood though, the pain hit me like a bolt of lightning and I stumbled backward. “Damn it! Jeez, that—Owww…”
He reached out and grasped my elbow, so lightly that I barely felt his touch through my pain. “Why don’t you sit down? I have a first aid kit in my bag that you can use.”
“No, it’s … it’s okay.” I shifted my weight to my other leg and sucked in my breath at the movement. I’ve never been able to deal with blood well. My gaze skimmed around as I looked everywhere—anywhere—but at the cut. “I don’t want to bother you.”
With a half smile, he clasped his hands together like he was praying. “Please? You’d be doing me a huge favor. The path is pretty long and this book bag will besomuch lighter if you took a couple of Band-Aids off my hands.”
