Page 28 of Just Another Meet Cute
“At my dad’s.” He shook his head. “Wait, why are you asking me all these questions? I should be the one asking you the questions.”
Damn.I thought I distracted him enough to make a quick getaway.
It was a tiny bit ironic that I spent days searching for Ian only to be running away from him now.
Okay,reallyironic.
“Or … we could go back to the kitchen and hang out with everyone.” Quickly I turned and tried to move away. “In fact, I think I should eat another bowl of your grandma’s banana chè. She’ll be sad if I don’t.”
Freedom was just a few steps from the end of the hall when Ian’s arm shot out and hit the wall in front of me, blocking my escape. With one swift movement, I ducked under his arm—or at least tried to—but Ian grabbed the edge of the jacket that I was still holding to pull me back toward him. For a few seconds, we played tug-of-war before I realized what I was doing and released the jacket. He stumbled backward a few steps like it was a rubber band.
“You should take that back. It is yours after all.”
To my surprise, Ian shook his head and handed the jacket back to me. “I can’t. If I take it now then everyone will wonder why you had my jacket in the first place, and then your secret’s out.”
At his words, I stopped trying to escape and stared at him. My heart swelled with hope. “So does this mean you’re not going to tell Ryan about … well, anything?”
He slowly shook his head, dousing my glimmer of hope with a bucket of ice water. “For now. I haven’t decided how long I’m going to keep my mouth shut though. I think I might need a little more convincing before I decide.” He turned away slightly, like he was about to walk away.
Gaping at his back with wide eyes, this time my hand shot out to block him. In desperation, I grabbed his wrist. “Wait, what do you mean byconvincing?”
“I’m not sure yet.” Ian leaned down until our noses were barely inches apart. His face was dead serious, but I could see the humor dancing in his dark brown eyes. “I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”
“But—you can’t—I—” Why couldn’t I get any words out? Frustrated with myself (but mainly at Ian), I pursed my lips together to keep myself from shouting at him. “God, you were so much nicer on the hiking trail.”
To my surprise instead of giving me a sarcastic taunt, Ian looked down at our hands and shrugged. “Yeah, well, a lot of things are different now.”
With an indrawn breath, I realized I was still tightly holding on to him. My fingertips wrapped around his wrist. And if he moved his hand slightly, he could touch me, too. But he didn’t. I could feel his warm skin under my fingertips. The steady beating of his pulse. Each heartbeat like a tiny drum beneath my palm.
Dancing. Throbbing. Pounding.
I’m not sure how long we stood that way. It could have been a few seconds. It could have been forever. But for some reason, I didn’t let go, and Ian didn’t move away.
And that was how Ryan found us. His eyebrows crinkled together. “I was wondering what you were—what’s going on?”
Just like that, we jumped apart. Ian swept his hand through his hair and coughed. For some reason, he looked extremely guilty. I’m sure both of us did. For a dozen different reasons.
But I was saved from having to say anything, because just then Linh texted me to say that she was down the street. “Oh, my ride’s here. I should go tell everyone goodbye,” I said a little too brightly as I moved toward the living room.And now I can finally get the heck out of here.
Ryan gave both of us another funny look. “I’ll walk you outside.”
Everyone was still sitting around or eating fruit when we got back to the kitchen. That is, when Ryan and I got back. Ian disappeared somewhere along the way. I gave their Báa brief hug as she shoved a to-go box into my hands. Backing out of the room, I didn’t remember everyone else’s names, so my voice trailed off awkwardly at the end of my goodbyes.
Linh was pulling into the driveway when we got outside. I started down the walkway, but Ryan stopped me with a light touch on my elbow. “Sorry about my family. I know they can be a bit—well, they’re a lot to take in.”
“Oh, no, it’s okay. I liked them. They’re fun.” With the exception of an annoying twin brother, that is.
He rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to be nice. They can’t hear you from out here.”
“You’re right. They’re crazy,” I joked. “But your grandma’s ph? was so life-changing that it almost made everything worth it. I can see why you’re all addicted.”
“Oh, definitely. It’s the only way she keeps us in line.” Ryan leaned in for a kiss on the lips. It was quick. Soft. Tender. But the best part was afterward, when his hand lingered on my face. Longer than the actual kiss was. He ran his thumb from the top of my cheek down to my chin very slowly. All the while looking straight into my eyes, before pulling away.
And I basically melted.
He grinned boyishly. “I’d give you an actual kiss, but knowing my family, I’m sure at least two people are spying on us right now.”
With a laugh, I glanced behind him to see if there really were faces peering out at us from between the blinds. For some reason, the image of Ian lurking behind curtains popped in the back of my mind, and I stiffened. “Well, if they are, they’re doing a really good job of hiding.”
