Page 3 of Just Another Meet Cute
Cute with a sense of humor. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to hang out for another few minutes. And looking at him actually made the pain hurt less.
“Well, okay. Only because it would helpyouout,” I said with an exaggerated sigh as I slowly sat on the rock. Wincing, I stretched out my leg toward him.
“You’re a lifesaver.” A full-on smile crossed his face as he pulled a small white first aid kit from the side pocket of his book bag. “My name’s Ian, by the way.”
“Nina.”
He knelt down beside my bleeding leg and dug around in the box. “That’s a pretty name.”
“Thanks. It’s short for Nina.” After the words popped out of my mouth, I wanted to smack myself on the forehead for sounding so stupid.
Thankfully, Ian mistook my word vomit for humor or charm or something and laughed. He pulled a couple of wet wipes from a pack and cleaned my leg and cut as best as he could before shoving them into a small plastic bag. Then he spread some white ointment on the cut and unwrapped a couple of Band-Aids. His fingers were long and moved quickly, like this wasn’t his first time. After he put two Band-Aids on my cut, he pressed the edges down to make sure it was firm.
This time I felt the warmth of his fingertips on my skin, and the goose bumps that rose on my arms in response.
Rubbing my arms to make them go away before he noticed, I gently stood up. “I’m okay now. Thanks.”
“Are you sure? Your face still looks kind of red.”
Embarrassed, I adjusted the sunglasses until they fell lower on my face, like a shield. “No, it’s just—the sun. It’s hot today.”
He glanced up at the overcast sky. It was so thick with clouds that you could barely see the sun anywhere.
“It was sunny earlier,” I said quickly. “Like scorching sunny.”
“Yeah, Texas’s weather is pretty unpredictable.” Still crouched down, Ian leaned to the left to pack everything up. When he was done though, he still didn’t immediately get up. Instead, Ian stared at something on the rock behind me. I followed his gaze and groaned out loud in horror. There was a dark butt-shaped smudge right where I had been sitting a few seconds ago.
With a puzzled expression, his eyes slid up and down my legs—which sounded way dirtier than it was. I almost wished itwasdirty so at least I’d knowhe was thinking of me in a cute-girl-I’m-attracted-to way instead of a weirdo-girl-he-regretted-bumping-into way.
I knew the exact moment when my embarrassing situation clicked in his head. It was almost like his brown eyes cleared—as impossible as it was. My first instinct was to bury my face in my arms and flee, but my feet were frozen in one spot.
To my surprise, Ian didn’t immediately run away. Instead, he stood up, still digging in his bag. His head ducked down until I couldn’t see his face anymore. Especially as one hand messed with his hat, tugging it side to side. I could see that his ears were flaming red though. “Well, I think I have something else in here to help you with … that. If you—you need it.”
“What do you—” I glanced down at my legs and his pink face. Until my eyes finally landed on the tampon and pad he held out in his hand.
Oh. My. God.
I didn’t know how this could get even worse, but somehow it did.
My red cheeks nearly exploded with embarrassment as I shoved his hand away. “No. NO! I didn’t—this isn’t what you think it is. I just sat on my juice box.”
“Your. Juice. Box.”
Even though he only paused a second or two between each word, it felt like an hour. An eternity. Time had frozen. Melted into nothingness. And I never wanted to escapesobadly. Like make aMission Impossible–style roll off the cliff and dive into the stream below. It didn’t even matter that I didn’t know how to swim, my survival instinct could kick in.
Hopefully.
Since escape wasn’t possible, again, I tried to play it cool.
With a loud cough, I swept my hair over my shoulders. “Band-Aids, pads, and tampons? You’re like a walking pharmacy.”
“Oh, yeah.” Looking sheepish, Ian glanced down at his shoes. “My family likes to go hiking, and I have a bunch of older sisters who always make me hold their stuff for them. I also have some hair clips and Midol in here somewhere if you need them.”
“I’m good. You’re basically like their pack mule. That must be super embarrassing for you.” At this point, I was so desperate to change the subject that random words were basically pouring out. Apparently random insulting words.
Not seeming to mind, he snorted. “Pack mule and errand boy. I have to go to the dry cleaners on Fifth Street this weekend to pick up a bunch of dresses for some Vegas bachelorette trip they’re going to next month. And one really weird-colored bed sheet. I didn’t really want to ask for details.”
My lips pursed together in sympathy. “Well, at least you had a lot of siblings growing up. I’m an only child, so it was pretty boring sometimes. Actually, all the time.”
