Page 80 of Just Another Meet Cute
“And then what?”
“And then nothing! When I jerked back, she realized that I wasn’t Ryan and was super embarrassed. We both were. And we promised never to tell him what had happened. But then they broke up a week or two after that.”
I shook my head. “But that doesn’t mean it’s your fault. Maybe—”
Now it was his turn to fiddle with the potatoes with my fork. “Later she told me that kissing me made her realize that she wasn’t that into Ryan. Not that she liked me or anything, but just that if she wasreallyin love with him, then she should have been able to tell us apart.”
“Oh.” It was kind of hard to argue with that logic. “She was probably ashamed that she couldn’t tell you guys apart. I know I would be.”
He glanced up at me. “Butyoucould tell us apart.”
“Not in the beginning. And after I found out there were two of you …” I shook my head and laughed. “If Liv even felt a tiny bit the way I did, then she must have been mortified.”
“Oh, she definitely was.”
“And you never told Ryan?”
Ian shook his head.
Crossing my arms, I leaned back in my seat and chewed on my thumbnail. “Maybe youshouldtell him. He thinks that she broke up with him because he’s too nice.”
“He told you that?”
“That’s what she told him, but he knows it’s a lie.” For a moment, I wondered if it was right for me to tell Ryan’s secret like this. Especially one that hedidn’t even tell his own brother, but I felt like this was something Ian needed to know. “He said he doesn’t care, but I know that he does. I think it would really help him to know the truth.”
Ian didn’t say anything for a long time. All he did was rub his lower lip like he did so often when he was thinking of something. “I guess sometimes wondering can be worse than actually knowing.”
“That sounded almost philosophical,” I teased, glad that it seemed like he was going to take my advice.
He grinned. “Thanks, but don’t expect it to happen very often.”
“That’s not true. You’re really good at expressing yourself. Like in your essay.”
“What are you talking about?”
Oh crap. I didn’t mean to say that.
I lowered my eyes to the tabletop and scratched at the peeling paint in one corner. “Well, when I was looking for you to return your stuff, I looked through the flash drive on your key chain and saw the comic and …”
It took him a few seconds to realize where I was going. Peeking up, I could tell when it hit him as his fingers tightened on the fork. “Thatessay.”
“Yes.”
“And you read it.”
Was he asking me or telling me? Either way, I gave him a weak nod.
His jaw clenched and his lips pursed together into a straight line. It was so tight that I saw his right dimple pop out. I didn’t even know that it was possible to show off a dimple without smiling.
And then silence.
For ages.
“How do you know it’s mine and not Ryan’s?”
His question made me pause. How did I know? There wasn’t a name on the essay. And theSpider-Mancomic was Ryan’s. But somehow, Iknewthat those were Ian’s words. That he was the one whose words touched me.
“I just do, and I’m sorry that I read it, but I’m also not sorry.” I shook my head because I knew that I wasn’t making sense. “Because when I read your essay, I thought it was amazing.”
