Page 88 of Just Another Meet Cute
Again.
The tension in the car was so thick that it was almost hard to breathe. Honestly, I was starting to hate this car. Each time I was in here, things got worse and worse. Maybe itwouldhave been better to Uber to Ian’s house.
As I looked over at Ian’s profile for the hundredth time that night, Icouldn’t help feeling like this might be the last time we’d be in the car together. Judging by the way he was gripping the steering wheel and how far he leaned away from me—another inch and he’d go flying out the car door if it weren’t closed—I wouldn’t be surprised if I never heard from him again. With or without Kathy’s help.
And if that was going to happen, then I had only one chance to make the most of it. Especially because Ian seemed to be speeding through the streets to get me home as soon as possible. Already we were barely five minutes from my house. “Can I ask you a question?”
“No.”
My hands gripped together on my lap and I dove ahead anyway. “So, we almost kissed the other day.”
“That’s more of a statement than a question.”
“And you’re mad that we almost kissed.”
“More statements.” He let out a deep breath, too. “And no, I’m not mad.”
“You are.”
“No, I’m—”
Rolling my eyes, I jabbed my thumb back to point behind us. “You just ran that stop sign back there.”
His head whipped back to look as he slammed his palm against the steering wheel. “Oh, shit.”
“It’s okay. There weren’t any cars.”
“It would have been nice if you warned mebeforeI ran the damn sign,” he grumbled.
Annoyed that he acted like eventhiswas my fault, too, I slumped back against my seat and glared at him. “Or maybe next time you shouldn’t run the damn sign.”
“Sorry, I was … distracted.”
“Because of my question?”
“You haven’t asked any.” Ian cleared his throat. “But you were going to ask why we almost kissed, right? It was a mistake. Maybe it was the damn piano song. We got caught up in the moment. It happens. We should forget all about it.”
“That wasn’t my question.” I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes. “By the way, even ifyou’renot mad, now I am. Very mad.”
He looked started. “About the kiss? I’m sorry—”
“Not about the fact that we almost kissed. I’m mad that wedidn’tkiss and you’re already acting like everything was a huge mistake.”
That immediately shut him up. But now that it was out there, there was no backing down. Not that I wanted to.
“Well?”
“I’m sorry.”
Scoffing, I resisted the urge to hit him. “Will you please stop apologizing? There’s nothing to apologize for. Like you said, we didn’t even kiss.”
Ian rubbed the back of his neck with one hand until his skin turned red. “I know, but I’m sorry. That’s all I can say right now.”
I don’t know what was more frustrating, the fact that he was avoiding me or the fact that he wouldn’t say anything else except “I’m sorry.”
Before I knew it, we were parked in front of my house. Knowing that I missed my chance, my fingers played with the door handle since I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. “Fine, answer one question now. You said you’ve never been in lovebefore. What about now?”
I could hear his breath catch in his throat. “Why are you asking me that?”
