Page 95 of Just Another Meet Cute
The front door opened—again—and this time Ollie came strolling out. “Hey, I was looking for—”
Ryan let out a groan and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Let me guess. You were looking for Nina.”
I automatically took a step toward Ollie.
He looked confused and shoved at his glasses perched on his nose. “Uh, no.I was looking for you. I mean, it’s nice to see you again, Nina. But I need Ryan to help me move some of the cars around. I have to go to the store, but I’m blocked in.”
Oh. That’s embarrassing.
We both flushed. Ryan took his hands out and reached for the keys Ollie was holding. “Oh. Yeah, I’ll help. Which one do you need?”
His eyes sparkled. “The one all the way on the inside.”
Letting out a heavy sigh, Ryan nodded. “I knew I spoke too soon. Come on. Sorry, Nina, this might take a while.”
“It’s okay.”
As they walked down to the end of the driveway, Ryan shoved at Ollie who punched his shoulder in return. They were both laughing though, like beating each other up was the funniest thing in the world.
Boys.
There was a knock on the window behind me and I turned my head.
Two identical twin girls in matching jumpsuits waved at me from the window. Their faces were plastered against the glass. One had long, waist-length, deep-black hair that was clipped to one side, while the other one had a short bob exactly like Aunt Lily’s. These must be the twins that she was talking about.
Between them was a tiny little girl who was half their size and twirling in dizzy circles. She looked like she was around four, while the other two were probably about eight.
I gave them an awkward wave, wondering how many people were in the house. It wasn’t the weekend yet, and there were at least six cars crammed intothe driveway. I remembered how cars were parked all the way down the street on Sunday for ph?. I had assumed some house was having a party or brunch or something. At the time, I didn’t know that the house was Ryan’s and this was normal for them.
Ollie and Ryan systematically moved all the cars up and down the street until the blue Accord that was tucked on the inside was on the outside. All the other cars moved up a space.
Finally, Ryan came back up to the house, but he stopped short when he saw the twins still waving from the window. “Do you want to go somewhere so we won’t be interrupted anymore?”
Torn between wanting privacy but not wanting to be in the car that would remind me of Ian—his voice, the way he kissed, how he held on to me—I shook my head. “It’s a nice day. Maybe we could just sit on the trunk or something instead?”
“Okay.”
After a lot of finger-pointing to make the girls leave the window, Ryan reached out to take my hand, but I pretended to be busy tying my hair up. If he noticed that I was acting weird, he didn’t say anything. He hopped onto the back trunk and sat down. The car sunk down a bit with his weight and I climbed up beside him. My hands gripped at the smooth surface of the car.
Ryan leaned back, balancing his weight on his palms. “So, what’s up?”
I blurt out the words before it was too late. “I don’t think we should date anymore.” I inwardly cringed as my carefully crafted speech was reduced to one insensitive sentence. Tactless. Heartless.
“Oh, okay.” He slowly straightened and angled his body until he was facing me. “Hmm, do you mind if I ask why?”
I struggled with the decision to tell him everything or give him a simple answer. Would it be better to keep it short? Or would the entire truth make it hurt less?
Ryan blinked at me expectedly. “Nina?”
Remembering how hurt he was that Liv didn’t tell him the truth, I caved and told him everything.
And I mean everything. From the hike where I met Ian, to the stalking at the gym and laundromat, to the day we met and how I accidentally saved his life. And the more I talked, the easier it was to keep going. So I did. I talked about the day I came for ph? and found out they were twins, and how I ended up falling for Ian. But I still stressed how much Ryan meant to me and the struggle I went through.
The only thing I left out was the kiss that Ian and I had. That was the only secret I kept. Not for me, but for Ian. I didn’t want Ryan to be mad at his brother. Especially when Ian had already chosen him over me.
Ryan was super quiet the entire time as he stared down the length of the driveway. And still. His face was so frozen that I didn’t know if he was mad or confused. I wanted to reach out and touch him, but I didn’t want to make things worse if he was mad. So I sat beside him and wrung my hands together until they were red.
After I was done and my throat was dry from all the talking, a full minute passed before he spoke. His voice was low and careful like he was trying to findthe right words, in contrast to my blurting everything out. “For a second, I thought you were joking because that story is too crazy to be real.”
