Page 11 of Something New

I didn't know what his story was other than that the boy's mother had died.

This man was so distractingly gorgeous that, in that moment, I caught myself wondering if I could ever learn to be a mom to little Ethan. I actually laughed out loud when that thought crossed my mind.

"What?" Zoey said.

I felt smitten and starstruck by the guy I just saw, but I didn't tell her that. I just shook my head. I glanced his way again. There were a lot of people so Zoey had no idea who I was looking at.

JJ Kennedy was amazing-looking and his family was likeable and wonderful. That tunnel in the woods and Camp Eden in general was an amazing place. I didn't even dread working with my brothers tomorrow.

I was relatively sure he was single.

If I had seen him while I was in my element, maybe I could think about talking to him. If we were in the dark, with flashing lights and the shield of my glasses and camera, I might have been more confident. As it stood, I was virtually speechless and paralyzed when he waved and started walking up to me. He noticed me, and he pointed and smiled as he began to walk over.

"Oh frick, my gosh. That's my teacher. That's my math teacher—the one I was just talking about that's so hot. He's coming over here. Oh, Sadie, how do I look?"

I had been looking at John-Michael Kennedy the whole time she spoke, and it took me a few seconds to realize what Zoey was talking about.

"Who are you talking about?" I said.

"Mister Kennedy," she whispered, looking breathless and panicked.

Both of us turned his way just in time to see him approach our table.

He was clearly looking at me.

His eyes were aimed straight toward mine.

Our gazes locked, and he smiled. "It's nice to see you," he said. "I wasn't sure if that was you without the glasses. I'm John-Michael Kennedy. Do you remember me?"

We were sitting in the shade and he put his sunglasses on his head and smiled at me, sticking out his hand to shake mine.

"My parents have Camp Eden. We met out there."

"Y-yes, I know. I just, I didn't expect to see you here."

I smiled stiffly at my friend who looked slightly confused. "It's me. Zoey Blanton. I'm in your Monday-Wednesday-Friday class."

"Oh, okay, hi, hello, Zoey. I recognized Sadie. Shy, right? With the glasses? Are you a Kirkpatrick, the construction company?" I smiled at him and he continued, "I hardly recognized you without your glasses, but I saw the bag." He gestured to my backpack sitting on the table. It was the one I used all the time—the one I had been using as a pillow that morning.

"Y-yeah," I said. "Sadie."

"My son absolutely loves you. He talks about you all the time."

"Oh, that's so sweet," I said. "He's just the cutest little boy. He's my bud."

Zoey was next to me, and I could feel that she was annoyed. She made faces and huffed and puffed to make sure I was aware of her. She and I weren't close. I had simply run into her. I knew she wasn't going to leave us alone. I knew she was curious enough to sit there and listen to our conversation. I stood and started to pick up my things. I would rather not talk to John-Michael at all than talk to him with an acquaintance of mine sitting there listening to us.

"I was just leaving," I said. "It was good seeing you both, but I have to go by the bookstore before my next class."

"I'm walking that way," he said. "I can go with you, if you don't mind."

I nodded thankfully. "Okay, thanks. Good seeing you, Zoey." I pretended not to notice her annoyed expression. I didn't owe her anything, and so I pretended to be oblivious to her feelings about my departure. It wasn't my fault that she knew this man or that she thought he was looking at her. I was learning how to shut down people who were being negative before they had the chance to affect me.

It only took me a few seconds to pack my things, put on my backpack, and grab my coffee. I told Zoey that I would see her out sometime and we walked away, heading toward the bookstore even though I really didn't need to go there.

"I think your son is the coolest. Your mom too," I said, once we had hit a stride walking next to each other.

He turned to look at me. He had on his sunglasses again, but I had seen those dark eyes. "My mom said she talked to you for a long time the other day," he said.

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