Page 47 of Just Another Meet Cute
“Hello.”
The first thing I noticed was that Ian’s hand was still on Megan’s waist. Lightly, like he didn’t even realize that it was there. Like he’d done this a thousand times before. And I was annoyed with myself for even noticing that.
The second thing I noticed was that Megan was pretty. Really pretty. Not supermodel gorgeous, but kind of in the normal-girl-next-door-who-everyone-loved way. She had deep chocolate-brown eyes and shiny black hair with a touch of chestnut-brown highlights. Her nose and chin were a bit pointy. Shewas so tall that the top of her head grazed Ian’s ear. I had a feeling that I barely came up to her shoulders.
“Megan, this is Nina. She’s Ryan’s—” Ian broke off and looked over at his brother like he didn’t know how to continue.
“She’s my friend,” Ryan said smoothly as he leaned against my shoulder. His hand drifted down to play with my fingers. “And Nina, this is Megan Tran, soon to be Nguyen, as she’s Ian’s best friend and my future sister-in-law.”
My jaw dropped, and I stared between Ian and Megan. “What?”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t believe him. He’s joking.”
“What? It’s only a matter of time before you two get together. Everyone knows it. Everyone. Báalready calls you her cháu.”
“Sure, if byeveryoneyou mean just you. And she calls everyone cháu.”
“You wanna bet?” With a mischievous glint, he cupped his hands together. “Ay, Ollie! Come down here for a second!”
A younger boy poked his head out from one of the rooms upstairs. “Yeah?”
Ryan waved the boy forward. “Let me ask you a question. Who’s Ian going to marry?”
“Megan,” Ollie said without hesitating as he came toward the stairs. He glanced around the entire room like he was searching for someone before shoving his wire-rimmed glasses farther up his nose. “Everyone knows that.”
“See?” Ryan smirked in a way I’ve never seen him smirk before. Now that I thought about it, I’ve never actually seen Ryan smirk. It was usually Ian smirking at me. “I told you.”
“Sorry, but I don’t believe that you and Ollie are consideredeveryone.”
“I can go around and ask the rest of the family if you want.” He nudged Ian’s side with a grin. “Hell, I could send a text in the family chat right now, and I bet they’ll all say the same thing.”
Megan shivered. “Please don’t.”
To my surprise, Ian didn’t say anything through their bickering. Not even when Ryan elbowed him. Curiously, I couldn’t help glancing over at him, but his face was blank, almost indifferent, like he wasn’t listening or didn’t care.
Did that mean that he felt the same way Megan did? Or did he agree with Ryan—and apparently everyone else? I guess it wasn’t that hard to believe. Even though we just met, I could already see how close the two of them were. Every interaction, every touch or word they said, reflected how well they knew each other.
I didn’t know if I was jealous that I didn’t have someone like that in my life, or because of something else. Either way, I didn’t like the tight feeling in my chest.
Tearing my eyes away from them, I knelt down beside Kathy as she opened the box and started setting up the game pieces. “Do you need any help?”
“Oh, no, I’ve got it. You just need to sit on the other side,” she said, pointing away from her.
“Why?”
“You’re on the other team with Ian.”
At that, Ian snapped to attention. “Wait, what? Why?”
“Because you can’t be on a team with either Megan or Ryan,” she explainedpatiently, like it should have been common sense. “You and Megan know each other so well that it’s almost like you can read each other’s minds. And then you and Ryan have that twin thing going on, so you pretty muchcanread each other’s minds. Which I consider to be cheating.”
Ian spread his arms out wide and smirked. “OrI’m awesome at Pictionary no matter who I play with.”
“No way. I refuse to believe that. But just in case, that’s why you’re going to start this game with a disadvantage.”
A little offended, my eyes widened. “You mean me?”
“Oh no! Not you!” Kathy patted my arm. “I mean, yeah, youareon Ian’s team, but I meant Ollie is the disadvantage.”
