Page 66 of Just Another Meet Cute
Not surprised that she noticed, since hewasbeing pretty obvious, I shook my head. “I hope she lets him down gently. I’d hate for Ollie to have his heart broken.”
“A little heartbreak won’t kill anyone.”
I didn’t totally agree, but it’d be rude to start a debate so I just nodded.
And then … silence. Now it was just us left at the table. Megan and me. Me and Megan. She seemed content with munching on the french fries, but Ifeltlike I should say something. Anything. The silence enveloped me, bugging me like an itch that I couldn’t scratch. It was all I could think about.
“Do you think you and Ian will ever start dating?”
Choking a bit on a fry, she gave me a surprised look. “What are you talking about?”
I flushed. That was probably the wrong thing to ask. Maybe I should have left the freaking itch alone. “Oh, I was just wondering. Everyone keeps talking about how you two will get together someday, so, you know …”
“Right, that. If you ask me, they’re rooting for the wrong ship. To me, he’sIan. We’ve been friends for so long that it’s hard to imagine being anything else, you know what I mean?”
“Uh, not really.”
She studied my face for a few seconds before smiling. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. Ian is awesome. He’s smart and funny and the sweetest guy ever. Any girl would be lucky to have him. Any girl. Don’t you think?”
Why was she gushing about Ian to me?
“Uh, yeah, I guess.” I shook my head. “I mean, I don’t know about the ‘sweetest guy’ part, but everything else seems pretty much right. Not that I see all those qualities much.”
Megan leaned on the palm of her hand. Her index finger tapped against her pale cheek. “That’s because you bring out another side in Ian. I’ve never seen him act that way with anyone else.”
“You mean he’s only rude to me? Gee, thanks.”
She laughed. “It means that you’re different to him. In fact, if you ask me, I think—”
Just then, Ian and Ryan came back with an armful of drinks in each hand. Megan stopped talking so I didn’t get to finish hearing what she thought. Although she was probably planning to list more of Ian’s invisible qualities again. Sorry, not invisible, just none of the good qualities that he never bothered to show me.
“Thank God, I’m dying of thirst over here,” Megan complained as Ian handed her a plastic cup. She immediately poked a straw through the lid and slurped it down.
“That took so long, I swear they were waiting for the ice to freeze or something. Iced tea, half and half. Extra ice.” Ryan handed me a cup and glanced around. “Where’s Ollie and Linh?”
My hand waved over my shoulder. “They said they wanted to go shoot zombies or something.”
“Ah, probablyHouse of the Dead IV. He’s determined to finish that game, even if he has to spend his entire college fund on it.”
“Not sure his dad will be very happy about it.” Ian dipped a fry in the ketchup and popped it into his mouth. “Not to mention, C?u Luke will probably kill us, too.”
Ryan shrugged like death threats didn’t bother him. Although I’m pretty sure death threats were very common in their family, so maybe he was used to them.
“Maybe Ollie will become some sort of rich professional gamer on YouTube,” Megan suggested as she set her drink aside. “Although I doubt his dad will like that either.”
“He’d probably kill Ollie after he kills us,” Ian announced with a grimace.
“Oh, well, let me know when to send flowers.” She leaned her arm against his shoulder and grabbed his drink straight out of his hand. “Sorry, I already finished mine.”
A brief smile crossed Ian’s face. “It’s fine. You always steal my drink anyway. Why do you think I get an extra-large all the time?”
Her eyebrow rose. “If you were smart, then you would save both of us the trouble and getmethe extra-large.”
He laughed. “You’re right. I never thought of that before. What would I do without you?”
Megan patted his head like a puppy. “It’s okay. That’s what I’m here for, buddy.” I couldn’t help noticing that even after she gave him back his drink, her arm stayed on Ian’s shoulder.
And as I watched them talk, I could totally see why Ian’s family expected them to start dating any day now. The way they sat next to each other—her elbow on his shoulder and his body angled toward hers—it was like they gravitated toward each other without thinking. Their bodies knew that they should be together, even though they denied it.
