Page 67 of Just Another Meet Cute
And it wasn’t just physical. It was like they knew exactly what the other was thinking before they even finished talking. They danced from subject to subject as easily as flowing water. There was no awkwardness or confused feelings.
And I felt like the other person looking in.
Yeah, she definitely didn’t see me as a threat. Not that I was one. After all, I was dating Ryan. I shouldn’t care what Ian and Megan did. At all.
But why did my stomach feel so heavy all of a sudden?
Unable to watch them flirt anymore, I swung around in the stool to face the other direction. Ryan came over to sit with me. The slightly annoyedexpression on his face probably reflected my own. But what did he have to be pissed about?
Following his gaze, I thought he was looking at Megan and Ian, too, but he wasn’t. He was looking past them at another group at the next table. There were four girls sitting with three other guys. They looked like they were around our age, although one of the guys looked a bit older. Maybe nineteen or so.
When one of the girls laughed, Ryan frowned darkly and turned toward me. “How are you with basketball?”
“Not great.” I snuck a curious glance over at the other table.
“It’s okay. I can teach you. Come on.”
He was already on his feet and walking away, so I had no choice but to follow him. With a frown, Ian watched me hop to my feet. His gaze moved to his brother’s back, like he was trying to figure something out, when suddenly he glanced over at the group. His face froze.
My curiosity doubled. Tripled. Who were they and why did they bother Ryan so much? Even Ian seemed uncomfortable to see them.
By now I was bursting to ask, but I waited until Ryan started the game and shot a basketball through the hoop first. “So, who are those people at the other table?”
He paused mid-throw and grimaced. “You noticed that?”
Uh, I’m pretty sure everyone did.“A little bit.”
His eyes were glued on the basketball as he bounced it against the side of the machine a few times. “My ex-girlfriend, Liv, is over there with some friends.”
My eyebrows rose and it took every bit of willpower I had not to whirlaround to stare at the group again. Instead, I picked up a basketball and handed it to Ryan. “Which one is she?”
“The blond in the center,” he said without looking up.
“How do you know she’s in the center?”
“She’s always in the center.”
Trying to look casual, I swept my hair over my shoulder and looked behind me. My eyes immediately zoomed in on the pretty blond girl. Ryan was right. Liv was right in the middle of the group. Her head swung back and forth as though she was trying to be in two conversations at once. Or maybe everyone was just trying to talk to her.
Man, she was pretty. She looked petite, even shorter than me, but she stood out in her group. Maybe it was the way her hair was so blond that it almost looked platinum. Or her wide eyes that were a bright glittery blue. Even from this distance, I could see that her skin was clear and perfect. Something that I could never achieve—not even with daily face masks and Linh’s fanciest makeup.
“Eh.” I turned back to Ryan and shrugged like I wasn’t impressed.
The corner of his mouth curved into a smile and he tossed the ball. It swished neatly through the hoop without touching the net. “We broke up nearly a year ago. Well, she dumped me. She said I was too nice for her, and she wasn’t ready for a relationship. After we were already together for six months.”
Ouch.“How could anyone ever betoonice?”
“I know, right?” With a slight laugh, he shook his head. He looked a little happier, more like himself for a second. “You’d be surprised how often I’mcalled the nice twin. That was the first time it’s ever come back to bite me in the ass though.”
It wasn’tthatsurprising. I had met them only two weeks ago, and I always referred to Ryan as the “nice twin” out loud and in my head. But it also didn’t help that his brother wasIan. It wasn’t too hard to be considered the nicer one. I didn’t know until now that Ryan considered it a bad thing though.
“It’s not your fault. That’s a sucky excuse to break up with someone.”
“I know. She ended up going out with someone else barely a month later, so obviously not being ready was a lie, too.” He shrugged like he didn’t care, when he obviously did.
Not knowing what to say to comfort him, I leaned on his shoulder instead. The side of my head pressed against his arm. He straightened his back and turned his head to press his chin against the top of my head. We stayed that way for a few seconds before the buzzer rang loudly as the time on our game ran out.
Ryan laughed and pulled away. He dug into his pocket for the little plastic card. “Sorry, but I need to get a better score. My ego can’t leave the score like that.”
