Page 7 of Falling Backwards
Another second doesn’t see him moving out of my way, so I start around him.
“Wait!”He steps in front of me again, and my exasperation spikes.“How are you?Okay?”
Oh.Realization arrives.He’s trying to check on me because he ran into me.
“I’m all right,” I assure him.
It’s true.The little collision wasn’t a big deal.The only real insult I’ve suffered around here strictly involves a taller, cockier guy than this one.
Now I nod my thanks for his concern, trying not to let fresh irritation about Luke onto my face.However, it’s unavoidable when I start walking again and glance down at my sweater.
‘The hell isyourproblem?You’re the one who’s been clumsy today.’
Try as I might, I can’t keep those thirty seconds at the booth out of my head.They play over and over while I stand in front of the farthest mirror in the bathroom and dry my clothes some more.These paper towels are better than the flimsy napkins, but I still catch displeasure on my reflection’s face every time I glance up at it.
And of course I notice the pink that’s still in my cheeks.
Luke always finds a way to bring it on.
Next to my dark brown hair and light skin, it might be charming if it weren’t born of him grating my nerves.
‘You’re the one who’s been clumsy today.’
He’d probably also blame me for that other guy walking directly into my path.
I throw away the paper towels and finally get around to washing my hands, which causes the scrape on my left one to smart a bit.
Yeah, I definitely didn’t acquire that injury all by myself.He can act like I did, but I didn’t.
But you know what?This isn’t anything new from him.This is standard Luke behavior, and I don’t feel like letting him put any more of a damper on my evening than he already has.
So I finish up here and head back out…
…and although I won’t go through with it, I allow myself to daydream about sneaking to his table and startling him into spilling his own drink.
L U K E
“What?” Surprised, I look between our server, who’s walking away, and Paxton, who’s dying laughing across the table from me.“What the hell!”
“Oh my God,” he barely gets out, one hand smacking onto his chest.“That’s…that’s what you get, dude!”
I peer to the bar and lock eyes with Duncan.He’s an awesome bartender, but he has just done me wrong.Grinning, he points at me, clearly not feeling bad because he’s in agreement with my friend.
Well, I’m a bartender myself and I probably would’ve done the same thing he’s done.
Still, I repeat, “What.The.Hell.”
Paxton wheezes out another, “That’s what you get.”
Yeah, I haven’t truly been done wrong.It wasn’t my intention to make Maggie drop her drink, but it was a direct result of me creeping up on herwiththe intention of getting a big jump out of her.I was on my way back from the bathroom when I decided to have a moment of innocent fun at her expense; work was garbage today on top of our usual quarreling, and I never got what I think of as‘the shoulder drop’from her, so I rather wanted it.It’s entertaining to me.
Didn’t get it at her booth either, though.Just got a front-row seat to her mojito bath and the green glare it brought on.Not that that didn’t convey her aggravation to me on its own; she may be softspoken a lot of the time, but her eyes are never so quiet.They’ll tell me what’s on her mind whether her mouth joins in or not.
Anyway, I don’t disagree with Duncan sending our server over here to tell me to pay for the drink, but it’s kind of embarrassing that he apparently saw it all go down.I probably looked like a dumbass.Or a jerk.Or both.And since I’d rather eat dirt than explain my motive, I’ll just fork over the money.No one needs to know I’m entertained by anything Maggie does.
Often wish I didn’t know it myself.I sure don’t understand it.I didn’t even always care about that little pose of hers, but a month or two ago she did it and something about the angle I was at and the way her hair was fixed and whatever just…I don’t know.For some reason, that specific time resulted in a weirdly picture-perfect moment that hooked me.
