Page 1 of Just Another Meet Cute

Three hours and twenty-six minutes. That was exactly how long it took for this family reunion to make me go running into the woods like Bigfoot being chased off by the villagers. Although instead of running, I requested an Uber to Flint Rock Loop.

Squinting up at the beaming sun, I fumbled in my bag for my sunglasses. Luckily, it was still cool enough that I didn’t instantly melt into a Nina puddle on the trail. Which was pretty rare for this time in the summer. Thank God for the freak cold front that blew through this past weekend.

Being a native Austinite, I knew that anything below ninety degrees was pretty much a miracle. This past year in Houston wasn’t much different though. I pretty much traded in tangerines for mandarins when I moved.

Despite the nice weather, the park wasn’t too crowded today.

There were just a few lone hikers here and there—the hardcore ones with actual climbing boots and metal insulated water bottles hanging off their leather belts.

They made my tiny cross-body purse and juice box look pathetic in comparison.

At least I was wearing sneakers though. Thank goodness I left behind a pair in my aunt’s hall coat closet before we moved from her house to Houston.

They were a little dusty, but they still worked for my escape.

I felt kinda bad hiding out here. I mean, I love my family. I waited all year to see Aunt Sarah and my cousin, Linh, again. Being with them made me warm and happy. Finally, our family could be together again. The way it’s supposed to be.

Too bad it never lasts. Once my aunt started complaining about David—I mean, Dad—she kept going. And going and going.

And going, like a bitter Energizer bunny.

Until finally, I had to leave before I accidentally blurted out something that would really get me grounded. Not to mention embarrassing the hell out of Mom.

So really, I was doing us both a favor for bolting. You’re welcome, Mom.

I glanced at the map on my phone. A mile and a half in forty-five minutes with only another mile left in the trail.

Not too bad. I could probably make it up there and back before grabbing a bubble tea at Tea Caf é before it closed.

Maybe I’d even get the winter melon one for Mom so she wouldn’t be too mad at me for ditching her.

With the extra boba and herbal jelly just in case she was really mad.

Resting one hand on the leaning tree, I took in a deep breath and soaked in the silence.

All I could hear was the water rippling below me.

An occasional bird chirping or squirrel rustling in the trees next to me, or at least what I hoped was just a squirrel and nothing bigger.

Whatever it was, at least it was relatively quiet.

Finally.

My phone buzzed in my pocket interrupting my serene moment. I swallowed my groan. “Hey, Mom.”

“Nina? Where are you?”

“Just—” I glanced around the empty trail. “Walking around. Getting some fresh air.”

“Are you doing anything in an hour and a half?”

“Not really.” Digging into my shorts pocket, a tube of Chapstick fell onto the ground and I had to stop it with my foot before it rolled down the path into the bushes. “Do you need something from the store?”

“Uh …” Mom cleared her throat loudly for so long that I instantly tensed up. “Your dad finished his seminar at Ole Miss, and he caught an early flight. Do you think you can pick him up from the airport in two hours?”

“Uh …” When I needed it the most, my brain drew a blank as I scrambled for an excuse not to pick Dad up.

“Nina …” Her warning tone was low but effective. “If you don’t pick up your dad, then I’m going to tell your aunt the mysterious ‘stomachache’ you had that made you miss her murder mystery dinner last year was really binge-watching Game of Thrones for the fifth time.”

Betrayal from my own flesh and blood.

“Fine, I’ll get him. Text me his flight info.”

“Thank you,” she said brightly, like she didn’t just blackmail me. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

And then there were a few more seconds of silence before she hung up. Like she wanted to say something else. Or maybe I wanted her to say she was joking and that she could pick him up herself after all. That this was a test and I passed with flying colors.

My relationship with Dad has always been …

rocky. Like the steep cliffs on Rocky Mountain.

Rocky like the old rocking chair in B á ’s room that always felt like it’s about to collapse beneath you.

Rocky like … well, Rocky Balboa in the Rocky movies.

Like he says, The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows.

B á had been a huge fan of ol’ Sly. I spent every Sunday watching his movie marathons with her. I could pretty much recite all his movies by heart from the time I was thirteen. Sometimes I turned on one of his movies in the background just to feel like my grandma was still around.

In a lot of ways, Stallone was considered family more than Dad was. Then again, Dad’s only been around the last two years or so. And Mom and I may have moved to Houston a year ago to be closer to him, but that didn’t mean I was any closer to him .

Which was why the last thing I wanted to do right now was to pick him up from the airport and spend the next twenty-five excruciating minutes making small talk about my summer reading or what movies were in theaters.

I mean, it’s not like we ever talked about anything important—like why he ditched Mom before I was born.

Or why the hell he decided now to come back into our lives instead of staying with his other family.

And, most importantly, whether he was planning to do that to us.

After all, he already left his other kids once. What made me special enough to keep him around when it’s just me?

Sometimes I wondered if Lucy and Adam even saw it coming. Or maybe he disappeared from their lives just as quickly as he appeared in ours. One second he’s with them and poof he’s with us now. Like a bad magic act. The Vanishing Dad.

Gah. I could already feel a throbbing headache popping up. Rubbing my head between both hands, I sat down on a nearby rock. Hard.

And immediately felt something cold and wet beneath my butt. I sprang upright, but the back of my shorts was already completely soaked. Trickles of something sticky ran down the back of my thighs and into my socks.

“What the hell?!”

The light fruity scent was a dead giveaway. I flipped open my purse. The half-empty juice box was busted on one end. There was a strange yellowish stain on the white satin lining of the bag that matched the back of my drenched shorts. Basically, it looked like I peed myself.

Definitely a bad day to wear white.

“God, could this day get any worse?” I half expected to hear thunder or something in response.

At least there wasn’t anyone around. Thank goodness for small miracles. Tiny as it was. Hopefully I could get down the trail without bumping into anyone or twisting an ankle.

After dumping the rest of the juice out, I wiped my legs to get the extra liquid off and rubbed my sticky palms on the end of my T-shirt.

My wet socks rubbed uncomfortably against my ankles, but there was nothing I could do about it now.

Unless I could fashion a pair of shorts or something out of leaves.

Even if I was that handy, I’m not sure I could pull off the Tarzan look.

Suddenly—and because apparently God thought today would be the perfect Screw with Nina Day—I saw someone coming up the narrow path, blocking my way. A guy with a backpack, maybe around my age, but I couldn’t exactly be sure.

At first, I thought he was a mirage, since the sun in the background made his frame sort of glow like a Greek god.

But sadly, no mirage. Just a full-fledged guy who became hotter the closer he got to me.

Tall and lean, but I could tell by his fitted T-shirt that he had muscles on his arms. Not too many, just enough.

His baseball cap was pulled a little low over his face as he clutched at the straps of his black book bag.

His dark hair was cut short around his ears, which stuck out a bit beneath his simple black-and-white baseball cap.

A perfectly straight nose. His lower lip was a bit fuller than his top lip.

When he was about five feet away, he glanced over at me and smiled.

A cute, almost boyish, shy smile that was the tiniest bit lopsided.

And he had a dimple in his right cheek. A freakin’ dimple.

Yep, definitely hot and definitely my type. Double damn it. Why did I have to bump into him now?

Flustered, I stumbled backward into a huge rock jutting out in front of a couple of trees.

My hands immediately sprang to my hair and smoothed the damp strands off my face.

I didn’t need a mirror to know that my face was probably super red though; the only trait I inherited from Mom.

Instead of sweating like normal people, our faces got so red that we resembled an overripe tomato about to pop.

But somehow, even with the lack of sweat, I still smelled sweaty.

Needless to say, guys always stayed away from me in gym class.

Oh God. Did I even remember to put on deodorant this morning?

I resisted the urge to sniff myself, but I had a feeling the answer was no, since I ran out of the house earlier. Yeah, probably not.

On second thought, now probably wasn’t the best time to meet the love of my life. I adjusted the frames on my face and ducked my head a bit so my bangs fell over my eyes. I hunched over and froze like that would help me disappear into the trees.

Please let him pass me right up. Please …

At first, I thought that he really was going to walk right by, but at the very last second, he suddenly stopped in front of me.

Damn. Time for plan B.

I straightened my back and tried to look nonchalant, but flirty. Cool, but approachable. Sounds impossible, but I swear Linh perfected this look in middle school. I, however, could barely pull any looks.