Page 19 of Just Another Meet Cute

“So that’s one taro milk slush with half sugar, extra boba—the small ones not regular—and egg pudding?”

Biting my lower lip, I skimmed Ian’s text for the tenth time to make sure it was right. “Yes, thanks.”

Despite the fact that I answered his stupid questionnaire honestly, Ian still ordered me around left and right at all times of the day.

It’s only been three days since his last email, and he’s texted me with an errand every single day.

And I couldn’t be positive, but I swear his smirk got bigger and bigger each time I saw him.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it were permanently plastered to his annoyingly handsome face by now.

Annoying face. Not handsome. Just annoying.

The cashier girl gave me a bright smile. “That will be $8.35.”

As instructed, I punched in Ian’s phone number so he could get the reward points and handed over the gift card he gave me. At least he wasn’t making me pay for his drink. That was something.

Although he was probably worried that if I paid for it, then I’d be tempted to spit in it. Normally, I would never do anything like that, but it did sound tempting …

A familiar voice called out my name behind me. “Nina?”

I whirled around, and my eyes widened at the handsome face in front of me. “Ryan! What are you—how—uh, hi!” My stomach dropped and I nervously looked over my shoulder. Darn it, did he see Ian’s name on the screen? What if he saw me put his brother’s number in?

Leaning back against the counter, I shifted my shoulders to the right to block the register. I plastered a tight smile on my face.

“What are you—”

He knew. My mind raced ahead a million miles for a believable excuse.

“—doing here? I thought you were hanging out with your mom today?”

Oh.

“I am. I mean, I will. I’m about to meet her in a bit. But I was thirsty, so I just had to grab a milk tea for myself,” I said with a nod. “Me and no one else. What are you doing here?”

“Just like you, except I’m grabbing milk tea for everyone in my family but me.” He swept his dark hair off his forehead and shook his head. “I’m not really a big fan of it.”

“It’s still sweet of you to get it for everyone else.” My head snapped up in panic. “Wait, what do you mean by everybody?”

I held my breath as my mind raced. Did Ian set this up? Was this all just a grand scheme for me to bump into Ryan and get caught? Maybe this was a way around his promise to keep my secret. But if that was the case, why make the promise in the first place? To torture me?

This didn’t sound like something Ian would do. Then again, I barely knew him. Deep down, he could be an evil, diabolic, conniving schemer.

Not noticing my inner turmoil, Ryan continued talking. “Everyone but Ian. I ordered one for him anyway, just in case he wants it later.”

“That’s nice,” I said absentmindedly. Okay, so not a schemer. Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t realize that Ryan was still talking. “Sorry, what?”

With a little half grin, he motioned to the register behind me. “Do you mind if I …”

Flushing, I leaped out of the way and watched as Ryan punched Ian’s number on the screen. Did everyone use the same number? It made sense with their big family, but then who gets the free drink? Maybe whoever was lucky at the time.

Apparently, Ryan ordered ahead because his drinks were already done. Ten various milk teas in different colors and toppings were carefully packed into two bags.

He grabbed the handles just as another girl behind the counter held out a cup to me. “Number 12. Taro slushie with small boba, egg pudding, and less sugar.”

“Thanks.” I looked up to see Ryan staring at me. “What?”

“That’s Ian’s exact order.” He shook his head and laughed. “How weird is that?”

My eyes widened a bit and I tried to laugh it off.

“Not—not really. I’m sure lots of people drink taro like this.

It’s on the menu after all. It wouldn’t be on the menu if people didn’t like it.

” Worried that he would hear the lie in my voice if I continued babbling, I jabbed a straw in the drink and took a deep swig.

Immediately, I tried not to gag.

The thing is, I hated taro with a passion.

It’s pretty much potatoes, and I’m sorry, I don’t care what anyone says, but potatoes are not meant to be a drink.

Roast them, fry them, heck, even potato soup is okay.

What’s not okay is blending it with ice and milk and having it masquerade as a slushie .

The lack of sugar only made the starchy taro flavor more prominent in my mouth. Somehow, I was able to swallow the disgusting, stomach-churning, unappetizing drink and give Ryan a smile. “Yum, my favorite.”

Thankfully, his watch buzzed and he sighed. “Sorry, I have to go. My sister’s waiting for me outside, and she’s threatening to ditch me.” Shifting one of the bags to his other hand, he reached out to catch my hand. His fingertips softly brushed against my knuckles. “I’ll call you later?”

“’Course.”

Once Ryan was safely outside, my smile dropped. Immediately abandoning the nearly full cup into the trash can on my left, I gagged as the taro flavor lingered in my mouth. A guy next to me shuffled a few feet away. Wise choice.

Digging into my purse for some coins, I moved toward the candy machine in the corner. It was filled with a bunch of random small treats and toys. Four cranks of the lever and I got my prize. Three Hershey’s Kisses, a small package of Twizzlers, and a toy ring. Perfect!

I popped the chocolates into my mouth and let out a happy sigh as the smooth, sweet candy melted in my mouth, washing away all traces of the taro. If only all problems could be solved as easily.

As the threat of vomiting passed, I came back to the counter. “Can I get another drink? Same taro as before.”

Even though she obviously saw me dump the drink just a minute ago, the cashier girl didn’t ask questions as I pulled up Ian’s number again.

I gnawed on a piece of Twizzler as I figured out what to do. This was getting complicated. Not only did I have to worry about letting something slip, now I had to worry about Ian slipping up, too. Whether intentionally or unintentionally.

The thing is, I knew that the more I dragged things on, the worse it would be when Ryan finally did find out. And the longer I lied to him, the more I was afraid that he wouldn’t forgive me anymore. No matter how nice he was.

Plus, now that Ian was involved, I didn’t even know how to start explaining.

The cashier girl spoke up, interrupting my thoughts. “Good news, with all the points you just earned, you have a free drink! Do you want to use it on this one or get something else?”

Finally, something good, even if it was just a free drink.

I should use it on Ian’s new drink. After all, I did toss his perfectly good—although using the word good may not be correct—drink away. The right thing to do would be to give him the free one. It was the nice thing to do.

I dug the gift card out of my pocket. “I’ll get another one. Regular milk green tea with herbal jelly. You can charge the taro on this card.”

I’ll be nice tomorrow.