Page 42 of Just Another Meet Cute

His question made me pause. How did I know? There wasn’t a name on the essay. And the Spider-Man comic was Ryan’s. But somehow, I knew that those were Ian’s words. That he was the one whose words touched me.

“I just do, and I’m sorry that I read it, but I’m also not sorry.” I shook my head because I knew that I wasn’t making sense. “Because when I read your essay, I thought it was amazing.”

He raised an eyebrow and scoffed. “Amazing? It was barely a rough draft. Half of it was me rambling to myself. That’s why I didn’t finish it. I didn’t really know where I was going with it.”

Even though he was brushing it off, I knew the essay was important. To both of us and he needed to know it.

I reached out to touch his arm. “But what you did write was amazing. Even though it wasn’t much, it was enough.

” I let out a short laugh. “It’s the main reason why I decided to track you down and accidentally found Ryan instead.

Because—because I didn’t understand how you could feel the same way that I did.

It was almost like I was writing the words down myself.

Except you expressed it way better than I ever could.

And I had to find out if you had figured things out yet. ”

Looking much nicer now, Ian shook his head. “I haven’t. I’m still trying to find out who I am without my family around. But the more I do that, the more I feel like I’m almost betraying them. Like wanting to distance myself makes me not a part of the family anymore.”

“That’s not true. You can be your own person and still be a part of your family. It’s not one or the other.” I grinned. “Whether you’re here 24/7 or visiting once or twice a month, you still have B á ’s ph? broth running through your veins.”

“I know, but … it’s still a work in progress.”

“Will you let me know when you figure it out? I could use some life-changing revelations with my family, too.”

Finally, the corners of his mouth quirked up a tiny bit. “So basically, I do all the work, and then you swoop in and reap the benefits.”

“I’ll give you credit for it,” I joked with a wink.

He laughed, and I brightened at the fact that I was able to cheer him up. “I’m surprised you cared about that stupid essay enough to track me down.”

“Because I care about—” I broke off and shook my head. “Because your essay made me get invested. Like a good book. You should definitely add that to your list of hobbies.”

Ian started to say something else, but Mr. Alan came over and clapped a hand on his shoulder. His other hand tossed a dirty towel over his shoulder. “Did Ian tell you about that new song he’s been practicing for you?”

“New song?” I glanced over at Ian as his face flushed. Seriously, it went from gorgeously tanned to tomato red within seconds. “No, he didn’t.”

“I didn’t practice it for her,” he muttered as he looked away. His head ducked down a bit as though he didn’t want to look me in the eyes.

This was surprising. I thought I knew all of Ian’s different sides, but I’ve never seen the shy side of him before. It was sweet and kind of endearing.

Mr. Alan laughed. “Sure, you didn’t. Why don’t you show her anyway?”

Ian looked like the last thing he wanted to do was play the piano for me. So obviously, I did the first thing that came to my mind. I dragged my chair over to the piano and patted the seat next to me. “Well, come on. I want to hear it.”

Tossing his piano teacher an annoyed look, Ian dragged himself over to sit next to me like he was going to his own execution.

“Come on, it can’t be as bad as the last time you played for me. Nothing could ever be that bad.”

I expected him to give me a cocky or sarcastic retort, but all he did was roll his eyes.

It wasn’t until he fiddled with the volume and keyboard settings for a few minutes before I realized that he was nervous.

Super nervous, like he was performing at a recital or something.

His leg bounced beneath the table, kind of distracting me.

I was tempted to touch him to calm him down, except I still didn’t know why he was so anxious in the first place.

It was just Mr. Alan and me. And obviously Mr. Alan had heard him play tons of times.

His fingers curved over the keyboard lightly. Ian let out a low deep breath and started to play. The first few keys were shaky and slow. It took a little while for me to catch the actual melody.

Ian’s forehead creased as he concentrated on the right notes, and I was tempted to smooth it out with my finger. I didn’t though, in case it would mess him up. At least his leg stopped shaking for the moment.

It was a slow and sweet song. There were a bunch of off keys here and there as Ian pressed the wrong ones, but I could tell that it was a love song. Even without any words. The melody was smooth and warm, like being caressed or enveloped in a big hug.

When he was done, I clapped my hands together in a light applause. “Well, that wasn’t half bad.”

The leg tapping came back. “Gee, thanks.”

Trying to look sincere, I gently poked his leg until he stopped. “Hey, I’m serious. That was pretty good. What song is it? I’ve never heard it before.”

Ian suddenly looked shy again. “It’s called ‘27. May’ by Yiruma. He wrote it for his wife, because that’s their wedding day.”

“I could tell it was a love song. You could almost feel the heart and emotions in the notes. It reminded me of being in love.” I glanced over at him. “Have you ever been in love?”

He shrugged. “To be honest, I don’t know, but I guess if I don’t know, then that would be my answer, right?”

“I guess.” Not knowing why his answer bothered me, since I’ve never been in love either, I scooted my chair closer so I could reach the keyboard, too. My right arm rubbed against his as I laid my fingers on the keyboard. “Teach me how to play that song. What’s the first note?”

Moving my hands around, Ian repositioned them until my fingers hovered over the right keys. “And press down on these fingers first and then this.” He tried to move my hands again, but almost jabbed me in my face with his elbow. “Hold on.”

To my surprise, Ian got up and stood behind me. With his arms around me, he laid both of his hands on top of mine. They were so big that they dwarfed my hands, but amazingly gentle and light as he helped me press down on the piano with each finger.

My breath got caught in my throat at the sudden feel of his warm hands on top of mine.

That combined with the cool keys beneath my fingertips.

Surely that was the reason goose bumps trailed up and down my arms. Not because his chest was pressed against my back, almost like he was cradling me.

Or that I could feel his face hovering over my head.

Not over my head.

My shoulder.

Ian was barely inches away from my face.

Especially when I turned my head to peek over at him.

Our eyes locked as our fingers froze in place.

His breath was on my lips like a light warm breeze, and it caused me to melt back against him a little bit, bringing us even closer.

Something I thought wasn’t even possible.

The expression on his face changed as he glanced down at my lips for a split second. But a split second was enough to make the tingling rush up to my neck. Especially when his face got closer. His breath smelled like peppermint.

I closed my eyes and then … and then …

“Hey, are you all done with the steaks tonight?!”

The shout hit me like a bucket of water. Hit both of us as we jerked our heads back and stared at each other. For a few seconds, we didn’t move.

I knew that the moment was gone, but I was reluctant to move.

Maybe Ian felt the same because he stayed hovered over me for the longest time.

Half holding me in the position, like he was hiding me.

Protecting me. My heart was still beating in overdrive at our almost kiss, even as my stomach sunk in disappointment.

Damn. I wanted to kick the person who interrupted us. Or at least give him an evil glare once I was able to pry my eyes away from Ian’s face. His lips were tightened into that annoying line again. Just a minute ago, they looked so soft and inviting.

Ian let out a low shaking breath. “I think that maybe you should learn on YouTube instead. I can barely teach you when I don’t know how to play myself.”

“That’s probably a good idea.”

Finally, we both pulled away at the same time.

“That was … Nina …” His voice was even softer than a whisper. I wouldn’t have even heard him if I hadn’t been watching his mouth so closely. He slowly swallowed, and my eyes flickered down the line of his throat before going back up to his face.

“Yes?”

Ian stared at me for a long minute. His eyes were barely blinking, but I could see a rush of emotions flood his face before he turned away from me. “I think I should go home.”

And he did.

And for the first time that week, Ian didn’t text me that night.