Page 46 of Just Another Meet Cute

Wondering was worse than knowing.

Time to finally test out that theory.

Once I was able to check Dad and Aunt Sarah off the list of people to talk to, the next person was Ian.

He wasn’t as easy to track down though. When my texts and calls to Ian went unanswered, I had to resort to stalking him again.

Like Linh said, full-on stalker mode this time, with some vital help from Kathy.

Unable to stand still, I paced back and forth outside the supermarket as I waited for Ian to come out. I still wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to say. I mean, it wasn’t like I could just blurt out that I was in love with him. That may work in the movies, but real life was totally different.

Finally spotting him coming out of the entrance with a plastic bag, I popped out at him from behind the carts like a jack-in-the-box. “Finally! You took forever in there.”

Ian jumped back a foot and let out a heavy deep breath. “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you. We need to talk.” There was no use pretending. Ian usually saw right through my lies anyway.

His eyes narrowed. “But how did you—did Kathy tell you that I was here?”

“Maybe.”

“Seriously? Did she even need zucchini and alfredo sauce for tonight’s dinner or was it a trick to get me here?” he asked suspiciously, holding up the bag like it was a bomb.

“I have no clue.”

I hoped that once I saw him face-to-face, then we would be able to have an honest talk.

That our conversation would flow like it always did.

But now that he was right in front of me—all handsome and a little annoyed—I was so overwhelmed with my feelings that I didn’t even know how to start.

All the words that I wanted to say were jumbled up like there was a traffic jam in my throat.

It was an extremely frustrating feeling.

His eyes softened a bit like he could tell. “What do you need, Nina?”

“You never finished answering all the questions from the list,” I finally blurt out.

“I didn’t know there was a deadline for it.”

Why did I bring up the list? Shaking my head, I took a step toward him and he immediately backed up so the distance between us didn’t change. “Why have you been avoiding me?”

He edged toward the parking lot. “I’m not. I’ve just been busy.”

“Too busy to call? Or text? Definitely not too busy to get zucchini.”

Ian’s face scrunched up like he was in pain, and he turned away. His stride was so large and fast that I was practically running to keep up with him across the parking lot. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. But I really have to get home. I bought some ice cream and it’s going to melt.”

That was the lamest excuse I’d ever heard.

The urge to roll my eyes was overwhelming. Why was he the one who was mad? We both leaned in and almost kissed that day. Yet somehow he was acting like the victim. I was tempted to give him the silent treatment, too.

Instead, I reached out to open the passenger door. “Great, then you can drive me home, too.”

His hand came down and blocked the door from opening. “I can’t take you home.”

“Fine.” Glowering at him, I crossed my arms and didn’t budge. “Then I’ll take an Uber to meet you at your house instead. Sooner or later, you will have to talk to me.”

We had a stare down for another minute or two before Ian eventually let out a sigh hard enough to blow me over. He went to the other side of the car and tossed the groceries in the back seat—not seeming to care where the precious ice cream landed now.

Step 1: Get Ian alone. Done. I was back in the car with him.

Again.

The tension in the car was so thick that it was almost hard to breathe. Honestly, I was starting to hate this car. Each time I was in here, things got worse and worse. Maybe it would have been better to Uber to Ian’s house.

As I looked over at Ian’s profile for the hundredth time that night, I couldn’t help feeling like this might be the last time we’d be in the car together.

Judging by the way he was gripping the steering wheel and how far he leaned away from me—another inch and he’d go flying out the car door if it weren’t closed—I wouldn’t be surprised if I never heard from him again. With or without Kathy’s help.

And if that was going to happen, then I had only one chance to make the most of it. Especially because Ian seemed to be speeding through the streets to get me home as soon as possible. Already we were barely five minutes from my house. “Can I ask you a question?”

“No.”

My hands gripped together on my lap and I dove ahead anyway. “So, we almost kissed the other day.”

“That’s more of a statement than a question.”

“And you’re mad that we almost kissed.”

“More statements.” He let out a deep breath, too. “And no, I’m not mad.”

“You are.”

“No, I’m—”

Rolling my eyes, I jabbed my thumb back to point behind us. “You just ran that stop sign back there.”

His head whipped back to look as he slammed his palm against the steering wheel. “Oh, shit.”

“It’s okay. There weren’t any cars.”

“It would have been nice if you warned me before I ran the damn sign,” he grumbled.

Annoyed that he acted like even this was my fault, too, I slumped back against my seat and glared at him. “Or maybe next time you shouldn’t run the damn sign.”

“Sorry, I was … distracted.”

“Because of my question?”

“You haven’t asked any.” Ian cleared his throat. “But you were going to ask why we almost kissed, right? It was a mistake. Maybe it was the damn piano song. We got caught up in the moment. It happens. We should forget all about it.”

“That wasn’t my question.” I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes. “By the way, even if you’re not mad, now I am. Very mad.”

He looked started. “About the kiss? I’m sorry—”

“Not about the fact that we almost kissed. I’m mad that we didn’t kiss and you’re already acting like everything was a huge mistake.”

That immediately shut him up. But now that it was out there, there was no backing down. Not that I wanted to.

“Well?”

“I’m sorry.”

Scoffing, I resisted the urge to hit him. “Will you please stop apologizing? There’s nothing to apologize for. Like you said, we didn’t even kiss.”

Ian rubbed the back of his neck with one hand until his skin turned red. “I know, but I’m sorry. That’s all I can say right now.”

I don’t know what was more frustrating, the fact that he was avoiding me or the fact that he wouldn’t say anything else except “I’m sorry.”

Before I knew it, we were parked in front of my house. Knowing that I missed my chance, my fingers played with the door handle since I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. “Fine, answer one question now. You said you’ve never been in love before . What about now?”

I could hear his breath catch in his throat. “Why are you asking me that?”

“Why do you think?”

Instead of answering, Ian stared at me with a hard expression on his face.

Unreadable. And I thought he was going to turn away from me again.

But suddenly he reached out and pulled me to face him.

His hands wrapped around the top of my arms, digging into my shoulders.

But it didn’t hurt. If anything, his touch made me feel a little lightheaded, like I ate too much sugar.

He let out a deep shaky breath as he said my name. “Nina.”

So softly that it was barely a whisper.

And I felt it all the way down my spine. Tugging me closer and closer, his face hovered inches over mine for a split second, and he stared at me so hard and for so long that I thought he was going to reject me again.

Not wanting to give him that chance, my hands came up behind his neck and I pulled him in for a kiss. That long-awaited kiss.

It was explosive.

And definitely worth it.

As soon as our lips touched, everything happened at once.

Ian’s hands slid up to my face, holding me, angling my face a tiny bit to the left so we could fit perfectly together.

So he could kiss me even deeper. Harder.

His tongue traced my mouth until my lips parted and I couldn’t help letting out a soft sigh against his lips.

Pulling back, Ian briefly smiled against my cheek before swooping in for another tingling kiss.

I could barely concentrate on anything but him.

My hands ran down his shoulders and his lean muscles tensed beneath my fingertips.

And now it was his turn to let out a heavy breath as he pulled me even closer.

I’m not sure how it was even possible since we were pretty much plastered together by now. Nothing could get between us.

And he didn’t seem to mind. His lips slid over mine.

Over and over. It was both hard and soft.

Gentle and firm. And everything in between.

It made my head spin even as I was rooted to him.

And I didn’t care that we were just fighting.

I didn’t care that we were parked in front of my house and my entire family could be watching.

I didn’t care about anything as long as Ian was here with me. In this moment.

While my hands moved from his shoulders, to his neck, around his waist, Ian’s hands stayed on my face as he cupped my cheeks. Gently holding me together as though he were afraid that I would fall apart, which I probably would have.

After what felt like ages, when I thought he was going to end the kiss, Ian murmured my name against my lips. Feather soft in that way that made me want to swoon in his arms. Which I did. And the kiss went on. And on. And on.

Until finally, he pulled back.

I knew before I opened my eyes that Ian was already regretting our kiss. All of them. And it hurt that something so beautiful, so wonderful, would make him feel so bad. I already knew that I would be dreaming about these kisses for a while.

“Don’t you dare say you’re sorry again or I’m going to have to kick your ass,” I announced before he was even able to pull completely away. “You can’t say that was a mistake.”

Ian let out a reluctant chuckle and for a second, I thought he was going to pull me back into his arms. But no such luck. “Of course I want to kiss you; I want to kiss you more this very moment. I would be crazy not to want to kiss you. But we can’t.”

I swallowed at the lump in my throat. “Because of Ryan?”

“Yes. I told you before that I would never hurt him. I can’t.

He’s my brother.” Ian rubbed his forehead between his fingertips.

“And you’re dating him. But even if you weren’t—if there’s only a 0.

1% chance that he likes you—then we can’t be together.

I can’t take that risk of him being hurt. I can’t betray him like that.”

I should have seen it coming. In my heart, I knew that he was being a good big brother. Protective as he’s always been. And in a way, that made me love him even more. So much more.

And in a way, he was right. It wasn’t right to betray Ryan like this. He didn’t deserve any of this. As amazing as this kiss was, it was a mistake, and it probably pushed Ian away even more.

But I couldn’t help how I felt. And although I had a thousand things to apologize for, I wasn’t going to apologize for following my heart.

“The last thing I’d want to do is hurt Ryan, but I’m not his girlfriend. We’ve only gone on a handful of dates.” Frustrated with Ian and myself, I shook my head. “I’m not saying that it’s right, and I will talk to him, but how I feel about him and you are two entirely separate things.”

“But you were with Ryan first.”

“And I met you first. But none of that matters.” My eyes narrowed. “It’s not like you guys can call dibs on me. I have a right to my feelings, too.”

“I know, but—” Ian ran a shaky hand through his hair and tugged on the top strands. “We just can’t, okay? I think we should—”

“Forget this happened?” I let out an empty laugh. “Yeah, I’ve heard that before.”

Turning his head to face the window, he leaned his forehead against the glass. I could see the reflection of his narrow chin. His lips were pursed together so tightly that no words could come out. Our time together was up.

Even so, knowing now that all the problems in my family, between my parents and Aunt Sarah, were all because they kept secrets from each other, I knew that I couldn’t leave without telling Ian how I felt. At least one last time.

Letting out a deep breath for courage, I looked straight at him, almost memorizing his face.

“You know, I thought I had been in love before, but it turns out that I never was. Because it’s nothing compared to how I feel about you now.

Even though I know you’re the one walking away from me. From this .”

He glanced up at me. His eyes were rimmed with sadness, but I could tell that he wasn’t going to change his mind. “Nina …”

Before he could reject me again, I flung the car door open and jumped out. Without a backward glance, I rushed up the walkway, almost tripping over my own feet. But I kept moving forward. Each step was faster than the last.

Because with each second that passed—each step that I took—Ian didn’t follow me. He didn’t call me back. He didn’t do anything. He sat in the car until I was safely inside the house and then drove off.