Page 5 of Just Another Meet Cute

Linh pressed a hand against the mall door when I tried to open it. “Okay, before we go in, I have to ask you a serious question.” She squinted at me. “Are you wearing mascara?”

Cheeks flushing, I quickly turned away. I rubbed a finger against my lower lip in case she’d noticed the lip gloss I had on, too. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. So, are you coming in the gym with me or not?”

Narrowing her eyes, she finally released the door. “Of course I am! I came this far with you. I don’t mind going into full-on stalker mode, too.”

It took every ounce of willpower I had not to roll my eyes again.

Despite her sarcasm, I knew she would come with me; she always did.

Whether it was to get my ears pierced, my driver’s license, or even to get my wisdom teeth pulled.

Unfortunately, her undying loyalty came at a price, usually an unlimited supply of grumbling and sarcasm. With some free food thrown in.

Good thing we were already at the mall.

The sugary cinnamon smell swirled around us as soon as we walked in. My mouth automatically watered and I could already taste the pillowy goodness.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, which was pretty tough since she was 5 ′ 6 ″ and I was barely 5 ′ 1 ″ or 5 ′ 2 ″ if I teased my hair just right.

I used to be the taller one, but Linh shot up over four inches in the past year and a half.

“Good. But first we need to get a Cinnabon, because I’ve been craving one all week. ”

She snorted. “Only you would eat a huge snack before going to the gym.”

“Not a whole one. You’re splitting it with me.” I gave her a big cheesy grin. “We’re in this together.”

“I was afraid of that,” Linh said, shaking her head. “Fine, but you’re buying and we’re getting the caramel pecan one. With a taro bubble tea on the side. Extra egg pudding and no boba.”

“Deal.”

After our satisfying snack, we walked over to the gym and peeked in.

It was pretty crowded for a Thursday afternoon.

Or maybe this was the usual crowd for a weekday.

I didn’t really know. My idea of a fun afternoon was eating pizza or going go-kart racing.

Certainly not sweating buckets on some machine.

One quick glance around and I could already see that Ian wasn’t here. Unless he was in the locker room, but I was pretty sure I wasn’t allowed to check in there. Images of a shirtless Ian popped in my mind, and my face immediately burned. I physically had to shake my head to focus.

“Okay, so what’s the plan?” Linh whispered as she looked around, ducking her head a bit to hide behind me. Like that was even possible.

“Ummm …”

She rapped her knuckles against the side of my head. “You don’t have a plan, do you?”

I really didn’t. Up until this point, I was pretty much winging everything.

I cleared my throat. “I’m improvising. Unless you have something in mind?”

“I don’t—”

“Hi, can I help you with something?”

We both squealed and jumped upright. Our heads smacked together like the Three Stooges. My hand grasped the doorframe so I wouldn’t fall on my face.

“Are you all right?” A really tall guy in a blue polo shirt peered over at us from behind the counter. He looked about eighteen or so. A little bit on the nerdy side, with his black wire-rimmed glasses and tucked-in shirt. But a cool, chic type of nerd, like he didn’t care what people thought.

“Hi!” Startled, I automatically waved aimlessly for a few seconds before realizing how stupid I looked. “We were—We were …”

My mind drew a blank until finally Linh stepped out from behind me. With a flirty grin, she swept her dark hair over her shoulder. “Hi, I’m Linh. And this is my cousin, Nina.”

“I’m Todd.” He barely took his eyes off her as he reached out to shake my hand. “So, what can I do for you, ladies?”

“I, uh, found this key fob outside. Some guy dropped it. Maybe you know him? His name is Ian. Dark hair. Asian. Probably a couple of inches shorter than you.” Incredibly good looking, with a smile that could melt you like a rocky road ice cream cone on a summer day , I internally added.

“Uh, no, sorry. I don’t think I know Ian. If you want, I could hold the gym fob if he comes looking for it.” His hand reached out toward my hand, and I jerked away.

“Oh.” I glanced down at the computer in front of Todd. “Do you want to check the computer first? To make sure that he belongs to this gym? I don’t want to leave it here if he doesn’t.”

“I’m sure he does. That looks like one of our—”

“Could you check anyway?” My voice came out a little louder than I intended. I cleared my throat and smiled. “Please?”

Giving me a funny look, he let out a heavy sigh under his breath and held out his hand again.

This time I surrendered the key fob and he shoved it under the computer scanner thingy before giving it back to me.

I held my breath until it beeped. It took ages, like time had slowed down.

Finally, a profile flashed on the screen.

Tiptoeing forward, I peered over Todd’s shoulder.

There he was. Ryan Nguyen.

Wait a second …

I leaned in closer to squint at the blurry ID picture on the screen to check again. His hair was a little bit longer, but the smile and the eyes were exactly the same. And the dimple.

My mind raced through our short conversation from the other day, but I was certain that he said his name was Ian. Almost certain. ’Course, looking at his gym profile now, I couldn’t be 100 percent positive …

“Excuse me?”

“Hmm?” I glanced up at Todd’s frowning face. He waved both hands at me to back up and I realized that I was practically draped over his shoulder. Cheeks flushing, I jumped back behind the counter and grabbed Linh’s arm. “Oh, sorry. I was—Uh, Linh, didn’t you need something?”

“What?”

“Remember?” My eyes flitted back and forth between Todd and the computer so many times I could feel my contacts sliding out of focus. “You wanted to check out the gym while we were here …”

Following my gaze, her face brightened and she nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to join one for a while. Do you think you could show me around?”

Todd rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know. I’m supposed to watch the front. But if you want, I can get one of the trainers for you.”

“Oh, I assumed that you were a trainer because you’re so …

” Linh trailed off and leaned against the side of the counter toward him.

Her fingertips tapped against the surface as she pouted.

If anyone else did this, it would have looked totally obvious.

But Linh’s wide eyes and slightly rounded cheeks made her look sweet and innocent.

Gorgeous, but still innocent. “Are you sure you can’t show me around?

I think I’d be more comfortable checking out the place … with you.”

I almost laughed and blew our cover, but thankfully I hid it with a loud cough. It didn’t matter though. I’m pretty sure I could have done a backflip and Todd wouldn’t have noticed.

Looking flattered, he cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses with one hand before glancing around. Finally, he came out from around the counter. “I guess I could. Most of the people who come here on the weekdays are regulars. They know what to do. Did you want to join us, Nina?”

“Oh, no. I’m good.” Trying not to be too offended at the relief on his face that I wasn’t joining them, I pushed Linh toward him like an offering. “Go ahead and have fun. I’ll stay here and wait for you to finish. Check my email or something.”

She beamed. “Should we get started?”

As Todd walked toward her, I cheered silently to myself and got ready to pounce on the computer to get a better look at Ian—no, Ryan’s—profile.

But at the very last second—as though he knew what I was plotting—Todd leaned back and logged out.

The screen instantly disappeared and was replaced with a screen saver of dogs playing in the park.

Crap.

I waited until they left before leaning across the counter to poke the computer mouse. The user login screen popped up. Double crap.

Now what?

Before I could figure out plan B on how to hack into the computer, a bell rang out over my head and a group of overly buffed guys came in. They were so busy nudging each other and laughing that they almost ran right into me, still draped over the counter.

The tallest one gave me an odd look. “Are you okay?”

My mind raced. “Of course. There was just a smudge or something here.” Smiling awkwardly at them, I dusted off the edge of the counter with my hand before backing away from the front desk. “Oh, darn, I’m already late for my workout with …”

Before any of them could say anything, I raced across the room and turned around the first corner I saw.

In one swift movement, I plopped myself down on the first machine I could reach and tried to blend in.

Thank God, leggings were usually part of my everyday outfit, so I didn’t stand out too much.

Heart racing a mile a minute, my arms gripped the handles of the machine.

Even though I wasn’t exactly sure what the machine I was sitting at was for, I knew it had something to do with legs.

I attempted to push it forward with my feet, but it only moved up a few inches before slamming back down with a loud clang.

People turned to stare. I ducked my head to avoid their eyes.

“Uh, excuse me, are you using this machine?”

My head whipped around so quickly that I swear my neck made a loud crack. It instantly began to throb. “Sorry, what?”

A guy around my age leaned over from the machine next to me. His honey blond hair was cut close to his head, and I could almost see the beads of sweat on his scalp. He motioned at me again. “The machine. Are you still using it?”

“Oh. Oh!” I jumped up and wiped my hands against the side of my leggings. When did they get so sweaty? “Yeah, I’m done with … that. Be careful, it’s heavy.”

He flashed a half smile at me and sat down. “Thanks.”