AllFreeNovel
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“Doing what?”
“Saying the cutest things. You’re like a character on a CW show.”
I laugh. “I’ve had a lot of practice.”
“Practice with girls?”
“Sure, and navigating awkward social situations. Being cute is merely a defense mechanism.”
“Defense from what?”
“Inquisitive women.”
“Sorry,” she says, smiling. “It’s a defense mechanism.”
“Defense from what?” I ask, cocking my head.
“Everything. The more you know and all that.”
“You sure you’re not just stalling so you don’t have to answer the question?”
She opens her mouth, then promptly closes it again as she glances around the cafe. “I feel overwhelmed,” she answers.
I pause. Not the answer I expected. “How so?” I ask.
“A week ago, the most I had to worry about was making rent,” she says. “Getting my homework done. Making sure Jenna was fed and watered.”
I chuckle.
“But now… there’s an insanely hot guy sitting in front of me who wants to kiss me and all I can think is, why me?” She presses her lips together. “I don’t know about you, Drew, but this doesn’t happen to me very… ever. I’m not usually the girl people chase after, so… yeah. Overwhelmed is how I feel.”
I stare at her. I must stare for too long because she leans back slightly and shifts on her seat.
“What?” she asks.
“Sorry,” I say, shaking my head. “I’m just surprised.”
“Surprised?”
“You know what I thought the first time I saw you?”
“What?” she groans, dreading the answer.
“Wow,” I say. “She’s really pretty.”
She scoffs. “You did not!”
I raise a Scout’s Honor. “It was about a week before we met. I was checking the bulletin board in Ramsey Hall for quick beer money when I saw you waiting outside of a classroom with Jenna. Your hair was up in a messy bun. You wore a pair of overalls and a striped t-shirt and your red sneakers.” I bend my left elbow and draw a line along the back of my forearm. “And you had this long, granite mark on your hand like you’d been working on something all day but you didn’t care to clean it off. Almost like you were proud of it. Jenna said something, and you started laughing so hard and I just remember thinking… wow…” I smile. “She’s really pretty.”
She sits stunned, barely blinking. “You remember what I was wearing?”
“I looked away for a second to answer a text and you were gone,” I say. “I wasn’t sure I’d find you again, but then I walked into Professor Wilson’s class a few nights later and there you were. I thought, excellent, I have something to look at for the next ninety minutes. I didn’t get bored once.”
“Is that true?” she asks, still doubtful.
“I couldn’t keep my eyes off you the whole night. And then you were in my car and my heart was pounding. And then I was in your house and my heart was still pounding. Everything about you was just… perfect.”
“Okay, but…”
