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Great.
I gathered my things in a hurry, my embarrassment fueling my annoyance. Over the rush of blood moving toward my heated cheeks, I realized he still hadn’t said a word to me.
“Excuse me,” I said as I started to walk away from him.
Pointless.
It was a waste of time to have thought Dexter would even care. No one ever did.
“Wait. Hey, wait up,” I heard him say behind me.
My heart started beating fast. It wasn’t what I’d been expecting. I shut down the pity party and aimed to look unaffected. I tossed him a look over my shoulder. “Are you going to apologize or…”
I was good. I was smooth. I wasn’t crazy anymore.
He finally apologized. I took it he had nothing else to say to me, so I told him it was fine, desperate to be done with this conversation. If I was in his presence long enough, he’d start to see me. And once he got a good look, he’d be long gone. I knew I’d been the cause of our interaction, but I couldn’t tell up from down and I’d forgotten who Dexter was and who I was.
“Can I make it up to you?” he asked.
That stopped me. It stopped my heart. It stopped the world as I knew it.
I turned, a silly grin on my face.
So much for cool,I thought to myself as I processed what he said.
“What?” I asked, afraid he hadn’t actually said it. I had to shut my brain up and focus on his lips, which wasn’t hard to do.
“Uh, I didn’t mean to bump into you. I had a pretty terrible day, wasn’t looking where I was going. And judging by your reaction, you weren’t having the best day either. It couldn’t hurt to stop somewhere, get something to eat, and maybe turn our luck around?” He brought his hand up over the slight scruff on his chin and if I didn’t know better, I’d think he was…nervous?
I smiled harder at the obscenity of that idea.
Right.
He’s nervous around me.
Pfft.
If he wanted to play this game, I was fine with that. I’d end up losing anyway. “Yeah, sure. Make it up to me.” I started walking away again.
He didn’t know my name. He didn’t have any way to contact me. But I wasn’t going to worry about that. If he wanted me, he’d find a way.
I heard his steps behind me and I wanted to laugh. This guy did not quit.
“Wait—I don’t know your name…or how to get ahold of you.”
There was a flash of fear at the sound of his voice. The sincerity it held, it was like hearing from an old friend, an old lover. So much transferred from his words to my mind and I doubted he even understood that. It made me want to run away from him and never look back.
Something about that connection frightened me.
Instead, I spoke again, remaining aloof. He wouldn’t call me. I would never hear from him again. So, what was the danger in this?
I walked away from Dexter Andrews with a pit in my stomach I tried to shake off. I’d gone out of my way, something I never did, and it didn’t go as planned. But it didn’t mean that my life would change overnight. It didn’t mean that Dexter would fall in love with me or that I wouldn’t be alone anymore.
Despite my hopes lifting higher and higher, I tried to act like what had happened wouldn’t change a thing. But the lightning bolt of nostalgia that zapped through me made me think otherwise. His words touched me like he knew me. And worse, I felt like I knew him.
It wasn’t possible.
I was an ant and he was a giant. I was the background and he was front and center.
