Instead, I keep my stare angled at the floor and catch a knee brace over a pair of grey sweatpants.
“Maddie, this is my friend Seth.”
With incredible strength, I pick my stare up from the ground and meet Seth Aarons in all his sharp angles and dimpled chin glory. His emerald eyes land on mine with a crooked grin. “Hello,” he says with a tip of his chin.
I go to open my mouth. Hello is an easy word. I should be able to utter it, but I can’t—. There’s a decided twinkle in his eye when he sees the effect his presence here has on me, and the words ‘ass’ want to fall out of my lips, but I don’t know if Jenny would quite get my sudden annoyance with our guest.
“Maddie. Scoot.” Jenny gestures for me to move. “I have the purses. Seth has to sit next to you.”
“Oh, right.” I blink, trying to shake myself out of my haze, and push along the bench.
Seth slides in, and I sit rigidly in the booth. Heat radiates off the side of him.
“Maddie, this is my friend Seth I was telling you about. We’re in Chemistry class together. He just transferred here, so I thought we should invite him into the pack since we’re the two coolest people on campus.”
“Oh yeah?” I nervously laugh, turning my head toward him. “It’s nice to meet you, Seth.”
“Likewise, Maddie, was it?”
“Mhm.” I manage. When I left Seth, he was angry, justifiably so—but if this is the ten minutes he’s choosing to redo, then we’re probably okay, right?
Jenny’s lips curl, but they soon falter, following someone who just entered the diner.
I don’t have to guess—I know it’s Brady and Lacey. He’ll walk past our booth ignoring us soon, pretending we didn’t date for almost a year, and I’ll get the idea that I need to be more like Lacey. Except my head is so scattered with thoughts of Seth that I doubt that the second part will happen now. Not that I want it to. I meant it when I told Seth that the regretful version of me was never anyone’s saving grace.
I leave my hand resting on the bench for stability. When this happened the first time, my heart was ripped out of my chest, but I’m not even sure my heart is mine to lose anymore.
Right on schedule, a calm, cool, collected woman saunters past our booth, Brady following two steps behind. “Babe, I want curly fries.”
“I’ll order whatever you want when the waitress comes, babe.”
“No, I want them now. I’m starving.”
“Of course, anything you want.” He scratches the back of his head and turns to go to the counter, not bothering to meet my eye.
Flames lick the nerves along my hand. I glance down and find Seth’s pinky brushing up against mine. His sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, and the ink on his right arm swirls around his forearms. He flashes me a tentative smile.
“I need to go pee,” Jenny exclaims, pulling us away from our weird stare. “Maddie, tell Seth about the matching shirts we just got or something.” She glances between us and mouthshe’s cute. Go for it.
God, I love that woman.
She bolts out of the booth and disappears, leaving the two of us behind.
“Matching shirts? Huh?” He arches his brow, still stroking my pinky. Butterflies swarm the pit of my stomach.
“Club tees with narwhals.” I nod. “We can get you one, if you want, to be a part of the club. Where we’re going to be pals, friends, companions.”
With a heated stare, Seth locks his eyes with mine. “I’m not here to be just friends with you, Madeline.”
“Oh then, why are you here?” My pulse thuds in my ears, and I squirm on the bench, the rush of sensations overwhelming me.
Seth cocks his head to the side. “Am I making you nervous?” His lips curl into a tiny smirk.
“What?” I laugh, and in my panic, a snort follows. I cover my mouth. “Hell, so much for getting rid of that tic.”
“Oh, come on, it’s cute.”
“Well, fair, that’s what I am now.” I huff.
