For a brief second, my eyes connect with Kelsey’s, but she quickly looks away and adjusts the silverware in front of her. Well, seems like the moment we had at the back entrance is gone. Probably better off since she’s with her—wait, is that her date?
A gangly man with glasses and frumpy hair is perched next to her, fidgeting, and pushing up his glasses every few seconds. He looks very out of place, rather uncomfortable, and his ill-fitted suit practically swallows his neck in his seated position.
This is Edwin?
This is the guy Kelsey has been seeing?
I think I know enough about Kelsey to know this guy—just from appearance, yeah, I’m judging—is an absolute dud.
“Genesis?” Edwin says as his eyes connect with my date.
Genesis glances across the table as I take a seat and then audibly gasps. “Edwin, oh my gosh. Wow, how are you?”
Kelsey and I exchange confused glances.
“You two know each other?” I ask Genesis, who’s now leaning over the table to reach out and take Edwin’s hand. He grips it tightly.
“I’m great,” Edwin responds, both of them ignoring me. “You look... wow, you look stunning.”
I catch Kelsey’s reaction to the compliment. A turned-down brow and an insecure look in her expression.What’s that about?Surely she knows she’s gorgeous.
“Thank you. You’ve grown out your hair. I always thought you looked exceedingly handsome with longer hair.”
I clear my throat rather loudly and repeat my question. “You two know each other?”
“Oh, sorry, yes.” Genesis releases Edwin’s hand and turns toward me. “Edwin and I attended UCLA together. We were in the same study group all four years. We spent many late nights studying together.”
“Remember that one night in the library when we snuck ice cream in our backpacks?”
Genesis laughs. “For how smart we are, that was really dumb. There was ice cream all over our books.”
“How were we supposed to know we were going to be stopped by Professor Harkin for half an hour?”
Genesis chuckles. “I can still remember the look on your face when you pulled your notebook out of your backpack, drenched in strawberry shortcake ice cream.”
“Thank goodness you were a better notetaker than I was so I could copy your every page.”
“Well, anything for you, Edwin.” She winks, and I can feel my irritation start to climb. “What are you doing here in LA? I thought you were up in San Jose?”
“I was, but three months ago, I moved down here to be closer to family.”
“Edwin, you should’ve called me.”
He blushes, actually freaking blushes. “I wasn’t sure you’d want me to call you.”
“Are you kidding me? Of course, I would’ve wanted you to call me.” And then, they fall silent as they stare at each other from across the table.
Sparks fly.
Just like that, the air is thick with an intimate history.
And I can honestly say, without a doubt, this doesn’t look good for me or Kelsey.
* * *
“Oh my gosh,I completely forgot about that,” Genesis says, cutting her salad into more manageable bites. “The baseball team had no idea you could actually hit a ball, let alone off their best pitcher.”
The now very lively Edwin dusts off his shoulders. “Sometimes the nerd can play a little sport too.”
