AllFreeNovel
Share Us
In his hand was a single rose, a blue one. Nice.
“Susie,” he said with a little wave in her direction.
I stood up from the couch and just stood there. Thinking back, I might have looked like a dummy. I didn’t even say anything at first. I was kind of awestruck. This guy was gorgeous and not in the beach bum Abercrombie way. He was more Adam Levine in Brooks Brothers casual.
“Yes,” I said.
And everyone just stared.
Hadn’t he introduced himself to me?
Holy shit he didn’t.
In my daydream state he’d said something like, “And you must be Mandy.”
In reality we hadn’t been introduced at all and he didn’t seem to know my name.
“Yes?” Susie repeated, clearly making fun of me.
“Umm, hi,” I managed to force out.
“Braden, this is Mandy, but I’m so sorry to say that she’s decided she’d rather stay home…”
“No,” I blurted out.
Okay, this is getting worse.
I turned to Susie. “Susie, shut up.”
She looked taken aback but then laughed, put her head back, and threw her hands up like, “whatever” and laughed it off. She could never hold a grudge.
Brazenly I walked past Vince, grabbed Braden by his hand, and pulled him out of the apartment. Yes, I would be getting some this night.
Finally outside and alone, Braden chuckled and squeezed my hand, a signal I realized meant, “stop.” I did halfway to the parking lot.
“Sorry about that,” I said. “I just needed to get out of there before my friends did their best to make me regret this.”
He flashed me a crooked grin, adorable. He was sly and I’d need to be careful if I didn’t want to fall too deep into his well of charm. This one might even be bottomless.
“Regret this?” he asked. “Regret me? Ouch.”
I would not be regretting him.
“Maybe,” I said, trying my best to put up a hard-to-get front.
“Well, I think we’re in the clear. Think we can do the formal introductions now?”
“Yes, of course. I’m Amanda, Mandy.”
“I like that. Mandy. It’s short, cute, sassy. Doesn’t roll off the tongue but kind of leaps off like KaPOW.”
KaPOW. From anyone else I’d be thinking, “Uh oh, is this one of those cheesy comic book loving kind of guys?”
But not this guy. From him I was thinking, “Awesome, he kind of sounds like one of those comic book loving kind of guys.”
“KaPOW,” I repeated. “That’s me alright. And what’s your secret identity?”
“Braden Cranston, the third.”
