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Get a grip, I hissed to myself in my head. Not now...not..now.
I took a deep breath and mentally put the walls up and forced myself to focus. Everyone was looking at me oddly and Sarah tilted her head, narrowing her gaze on me.
I laughed weakly. "Sorry, I think I breathed in too much smoke from the garlic bread we burned earlier." I took a step forward towards Grant's cousin. "Hi Simon, nice to meet you."
Simon came closer, holding out his hand. "Hi Caitlin, nice to meet you too. Thanks for having me over."
I hesitated and then clasped his hand in mine. "Sure. Any cousin of Grant's is a cousin of mine." I tried my best to smile at my half-hearted joke but I couldn't stop staring at Simon. He was very good looking, a "hottie" as Sarah would say. But I was staring at him for a totally different reason.
Simon smiled wider as he glanced down at our hands that were still clasped.
"Oh," I started and tried to tug my hand away but Simon held on more firmly.
"I don't think I want to think of you as a cousin," he smirked.
Great, at least maybe his arrogance would diminish my anxiety over having seen him in my vision.
I pulled my hand harder, succeeding this time in freeing my hand from his grasp. "Anyways, now that everyone's here we can get started. Sarah, can you get the guys some drinks? Everyone can help themselves. I just need to run to the bathroom."
I made a quick escape down the hall and closed the bathroom door behind me, turning on the faucet. I ran my wrists under the cold water, willing my pulse to slow down. I looked at myself in the mirror, grimacing at how pale my face was and how large and terrified my brown eyes looked.
"Calm down, Caitlin," I whispered to myself. "Just calm down. So what. You've seen him in a vision. It doesn't mean anything. It doesn't mean anything."
I turned off the water, dried my wrists, and took a deep breath as I walked out of the bathroom with a smile pasted on my face. Everyone was milling around the table of food, heaping piles of spaghetti and salad onto their plates, chattering amongst themselves.
"Hey," Sarah whispered, pulling me aside into the kitchen, away from everyone else. She looked concerned and pulled me close. "Are you okay? You looked like you were going to keel over in there."
"Oh, I'm fine," I lied, trying to smile. "I really do think I just inhaled too much smoke earlier. That's what I get for living with Smokey the Bear."
"Ha, ha," Sarah said, rolling her eyes. Then her face lit up. "Oh my God, how cute is Simon! He is so hot. He's a senior too and he's looking for his own apartment to rent but who knows how long that'll take. So he'll probably be staying downstairs for a while. And did you see the way he looked at you?" She grabbed my hand and crooked my pinky with hers. "We're gonna be related, I tell you!"
I laughed as I felt some of my anxiety slip away. Leave it to Sarah to make me relax with her boy-crazy ways.
"Sarah, you think every guy has the hots for me. And he probably thinks I'm some weirdo that's never talked to a boy before, considering how out of it I was," I replied.
"Well, it's not my fault so many guys have the hots for you and you don't give them the time of day," Sarah frowned. She then shook her head and smiled, banishing her matchmaking thoughts. "C'mon, let's get out there!"
Sarah and I both made our way back into the living room. Jenny, Marcus and Grant sat on the couch, digging into their plates of food. I could see out of my peripheral that Simon was sitting on our recliner. As Sarah and I filled our own plates, I felt as though I could feel his steady gaze on me. Refusing to look in Simon's direction, I sat down on the floor next to the coffee table and placed my plate on top of it.
"Here," I heard his deep voice say. "Why don't you sit on the recliner. I can take the floor."
"Oh, no, no," I exclaimed, fluttering my hand in Simon's general direction. "You're the guest, go ahead. And the floor's comfortable."
"I insist," Simon replied. I felt a hand close around my upper arm. I could feel the warmth of his body as he towered over me, pulling me close as he pulled me up at the same time.
"Hey!" I exclaimed. "Hands off the merchandise!" Being hauled around like I was a piece of furniture didn't sit well with me. "Go sit down, I'm fine." I futilely pushed Simon's shoulder, trying to get him to release me.
Grant laughed. "Simon's always been the chivalrous one. You're not going to win this fight, Caitlin."
Jenny looked at me curiously, probably wondering why I was protesting so much. "Just sit in the chair, Caitlin. It's not every day we get a gentleman around here."
At her remark, I saw Marcus frown but I ignored it as I tried to get myself out of my predicament. I did not want Simon touching me. I had assumed his touch would make me tense and anxious, but I hadn't imagined that it would make me feel as though my body was on fire as well.
"Okay, okay!" I said, finally succeeding in pulling my arm out of Simon's grasp. "I'll sit in the damn chair."
I grabbed my plate and walked the few steps to the recliner and plopped myself down loudly to express my displeasure. To my horror, Simon sat down on the arm of the recliner, leaning back as he dug into his plate of food. I leaned in the other direction as far as I could without toppling over and dropping my plate.
"I thought you were sitting on the floor," I said crossly. "That's not the floor. You're crowding me."
