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“Where are you two going so early in the morning?” Molly asks, gripping her coffee mug in her hands.
“We’re getting brunch,” I answer for him, stepping into the living room.
Lincoln turns when he hears my voice, the corners of his lips twisting upward in an impish grin. His hands are shoved firmly into the pockets of his dark jeans and he’s traded in a Mixon Motocross T-shirt for a navy pearl snap shirt. The sleeves are rolled and shoved up to his elbows and his dark hair has been brushed and swept to the side with a crisp part. He’s even cuter than usual.
“Brunch will be fun!” Molly says with a little too much enthusiasm. “Just don’t offer Hana any coffee or she might throw it on you,” she adds, cupping her hand toward Lincoln as if we all couldn’t hear her.
“Oh I already know about Hana’s extreme aversion to coffee,” he says. “Any other food warnings I should know about?”
“No,” I say, grabbing him by the arm and shoving him toward the front door. “We will not be discussing my quirks in front of everyone. Let’s go.”
“Have fun!” Molly calls out as I shove Lincoln out of the door and close it quickly behind us.
“Sorry about that,” I tell him as we head toward his truck. It’s a blue Chevy pickup almost identical to my red one. “You know how it is with family . . . they won’t let me go anywhere without embarrassing me first.”
He clicks the door lock with his keys and opens the passenger side for me. “Nah, your family is cool.”
I thank him and climb into the truck, feeling like this whole open-the-door-for-me thing is a little too serious, too date-like. And although this is a date, it’s also happening at ten in the morning, and I’d wanted it to be a little more casual. I don’t need Acts Like a Gentleman to be added to the list of reasons why Lincoln would make a great new boyfriend.
My phone buzzes and since Lincoln’s driving, I break the rules of polite dating and check the message real quick. It’s Teig, and he’s being a little brat.
He’s nice and all but he’s no Ash.
I glance over and Lincoln is focused on the road, so I quickly type back to him and hope my little brother catches the venom in my words.
Ash doesn’t want me so seriously just shut up.
“Sorry, Teig was just asking me a question,” I say, shoving the phone back into my purse.
Lincoln glances over for a moment before turning his attention back to the road. “Why are you apologizing?”
“I was texting, and that’s rude on a—” I can’t bring myself to say the word and heat rises up my neck. I glance quickly at my fingernails.
“Date?” Lincoln says as if he’s not sure that’s the correct answer.
“Yeah.”
He lets out a chuckle through his nose. “Hana, this is just brunch. It’s not a big deal. It kind of seems like you’re a little freaked out, and that’s not at all what I intended when I asked you to go to the party with me.”
“I seem freaked out?” Just when I thought I was holding it all together . . .
He nods. “It’s cute. But you can text if you want to. This doesn’t have to be a big deal. I just wanted to get to know you because you seem like a cool chick.”
“You seem like a cool chick too,” I say too quickly for my words to make sense in my head. “I mean—dammit, no. I meant a cool guy.”
He glances over at me. “See? Told ya. You’re a little freaked out, and this is just brunch, Hana. No pressure, I swear.”
Our eyes meet and then we both laugh. “Okay, no pressure,” I say.
“I’m glad you called,” Lincoln says, drumming his thumbs on the steering wheel. He’s a good driver, cautious and confident, and although I’m not trying to make a list in my head, that gets added to it. “I mean, I would have been happy just going to a party with you, but brunch is even better.” He looks over at me, a coy quirk in his gaze. “It’s not every day a hot girl asks me on a date.”
“Excuse you?” I lift an eyebrow. “I didn’t ask you on a date.”
“Uh, yeah you did, Hana. You called me last night and asked me out. I remember it word-for-word.”
My cheeks flame and I must stay silent for too long because he leans over and nudges me on the shoulder, that cheeky smile back again. “I’m just playing with you. I asked you out first, but you asked me to go out sooner. I’ll just take that to mean you can’t stop thinking about me.”
Or I need to stop thinking about someone else, rather.
