“I have a great feeling about this,” I said. I grinned at her as I turned the corner.
Suddenly, I was knocked down on my ass, and popcorn was everywhere. It felt like I had walked directly into a streetlight. I hit the floor with an incredibly graceless “oof!” and my skirt fell around either side of my hips.
“Ow,” I said, looking up. Staring directly down at me, with a big grin on his face, was the most attractive guy I had ever seen in my life. Chiseled jaw and perfect nose, smooth skin, and short-cropped hair, his deep blue eyes pierced back into me, and ran up and down my body. He didn’t even try to pretend like he wasn’t checking me out, and I both loved it and hated it. The feeling left a knot of excitement in my stomach.
“Hey there,” he said, with a small laugh. It took me a second to fully understand: he was eyeing up my white with pink polka dot panties, clearly visible between my sprawled legs and skewed skirt. Turning bright red, I slammed shut my legs and smoothed out the fabric.
“I’m sorry,” I said, trying to scramble to my feet. I decided to pretend like he hadn’t seen anything. I was beyond mortified.
“Don’t worry about it, polka dots.” He reached out a hand and helped me up. His body was strong, muscled and well proportioned, and he was a bit more than six feet tall. I could have sworn he was made out of bricks when I ran into him.
And this gorgeous guy was calling me by my underwear. What an asshole.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there,” I said.
He took a step closer and my breath caught in my throat. “Are you okay?”
What a gentleman. He had been too busy staring at my panties to ask right away.
“I’m fine. I’m sorry about your popcorn.” A bucket of popcorn was spilled on the ground next to our feet, and I assume he had been holding it a second earlier.
He shrugged. “Worth it for the extra show.”
Wow. I couldn’t believe him. I felt both excited and humiliated, which was confusing. I couldn’t tell if I wanted to slap that cocky grin from his face, or if I wanted to run my fingers through this hair and bite his lower lip.
“I’ll buy you some more,” I said, trying to deflect his comment. Flustered, I crouched down and started to gather as much of the spilled kernels as I could.
“What’s your name?” he asked, bending down next to me to help. Our bodies and faces were inches away, and I could smell his sweet, wonderful scent.
“Linda.” I caught him glance along my body again, and I felt a thrill of excitement run down my spine. I hated that I loved his gaze so much. Part of me wanted to take him into a bathroom and give him a better look.
“Linda. I’m Noah.” His voice was deep and smooth.
“Sorry again about the popcorn,” I said. I avoided eye contact, feeling awkward, as my pulse quickened from his closeness.
“Don’t worry about it, polka dots. Really.”
“Well, enjoy your show, then,” I snapped at him, not sure what else to say. I stopped gathering and stood up straight.
He grinned up at me again, boyish and handsome.
“I already did, but thanks,” he said. With that, he gave me another smile, scooped up what popcorn he could, and then walked off into a theater.
I stood there shaking for half a second. I couldn’t believe how rude he had been. He didn’t even try to pretend like he hadn’t seen my underwear, and he was basically fucking me with his eyes. If I hadn’t liked it so much, I might have done something more drastic. As it was, I felt humiliated and angry and excited all mixed into one confusing moment.
Before I could drop into a fantasy where I punished him over and over for being such a dick, Chris stepped up next to me.
“Who was that hottie?” she asked
I snorted. “Just some asshole I almost tackled.”
“He was into you. I thought he was about to ask you out.”
I paused. “Do you really think so?”
“I thought he was ‘just some asshole’?” she said, grinning at me. “But yeah, definitely. He was practically impregnating you with his eyes.”
“Oh shut up,” I said, rolling my eyes. Before she could come back at me, I walked off toward the box office window. Despite my bruised dignity, I was determined to see the movie. Chris laughed and followed, and I knew I was in for a few more jokes about that beautiful asshole Noah before the night was over.
Chapter Two
Chris and I lived in a small, two-bedroom apartment on the southwest corner of campus. Across the street, less than a hundred feet from our front door, was the best Chinese food place in north Philly. A few days later, as the last evening of summer vacation wound down, and more and more students filtered into the area, we ate noodles and sat on the stoop. The night was hot, sticky and sweaty, and we chatted aimlessly about the coming week. The first few days of classes were always the most fun; they were usually syllabus days, and we rarely had homework. Chris was particularly excited for her neurology class, since she wanted to be a brain surgeon, and I was looking forward to a survey of early American films. Since I wanted to be, well, something.