Free Absolute Zero by Lynn Rush Page B

line.”
    He stepped away from the counter. “Come sit with me.”
    I glanced at Georgia. Her eyebrows pulled together, creasing her forehead, then she gave a slight nod. I tossed my washrag to her, and she caught it. She mouthed the words, “He’s so cute.”
    Was my sister encouraging me to hang with Nate? That was just wrong. She should be talking me out of it. I had a boyfriend.
    A boyfriend who was MIA.
    I shuffled around the corner, then pushed through the half swing-door and followed him out to the booths. He sat in the one furthest from the counter. I couldn’t see Georgia any longer, which was probably a good thing. She was going to get me in trouble. Normally the voice of reason in this whole twin-sister-thing, she should have talked me out of sitting with Nate.
    So, he’d tracked me down. So, he’s amazingly good looking. So, I’d love to find out what his hair felt like between my fingers.
    Oh wait. Scratch that last one.
    I suck.
    “What’s so important that you had to stalk me?” I slid into the booth across from him, wishing I’d made myself a smoothie. I didn’t know what to do with my hands.
    “I’m sorry about the other night.”
    “Sorry?” I shifted in my seat. The amber in his eyes really flickered beneath the lights. Or maybe it was because the sun was spilling through the window at the perfect angle.
    “That guy, Zach, he’s your boyfriend isn’t he?”
    I nodded.
    “I’m sorry if my helping you out ticked him off. I didn’t mean—”
    “It’s okay.”
    Oh my gosh. Cute, nice, and thoughtful. Just made his eyes sparkle even more.
    “He seemed really mad.” He sucked some more smoothie, then looked out the window. “Then I had to be grabbing your arm just coming out of a bedroom with you. I can imagine how that looked.”
    “Didn’t look too good.”
    “You been dating him long?”
    “Few months.”
    “Serious?”
    “I think so.” I mean, I was totally considering having sex with him. That would be serious right? But now that I heard myself say we’d been dating a few months, it made me realize something. Zach and I hadn’t been dating very long. How could I be considering sleeping with him so soon? I didn’t even know if he’d been with other girls. Or if he even wanted to have sex.
    “Hmmm.”
    “What?” I said.
    “Nothing.”
    “What?” I slapped at his hand.
    His eyebrow perked up, but what surprised me more was, in a flash, he grabbed my hand. It was surprisingly warm…and tingled against my skin.
    “Because.” Nate smiled. “If it’s not serious, and you’re free to date other people, I’d like to ask you out.”

 
     
    Chapter 12
     
    “D ude, what’s up with the no calls?” I said to Zach’s voicemail. “Seriously.”
    I tossed my phone onto my bed. This so completely and totally sucked that Zach was dogging me. I logged into Facebook and noticed he’d been on last night and even this morning.
    “Time for Facebook but not the girlfriend?”
    I reached for my laptop cover to pull it shut when a new friend request notification popped up. Nate Ashcroft . I clicked on the profile and sure enough, it was Nate from upstairs. Talk about timing. I clicked accept and went to his information page.
    Birthday was June. Single. Loves movies. All interesting stuff, but what caught my attention was his status:
    Hoping she’ll accept.
    What a strange status. Was that about me?
    A chat window opened. My heart zinged thinking Zach had logged on, but it stalled again when I saw it was Nate.
    Hey, Mandy.
    The clock in the corner read nine o’clock. Didn’t have to leave for the smoothie shop for a couple more hours.
    “I got time.”
    Hey back atchya, neighbor
    Thanks for accepting
    I had fun with you yesterday
    Me too
    Was I too bold to ask you out?
    My heart throbbed again. What should I say? He was totally flirting. Totally tempting me. And my boyfriend was totally MIA.
    A little bold…but nice.
    Are you free today?
    Nope. Working. Bro’s outta