Sunkissed Serendipity

Chapter 3

Isla

I feel awful as the both of us stare at each other in awkwardness. I never meant to make it weird by kissing a random guy—one who has shown that he is nice without even knowing me on a personal level. He had made breakfast for me, and before that, he had peeled an orange for me. It was an amazing gesture that I would never be able to repay.

"I'm sorry," I say to him when he doesn't answer the previous question I asked him. "I didn't mean to—I didn't mean to cross your boundary."

He clears his throat, something I've noticed he has done quite a few times. His blue eyes don't stray off my own as he says, "It's fine."

"But I feel like—"

"You know what?" he asks, moving his phone out in front of him and clicking on the power button. He checks the time really quickly and then puts his phone back in the pocket of his basketball shorts. Looking back at me, he says, "I have to head upstairs now. I'll see you later though, okay?"

Now I feel even worse than I did before. I had asked for him to stay with me, and before I had done it, I had let it be known to him that I had kissed him on a dare. But now I felt as though there was a weird energy between us, and it felt forced to have him hang out with me.

I stand up from my spot, feeling still weak from the sudden cold. "You don't have to come back and hang out with me."

He doesn't argue with me, as he promptly nods and says, "I'll see you after my shower." With that, he walks off in the opposite direction, and only after he goes do I realize I never asked him for his name.

I was doing really well.

•

As I put on a movie on the television aligned with the couch, I hear footsteps padding into the room. I look over from where the opening scene from "The Devil Wears Prada" was showing on the screen and to the person walking in. It's the guy from earlier again, and when our eyes meet, he nods and says, "Hi."

"Hey," I say, gesturing to the spot next to me and moving my legs out of the way. I watch as he makes himself over to me, and when he sits, I notice the distance he puts before us. I decide to bring my legs back on the couch and turn my head over to where he was reading off the screen. "Hi."

He looks over at me then, his eyebrows scrunching up together from where he was probably wondering why I felt the need to keep saying my greetings. I let out a small chuckle in self-consciousness as I said, "Sorry, um—"

"I wasn't judging you," he says quickly, taking notice of my actions. He places his hands in his lap and says, "Honest."

"Oh," I say, wondering why he was looking at me like that then. I decide not to question it as I say, "So when you left, I realized something." I start and wait for him to nod. Then I let out a light laugh as I said, "I still don't know your name."

He seems to realize that as well as his eyes widen, and then he averts his gaze. I drop my eyes down to where he moves a hand out of his lap and extends it toward me. I let out a surprised chuckle as I hurry to align my hand with his own. I bring my hand to touch his, and he wraps his hand around mine. Then he says, "Julian."

"Julian?"

He nods, not adding anything else to it.

"Julian." I repeat his name again and give him a nod that he replicates firmly. I tighten my hand around his, and for a second I feel the warmth of his hand go past my arm, and it makes my face heat up. He gives me a little smile before dropping his hand from my own and placing it back in his lap. "Nice to meet you," I say to him, and then, to keep things light, I add, "Though most people meet before they kiss."