Straightening herself against the wall, she brushed the hair from her face. She pressed her sleeve against her sweaty damp forehead.
She looked like a mess. Seth didn’t think it was a bad thing though.
“I’m kidding, you know,” Nina said, a smile creeping onto her lips, “I knew I was late, but I appreciate you sticking around long enough though.”
“Well yeah - I mean, of course I would,” Seth replied. Why wouldn’t he wait? He really liked having Nina around with him on these train rides home. Did she know that?
Nina just raised her brow, but said nothing.
“We should find a free seat,” she offered, and he readily agreed. Yet, one glance at both the upstairs and downstairs portions showed just how busy this time of day was. Workers finishing for the day had occupied most of the seats.
“Nevermind.”
Nina sighed, leaning against one of the train poles.
“Did you have a good day today?” Seth asked.
Nina dived into a detailed rehash of her day, including the woes of someone in her group project that refused to pull his weight. After a series of groans and complaints about that classmate, her mood shifted, and her lips pulled quickly into a grin.
“But other than that, I started listening to this new album on my run to the station. I mean, it’s not really new but it’s new to me because it’s my first time, you know? Anyways - Elena introduced this singer to me, and I’m loving the style. Here - listen -”
She pulled out her phone and earphones from her pocket and typed something into YouTube.
Laufey. He didn’t recognise the name.
Nina reached up with her earbud, and tilted her head as if to say, ‘may I?’. Seth nodded, and he felt her palm brush gently across his right cheek as she pushed the other earbud into his temple.
A shiver ran through him.
“Sorry, are my hands cold?” Nina asked, noticing his visceral reaction.
No,he thought.
He wished that her hands were cold, instead of the unexplainable heat spreading through his body.
Before he could respond, she pressed play, and a slow, jazzy melody started. The chords managed to calm nerves he didn’t realise he had. His gaze drifted toward Nina, who’d begun to sway her neck side to side. Her features had softened, her eyes closed, as though absorbing the song.
“The song is gorgeous, isn’t it?” she asked, her eyes still closed.
But Seth wasn’t watching the music video, nor paying much attention to the song.
He was watching her and couldn’t help but smile, his gaze trained on how happy she looked.Gorgeous.
The train shook a little on its tracks, and Nina lost balance a bit. She lurched to the side, gasping as she lost her footing. She bumped against Seth, her body falling forward, past the pole.
With quick reflexes, Seth caught her in his arms, holding her up so she didn’t hit the ground. Nina quickly grabbed at his shoulders for stability, her eyes wide.
“Shit,” she muttered, under her breath.
Her gaze met his, and Seth realised this was the first time he’d ever been this close to Nina Mendez.
Her lashes were really long, he noticed. And her eyes were a kind of honey brown.
A wave of deja vu washed over him. As if he’d noticed all of these intrinsics before.
An awkward smile formed on her lips as Nina pushed herself away from Seth, untangling herself from his arms.
“Sorry,” she said, “I miss our seats already.”
