The way she stood there, unsure of the situation. Her bottom lip was caught between her teeth, her eyebrows drawn together.

She jerked her head towards me, "I need to put these in there."

"Huh?"

"The sink, behind you? I need to put these in there." She said this slowly, as if I were a child.

She lifted the plates in her hands and waited.

I took my time, taking her in. I’m pretty sure I didn't even try to hide the eye-fuck I gave her, because when my eyes finally left her body to settle on her face, she was blushing.

She tried not to smile, "Are you going to move or what?"

I smirked, and lazily stepped aside.

She took two steps forward and tripped—on absolutely nothing. The plates she was holding fell to the floor and shattered. We were both quick to bend and pick them up; so quick that we butt heads on the way down.

"Shit," she whispered, rubbing her head.

"Fuck," I said, doing the same.

I started to pick up the broken pieces and that's when I noticed the blood.

"Dude, you're bleeding," I told her.

She looked up and our eyes locked.

And that's one of the ways I remember her.

Her face so close to mine I could hear her breathing.

"Huh?" She looked down at her hand, and her eyes widened before she said, "Holy shitballs!"

And then she squealed like a little girl. Her eyes squeezed shut as she threw her hand out in front of her, waving it around, dripping blood all over the floor. "I can't see blood. I mean, technically I can see it, but I can't look at it. You have to make it stop." She hadn't taken a breath. "Seriously, it freaks me the fuck out. Make it stop! Oh my god! I'm going to throw up! Move!" She started to stand, then stopped, gripped my shirt, faced away from me, and continued, "Don't move...fix it. Please?" Then she looked at me with panic clear on her face. "I'm going to pass out. Oh God. Oh God."

"Hey," I tried to soothe her. "It's fine, I got you." I held her arm and helped her to stand. I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped.

"It's not funny, I swear I'll throw up if I look at it."

She still had that panicked look, and her face had paled a few shades. That's when I realized she wasn't fucking around. It was also when I realized how cute she was. "Don't look at it then, just concentrate on my face."

So she did.

"Does it hurt?"

She nodded slowly, never taking her eyes off mine.

"Okay, I'm going to turn the tap off now, just let me know if I hurt you when I look at it, okay?"

Another slow nod.

I finally managed to tear my eyes off hers, to check out her finger. "You're just going to need a Band-Aid."

I cleaned up the mess on the floor, led her to the bathroom where the first aid kit was and told her to sit up on the counter.

Once the Band-Aid was on, I glanced up at her. "You good?"

She bit her lip, nodding. "Thanks," she said quietly. "What are you? A doctor or something?" She smiled wide, her legs kicked back and forth in front of her.

"Something like that."

"Well, Thank you. And sorry for freaking out, about the blood thing. I really just...ugh...me and blood are not friends." She scrunched up her nose and made a disgusted face.

I took her in and her big blue eyes looked back. Her light brown hair hung loose. It was the only time I'd seen it like that.

And that's when it hit me. She wasn't just cute. She was kind of fucking hot.

She bit her lip again and my eyes zoned in on the action. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted my mouth on hers and I wanted it bad. For some reason, I thought it was okay to do what I did next, because I was Logan Fucking Matthews, and I was a goddamn boss. Plus—chicks loved me.

So I made a move to kiss her, but I saw her eyes widen slightly before our lips made contact and the next thing I knew, her knee was in my junk and I was folding over myself trying to breath through the pain.

I leaned down, both hands on my parts, trying to soothe the ache. I couldn't breath properly. I was doing everything I could to not fall to the ground and cry. I saw her jump off the counter and bend down to look in my eyes.
"First, I don't even know you. Second, we're at a fucking wake. And third, you're an asshole," she said. One of her fingers pushed the middle of my forehead; hard enough that it made me fall back a little.

She opened the bathroom door quickly, and shut it behind her. Once I knew it was closed for sure, I dropped to the floor and rocked back and forth like a goddamn baby. The pain was that fucking intense.

***

I was out on the back patio with everyone else when I heard her voice. “Hi, Mikayla. I'm really sorry about your loss.“ She laughed once. "What a shit thing to say, like, you lost something but you'll find it again."

Micky laughed. "Amanda, how are you?"

Amanda.

I tuned out the conversation and just stared at her. She wasn't hot. Not the in your face kind of hot. She was something else. She's still something else.

***

As soon as she left, I knew I had to find her.

I rushed out of the house searching for her. She was on the sidewalk, pressing the fob to unlock a shitty red civic.

I virtually sprinted over to her. "Amanda!" I yelled.

She turned and froze in her spot.

I stopped inches in front of her, my breathing heavy from running.