Blindsided (Game On 2)

How is it that I considered Georgia pretty, but Isabelle made my chest tighten? They’re twins, dumbass! Identical twins!

“Are you checking out my cousin?” Hunter asked, nudging me, hard, in the ribs as Janet and the girls left the room.

“I … No, I …Maybe.”

“Dude, come on! We’re supposed to be out meeting hot British chicks, and you wanna get with my cousin? That’s not fair, you can’t give me details about hooking up with my relatives!”

Hunter and his sharing. Call me a pussy, but I thought there were some things my guy friends didn’t need to know. Hunter? His motto was, ‘If you can’t tell your friends, what’s the point in being a hit with the ladies?’ Not the most profound motto, but he lived by it. For whatever reason, girls went nuts for his brown curly hair. I suspected they’d have been less crazy about him if they knew they’d be the subject of his bragging the next day.

“I told you,” I said. “I didn’t come here to hook up, I came to relax.”

“So you’re not gonna hit on Georgia?”

“No. I’m not.”

I didn’t lie. I was definitely not going to hit on Georgia.

Lunch with the Mills family was pretty cool. Janet and Andrew took us to some trendy Notting Hill restaurant with low lighting, and silver tables and chairs. It wasn’t as intimidating inside as it looked, but Christmas decorations can make even the scariest place seem less frightening. As we drove down the rain soaked streets, the festive lights in the shop windows made the day brighter somehow.

The restaurant served amazing pizzas with the biggest variety of toppings I’d ever seen. We had almost the whole place to ourselves. I guess the rain had kept people away.

While we ate, I couldn’t stop myself watching Isabelle. She was so quiet, and only joined in the conversations when she really felt she had something useful to say. I kinda liked it. I’d met so many girls who chattered just for the sake of breaking the silence

, and usually, every word was crap. Isabelle was not one of those girls.

In fear of sounding like a total jerk, I didn’t address her directly. I stayed pretty quiet most of the time too, preferring instead to watch the way her eyes lit up when she enjoyed a particular conversation, and the way her mouth curled into a smile when someone made her laugh. I really hoped she hadn’t noticed. I didn’t want to creep her out, I just couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Get a grip! She’s just a girl. You’ve seen pretty girls before.

“So, Jesse,” Andrew said, “is there anything special you want to do while you’re here?”

I shook my head. “No sir, being away from L.A is enough. I mean, of course, I want to visit the sights of London but I’d be just as happy to spend the time doing simple things like watching movies and not busting my butt at the gym four times a week.”

“We should all laze around and watch some films this afternoon,” Georgia said. “It’s too wet to do anything outside, and we haven’t had a family day for ages.”

I suddenly felt horribly out of place, and Janet must have noticed. “You’re part of the family too while you’re here.”

“Thanks.”

“What kind of films do you like?” Georgia asked, bouncing slightly in her seat. “Wait, let me guess! I bet you’re an action kind of guy.”

I was pretty sure she checked out my muscles. Please don’t have a crush on me. That would be awkward.

“I like action, but I prefer comedy,” I said.

“Izzy likes comedy too, don’t you?”

Isabelle nodded, giving me a shy smile, and I decided this would be the moment I actually had something to say that she might want to answer.

“Do you have any favourites?”

“I really like silly films. Scary Movie is a good one. I know it’s quite old, but it makes me laugh. How about you?”

“I like older movies too, like American Pie.”

“I haven’t seen that one. Maybe we should rent it.”

My eyes widened in horror. Did I really recommend a teen movie that shows a guy having sex with an apple pie? It’s fine to watch with friends, but with the parents of the girl you’re hot for, that is a sure fire way to get thrown out with the word ‘pervert’ taped to your head.