Read Online Hidden Gem Short Story Collection (9781301405985) by India Lee - Free Book Online Page B

“What
happened?”
    “ I broke my collarbone,”
Sophie explained, digging a spoon into her tart with her free hand.
“The sling is so I don’t put any excess pressure on it while it
heals. They couldn’t really do anything more than that for
me.”
    “ How did you break it?”
Tyler asked. Sophie’s eyebrows raised, looking up at him with her
big blue eyes, a spoon still in her mouth. Flustered, Tyler let out
a nervous laugh. “From, I don’t know, snowboarding or something?
You don’t have to tell me. If you don’t want to. I’m being
nosy.”
    Sophie replaced the spoon quietly onto her
plate. She tilted her head slightly, examining Tyler with a
peculiar curiosity. Tyler suddenly felt awkward, not knowing what
he had triggered when everything was smooth-sailing just moments
before.
    “ I broke it…” Sophie
began. “At your concert.”
    “ Aha!” Tyler exclaimed,
pointing at her. “I knew it!” He had jumped from his stool in
excitement, though he quickly regretted the action. There was no
doubt he looked ridiculous in that moment. To his relief, Sophie
laughed.
    “ I didn’t realize it was
some big mystery,” Sophie smiled. She shook her head, staring at
Tyler. “I’m sorry, I’m confused – this whole time… you were just
trying to figure out if I got hurt at your concert?”
    “ Why didn’t you say
something?” Tyler asked. He thought about what Mike had said – that
it would have been kind of creepy that Sophie hadn’t mentioned that
she had been at Tyler’s concert. Was it
creepy? He couldn’t answer the
question.
    “ What was there to say?”
Sophie had started eating her apple tart again, watching Tyler pace
about the restaurant with a curious eye. “I’m not going to be like,
‘Hey Tyler, check out this dope sling, I got it as a souvenir from
your concert.’”
    “ But, I mean, you didn’t
even say like… I mean…” Tyler shook his head. What he wanted to say
was that a fan, a person who would have gotten her hands on tickets
to that special event concert, was probably a big enough fan to acknowledge his
presence outside of the arena. But he stopped himself. Because he
wasn’t so sure he wanted to say something that made him sound so
big-headed, self-centered, stupid .
    “ I would have asked your
name if I didn’t know it already,” Sophie smiled. “And if you’re
trying to ask me why I didn’t fuss over you last night while I was
serving you, it’s because, like I said, you guys looked like you
were having some sort of reunion and I didn’t want to interrupt
with something as unnecessary as saying, ‘oh my God, you’re Tyler
Chase!’ Because, well, you know you’re Tyler Chase. So why remind you?” Tyler
stared at her, leaning casually on the counter with her head
propped up on her hand. Even in her sling, she was a stark contrast
from the other fans he had just visited the day before.
    “ You’re kind of weird,”
Tyler blurted out, before he could stop himself. He had done
thousands of meet-and-greets over the years and even run into fans
in restaurants who were fellow patrons or even servers. Some of
them were even celebrities, themselves. Not a single one of
them, ever ,
reacted the way that Sophie did. Therefore, Sophie was definitely weird.
    “ Can’t argue that,” she
shrugged, patting the stool beside her and signaling towards
Tyler’s untouched apple tart. Tyler smiled, shaking his head and
returning to his seat.
    “ So,” he began, cutting
into his tart with his spoon. “Are you like a… fan… of my music?”
Tyler cringed. There was no way to ask that question without
sounding like an absolute stereotype of “being famous.”
    “ I am,” Sophie nodded, a
small smile on her pink lips. She lowered her gaze, her long blonde
lashes cloaking her sparkling eyes. He had expected some sort of
ribbing, perhaps because of his own self-consciousness over the
question or just being on guard since seeing Rufus and Moss again.
Her simple answer