“Get off me! Leave me alone!” I yell as I struggle to fight against my captors. I wriggle my arm out of one’s tight grasp and take the chance to rip off the blindfold covering my eyes. As my eyes adjust to the light I see him.

Before I tell you what happens next, I should probably give you a bit of backstory. It’s Tuesday today which means that on my way home from work I stop by my favorite bookshop. I try to convince myself that it works best in my schedule to come on Tuesdays and Thursdays but in reality it’s just because he is working then. Dylan. He is probably the most attractive person I’ve ever met. Not that I’ve really met him before. Actually I haven’t ever spoken to him before. I just smile at him and patiently wait for the moment when he will come talk to me. Sometimes I wish I had more of a spine when it comes to talking to boys but, so far, no such luck. I walk into the bookstore and take far too long searching the shelves for the book I want to read today. I finally land on a romance book so I make my way to my favorite window seat, positioned perfectly so I can see the check out counter where Dylan works. I have only been coming here for a few weeks but it is the highlight of my week. I steal glances at Dylan every time I turn the page. He’s got to be a couple years older than me with short curly black hair. His jawline could cut paper and his strong arm muscles indicate that he works out. A lot. He moves with purpose. Every step he takes has meaning.

“Excuse me. Are you alright?” I’m startled awake. Every nerve in my body tenses as I realize that I’ve been dreaming for far too long. And that it had been about the man standing incredibly close to me now. The blood rushes to my face as I try to wipe the sleep from my eyes. I glance around from my curled up position in the window seat. It’s now dark outside. Brilliant. I look up to see Dylan standing over me. He has his arms rested on the wall above and looking down at me. I come to realize that I’d fallen asleep. I look around frantically trying to find my phone to check the time. 9:00 PM. “Shit.” I whisper. I was supposed to get home before the sun went down. My roommate is probably freaking out. And now I’ll have to make my way home through the city in the dark. Alone. I feel the panic start to set in. And apparently so does Dylan.

“Hey. It’s okay. You’re just fine. You’ve just fallen asleep.” I am suddenly hyper aware of how close he is standing. He has crouched down to my level as I’ve been tried to get my bearings. We are now face to face and my eyes widen. “What is your name?” He asks.

“I’m Maeve.” I reply.

“I’m Dylan. Are you alright Maeve?” He repeats his question from earlier. Hearing him say my name sends chills down my back.

“Um yeah. I’m okay. I just need to get home.” I collect my shoulder bag and my phone and he moves out of the way so I can stand. The book that I was reading is still there so I quickly reach down to pick it up.

As I lean forward I hit my head on the top of the window frame. “Ow!” I hold my head with hands and feel the blood start to escape from the wound.

“Maeve your bleeding! Here let me help you.” Dylan guides me with his hand at the small of my back behind the front counter. He hands me tissues to help stop the bleeding while he searches for a bandaid. I take the opportunity to look glance at everything behind the scenes. On this side of the counter he has stacks and stacks of books waiting to be shelved. There’s one that he’s reading on the tabletop. I can tell because there’s a bookmark in it. It only takes me a second to realize that it’s the same book I was reading before. Just then, Dylan turns around, setting the supplies in the counter. As I hold the tissues to my forehead he places his hands on my shoulders and deposits me in his chair.

I have to tilt my head up now to look at him so he crouches down in front of me. Gently placing his hands on mine he pulls them from my head. I close my eyes as he cleans my wound and covers it with a bandage.

“You should be okay now. Just a small cut.” I open my eyes to see him looking straight at me with kindness in his.

“Thank you.” I respond.

“Do you need any help getting home?” Dylan asks. Normally I would say no. I mean he is still a stranger to me as this is the first time we’ve meet. And just because he is attractive doesn’t mean I should trust him.

But I do. And I don’t know why.

“Well I actually have no way of getting home other than walking. Walking around here at night kind of freaks me out.” I reply. Woah Maeve. Way too much honesty.

“No problem. I’m about to close up anyway. I can walk you home if you want.” He says.

“Thanks but that’s okay. I can just call my roommate. I don’t mean to trouble you. You’ve helped me enough today.”

“Don’t even worry about it. I’m glad I could help and I would love to walk you home.”

“Okay, I mean, if you insist-”

“I do.”