Limitless Love: A Polyamorous Charity Anthology

3. Eric

When I walk into the coffee shop, the first thing I see are dark green eyes, and it’s with more than just a glance to see who’s entering that Graham sweeps them down my body and back up. When his eyes meet mine, his cheeks turn red, and he finally pulls his gaze away.

I won’t lie, being checked out so blatantly feels good. Especially by someone like Graham. He’s so…I think prickly is a good word for it. Distrustful too. I saw it in his eyes last night, even when I opened up and told him things about me I wouldn’t normally tell a stranger.

His responses to just about everything I said were those of someone who hasn’t been shown much love or how amazing they are for just existing, and it made me want to wrap him up in my arms.

“Mornin’ y’all.” I lean on the counter opposite the register.

“Good morning, Mr. Wallace,” Graham says with a smirk.

Rolling my eyes, I reply, “We’re not going to do this every day, are we? It’s Eric. Mr. Wallace makes me feel old and I am not.”

Graham laughs. “I won’t promise that. Do you want coffee?”

“I probably shouldn’t. I had some earlier.”

“But was it as good as my coffee?”

I smile. “Well, since you’ve never made me coffee before I can’t say yes or no.”

He raises an eyebrow and reaches for a cup. “One moment.”

Realizing I’ve been had, I turn to Callie so I don’t just stare at him the entire time. “Thank you for your ideas, Callie. I appreciate that you want to help.”

She looks between Graham and me but then smiles. “I’m glad I was able to help. I thought of something else, too.” She winces. “It’ll probably require opening up the space between here and the place next door. I know it’s empty, but I have no idea if it’s up for sale or not and?—”

I cut her off. “Why don’t you tell me your ideas first and leave the logistics up to me?” What I won’t tell her is that I bought the space next door already. I also won’t tell her I’ve already decided to go with Graham’s idea.

“Here you go, Mr. Wallace.” Graham sets a cup of coffee on the counter and smirks, the little shit.

Picking it up, I cautiously take a sip while looking into his eyes. “It’s perfect,” I say, as I set the cup back down.

In all honesty, I didn’t expect much—it’s coffee—but everything, from the amount of sugar to the actual taste of the coffee, is good. Graham flushes and moves away from the counter.

I turn back to Callie. “Tell me about your ideas some more.”

“Well, if we had more space, we could set up a small stage, maybe have some open mic nights for musicians, and maybe other types of things like poetry or something. It’ll drive more business.”

“Yes, possibly, but there’s at least one place like that in town already.”

Callie rolls her eyes. “Do they hold the market for that?”

“We want to be unique. We don’t want to ride someone else’s coattails and hope we do well enough to compete against them, but instead, bring people in because we offer them something no one else does.”

“I guess. But if you know something works, shouldn’t you try to capitalize on that?”

“Yes and no. I want this to be a place where people feel comfortable, to come and hang out. I don’t want it to be just another run-of-the-mill coffee house. Why come here if there’s already an established place in town where they know they’ll have a great experience, you understand?”

She nods. “Sure.”

Pushing off the counter, I pick up my coffee. “I’m going to sort a few things in the office, finalize some plans and maybe do a little research. We can talk more about your ideas later in the week, sound good?”

“Yes, sir.” Callie smiles. “Let me know if you need anything.”

“I will.” With one last, lingering look at Graham, I head to the back office. I really do have things I need to go through, but more than anything, I need space so I don’t make a fool out of myself and send him running in the opposite direction.