Chapter 14
Finn
Was I completely out of my mind?
I eyed my phone, the conversation I’d just had with Eric a couple of minutes ago still glaring at me, making something in my gut twist. I couldn’t shake that weird, uneasy feeling that something was off.
Yet here I was, about to meet up with him again. My survival instincts were apparently as low as my iron levels had been when I’d been hospitalized.
I cracked a laugh at my own joke, then grabbed my hat and a scarf.
I didn’t even need to look out the window to know it was freezing outside, the way my radiator was banging just to keep the temperature in here halfway tolerable was a dead giveaway.
Oh, how I wished for a modern apartment with a thermostat, but alas, here I was.
And I’d happily continue living here for at least another year or two if it meant I could start adding to my savings.
Well, more like start a savings account in the first place.
My phone dinged, informing me about the arrival of my Uber, so I hastily grabbed my bag and headed for the door. Unease tightened my stomach upon opening the door, my eyes immediately checking for notes, but the wood was blissfully empty. No yellow Post-its, no handwritten letters.
Relief hit me like a freight train, and for a moment I dared to hope that my stalker might have switched their attention to someone else. After all, if he really did have a medical fetish of some kind, I was probably boring to him now I was getting better.
But… what if my getting better was making him mad?
I shuddered at the thought as I hit the elevator button.
He wouldn’t hurt me just to be able to take care of me, would he?
No, that’d be crazy. Then again, stalking someone wasn’t exactly rational behavior either.
I entered the elevator, glancing at myself in the mirror. My eyes looked tired, the bags under them almost as dark as they’d been before I’d been hospitalized. Damn. What a single night of tossing and turning could do to my recovery.
Shaking my head, I raked a hand through my hair, desperately trying to get the unruly strands under control.
If I arrived at the café looking like death warmed over, Eric would probably call an Uber and get me back to my apartment immediately.
Which… okay, didn’t sound that bad.
In hindsight, I could’ve just invited Eric over for a cozy movie night, but I’d wanted to meet him on neutral ground.
I needed to make sure he really wasn’t my stalker.
At the same time, I needed to make sure that if he really wasn’t my stalker, just a good guy I’d just met at a weird point in my life, I wasn’t putting him in danger by meeting up with him.
The problem was I had no idea how to make sure of that.
Why was my life so fucking complicated?
I hopped out of the elevator, pulled my hood over my head, and dashed through the icy rain to the red Subaru that was waiting for me at the curb.
“Damn,” I said as I slid onto the back seat, goosebumps rising on my skin even though I was wearing a coat.
“Yeah, man, it’s fucking freezing,” my driver said, giving me a half grin through the rearview mirror. “I can put the heat on full blast, if you want.”
I shook my head. “Nah, I’m good. I’ll be out of here in like five minutes anyway. Thanks, though.”
The driver nodded, then pulled away from the curb while I fastened the seatbelt and stared out the window.
It was still early in the evening, but it might as well have been midnight with how empty the streets were. Usually, there was a steady stream of people walking by at this time, but today the sidewalk was nearly void of anyone.
Yeah, I’d so take an Uber back home later.
And maybe, if I managed to convince myself that Eric was indeed a good guy, I wouldn’t have to go home alone…
The warmth of the café hit me full force, my face throbbing from the sudden change in temperature. I shuddered, trying to shake off the coldness, and rubbed my hands against each other to warm them up.
Fuck.
If I’d known there’d be an accident right up the street from the café, so I’d have to actually walk a block to get here, I might’ve just said fuck it and invited Eric over after all.
I looked around the café, searching for his dark mop of hair.
While the streets outside were almost like the set of a horror movie, it was completely different in here.
Most tables were still occupied, and the quiet chatter and tinkering of porcelain immediately set me at ease.
The clicking of knitting needles was like a comforting hug.
Yeah, this place was definitely climbing higher on my list of favorite places to be.
I walked a little further into the café, eyes darting left and right, trying to find Eric, but it wasn’t until I rounded the corner that I found him sitting in one of the ugly yet charming armchairs we’d sat in last time we’d been here.
He was engrossed in something on his phone and hadn’t noticed me yet, so I had the rare opportunity of ogling him in peace.
He was stunning.
A seriously beautiful specimen of mankind.
My stomach swooped as I took him in. His skin was so incredibly pale he almost looked like he was made out of marble, his jaw definitely square and pronounced enough to be carved out of stone, cheekbones high and harsh.
And his eyes… how they managed to be so cold and calculating in one moment, and so fucking warm the next was a mystery to me.
Like right now, he was staring at his phone, his mouth pressed into a stoic line, face incredibly still with no muscles twitching at all, his eyes completely focused on the screen while his fingers flew over it, typing so fast I could barely make them out.
There was no warmth, no hint of emotion at all to be seen anywhere on his face. He really looked stone-cold.
“Hi,” I said, purposefully drawing his attention to me to witness… that.
The way his eyes came to life. A tiny spark ignited, turning the icy blue of his eyes so warm they doubled as a radiator, heating me up in seconds. And his smile… ohh, his smile… the stoic mask drained away, quickly replaced by the tiniest yet most intense smile there was.
“Finn,” he greeted, excitement obvious in his voice.
One moment he was sitting in his chair, and the next he was standing right beside me, pulling me into a hug.
It’d all happened so fast it almost appeared impossible.
Then again, I’d been so focused on his expression my brain might’ve taken a second or two to catch up with what was happening in real time.
I took a deep breath, inhaling the cool air that surrounded him, breathing in his fresh, crisp scent mixed with a hint of spice that made me want to lick… yeah. Needless to say, if he turned out to be my stalker, I was royally fucked.
“Was your trip here okay?” he asked as he slowly let go of me.
I scrunched up my nose and shuddered dramatically. “It was while I was sitting in my warm Uber with a blissfully quiet driver. But there was a car crash up the road, which meant I had to walk a block. Now I’m frozen.”
To emphasize how fucking cold I was, I rubbed my hands over my arms. Unfortunately, I was still wearing my coat, which was wet from the rain.
“Ugh.”
I quickly shrugged it off, another shiver running through my body.
Eric gave me a sly grin. “Want me to warm you up?”
I imagined dropping into his lap and sharing one of the armchairs with him. It sounded amazing, but at the same time, my stomach tightened again, weariness dousing the heat that had ignited in my gut.
What if he was my stalker?
“You mean with the tea you hopefully ordered for me?” I said, deflecting his advances.
I dropped into the armchair opposite him, then untied my shoes, slipped them off, and pulled my feet up. Yes. That was cozy.
Eric let out a quiet chuckle.
“Sure, let’s go with that.”
He sat down again too, but contrary to me, he kept his shoes on and his feet firmly rooted to the ground, spreading his legs as he leaned forward as if he wanted me to know his attention was solely on me.
“How was your day?” he asked, raising one eyebrow while placing his elbows on his knees.
“Good? I think. I didn’t really do much.” Because I haven’t slept a wink. Because my brain is trying to convince me you’re my stalker. Are you my stalker? Yeah, better not say that part out loud. “What about you?”
Eric shrugged. “Same, honestly. I was out having a bite to eat when you texted. Otherwise, my day was blissfully uneventful.”
I nodded, then realized something. “Wait, if you aren’t in med school anymore, what are you doing?”
That is to say, did he have time to randomly appear at my apartment to leave creepy notes on my door?
“Oh, uhm…” He gave an almost pained smile. “I’m occasionally shadowing my… friend, Bennie. He’s in IT and really into stock stuff. I don’t know much yet as I took a bit of time off to, uh, you could say find myself, but he’s started teaching me the ins and outs.”
“Cool,” I said, not knowing how else to reply.
Truth be told, it sounded kinda boring to me, but then again, teaching middle schoolers sounded like literal hell to most people, so who was I to judge?
Also, I imagined it was hard for him to find a new passion after losing the chance of being a doctor.
Which… might be a reason for him to develop some kind of medical fetish.
Ugh.
Why did I always circle back to that?
“Was it hard to let go of your dream of becoming a doctor?” Maybe if I got an answer from him personally, I could finally put my doubts to rest. We’d already talked about this a fair bit, but that was back when I hadn’t even considered the possibility of him being my stalker.
I needed to ask him again, study his reactions to my questions, so I could figure it out.
Because I really didn’t want him to be my stalker.
I liked him. More than I probably should after just a few meetings.
I watched Eric intently, noticing his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed harshly.