Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
HECTOR
“What are you all dressed up for?” Atlas asked with a smile. He looked me up and down, and I tried not to squirm under his heated gaze.
“I’m just wearing a polo,” I said lamely.
“You styled your hair too, didn’t you? I think it’s the first time I’ve seen you use gel.”
I pulled the collar of my only polo shirt, now feeling awkward about getting all dressed up.
It was the same one I wore to Russell Junior’s birthday party last week.
Having a life that revolved around the diner meant I didn’t need much in the way of formal clothes, but maybe it wasn’t a bad idea to invest in a few additional pieces, especially when it meant having Atlas looking at me like that.
The unfiltered desire in his eyes was something I wasn’t used to, and it was doing things to my long-dormant libido.
I wasn’t successful in keeping still under his fiery gaze, but who could blame me? I doubted anyone could keep calm if Atlas looked at them the way he was looking at me, and add on the fact that he was now my boyfriend, not that I had the guts to say that out loud.
Not yet, at least.
I’d had nothing but sleepless nights for the past couple of days, wondering if I was crazy after all. Or if all this was a dream.
What was an old man like me doing, thinking things could ever work with someone so vibrant and full of life? But then the quiet nights we’d spend on the couch right before bed holding hands…those were the moments I’d felt alive for the first time in a long time, and it made me want to try.
Even if this thing with Atlas was fated to end in heartbreak for me, I still wanted to give us a chance and put my best foot forward.
“I want to take you on a date,” I said after clearing my throat.
“A date?” Atlas looked thoroughly surprised, which made me feel like a bad boyfriend.
“Yes, a date. I want you to have fun with me.” Worry drummed through my cells. “I mean, unless you don’t want to.”
Atlas’ lips curled up in a smile. He took slow steps toward me, which were basically a walk of seduction, with his sexy gaze fixed on me. His hands grabbed me as soon as I was within reach.
“A date,” he repeated. His hands curled around my neck, and his lower body was flush against mine. I suspected this was Atlas’ favorite position. “I would love to go on a date with you, Hector Flores.”
The relief that washed over me almost had me unsteady on my feet. Atlas hanging off me was the only thing keeping me upright.
“But we’re going now? What about the diner?”
I shrugged, or at least shrugged as much as I could with another human slung over me.
“I already put up a sign saying we’re closed today. It’s always slow on Mondays anyway. I was thinking we might make Mondays our official day off.”
I wasn’t expecting him to frown at the news. “You don’t have to change things just because we’re dating now. I meant it when I said I like you just the way you are, even your workaholic tendencies,” he teased.
I smiled. Maybe if it were anyone else saying this, I wouldn’t have trusted the words right away, but Atlas wasn’t one to hide behind word games. He meant exactly what he said—he always had—and that was the very reason it made trusting him so easy.
“I don’t think I’ll ever stop being a workaholic—and the diner will always remain open late—but maybe I’m starting to realize there is more to life than just work.”
Atlas beamed, and although he was much younger than me, there was a sense that I was making him proud. I’d never made anyone proud before, and it was a strange feeling. One that I didn’t hate.
“If you’ve made up your mind, I’m not complaining. I need to get dressed, then. Where are you taking me?”
“I thought we’d visit the springs—the one the town is named after—and have a little picnic.” I gestured to the picnic basket by the apartment door. The basket was Becca’s, and she’d lent it to me the other day when she peeked over my shoulder when I was shopping for one.
Her nosiness meant she hadn’t dropped it until I finally told her I was taking someone on a picnic date.
I hadn’t said it was Atlas, but Becca gave me a knowing look that told me she knew without me having to clarify.
She’d insisted on lending me her basket and sneaking it over later that night so I could surprise my “date.” Her words.
The plan had worked, and Atlas looked pleasantly surprised. “You made me a picnic basket? You even decorated it!”
“That was all Becca,” I quickly added. The brown basket had a vine of plastic flowers wrapped around the handle and a giant red bow on one side. It looked nice, I guess, but definitely didn’t match my personality.
“I knew I liked her for a reason,” Atlas said with a sparkle in his eye. “And you. You just keep on giving me more reasons to like you.”
He pressed a kiss—that ended all too soon—to my cheek before he skipped away to get changed for our date. I stood there far longer than I wanted to admit and pressed two fingers to the spot he’d kissed. It was still warm, like the feel of his lips had lingered and made a permanent mark there.
Atlas was grinning when he returned, dressed in jeans and an oversized sweater that looked cozy on him. He’d fixed his blond hair until there wasn’t a strand out of place.
“Ready?” he asked and picked up the basket. I wasn’t far behind and quickly followed him down the stairs to the diner.
We exited the building through the back door into the little parking lot where our vehicles were parked.
We climbed into my old, beat-up van. I had purchased the van when I opened the diner, using the money I’d been given to sit in prison instead of the previous mayor’s son.
It was old but reliable. They just didn’t make cars like this anymore.
“So why the sudden date?” Atlas asked, just as we pulled out of the city limits.
“We’ve been dating for five days, and I haven’t properly taken you out yet. I thought I should fix that.”
That was the primary reason for today’s sudden outing, but there was another important one that I wasn’t ready to tell Atlas.
After cleaning up the diner the night we got together, we’d gone upstairs, where he confessed that someone had been stalking him.
To say I was panicked was an understatement, especially when he admitted the stalker had gotten into the upstairs apartment to leave him a note.
It made sense now why he’d been so insistent on getting a security system.
What was worse was that the stalker had left another note that day, taunting him that a little security system wasn’t going to keep him out.
Considering the day the note had been delivered to Atlas via Arnold, only a few hours after we’d gotten the system installed, it was clear the stalker had been keeping a close eye on Atlas. Maybe a little too close an eye, which had me on edge since the night Atlas had told me about this stalker.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that the stalker was watching us now, which, for once, I hoped he was.
I didn’t see any cars behind us, but I hoped the creeper had followed us out of town, so my buddy could fit the apartment with hidden cameras.
I’d given him a copy of my keys for emergencies years ago, so he could get in without us being there.
Earl was a good friend I’d gotten close with during my time in prison. He’d been there a lot longer than I was for a crime he refused to tell me about. The man was so shrouded in mystery that I didn’t even know his real name, but he wasn’t a bad guy.
He’d opened up a security firm in the city after he’d been released—he’d also been the one to get me in contact with the home security company—and he was the first person I texted after learning about this stalker problem.
I was worried there might be hidden mics at our place, so I played it safe and made plans through text to have Earl inspect the place while we were on our date.
Maybe with the hidden cameras, we’d finally catch who our stalker was.
I’d tell Atlas about the cameras later. Once Earl gave me the all clear, and we were back home.
The one good thing about the newest note was that we now knew the stalker was a man. Arnold hadn’t caught a good look at the guy who’d asked him to deliver the gift bag. All he knew was that it was a man dressed in a gray hoodie, baseball cap, and a mask.
They’d reported everything to Clay that afternoon. He’d been in charge of the case since earlier this month, apparently. Although this was the first real lead he’d had since starting the investigation.
Atlas had shown me some of the notes, but most were at the police station with Clay. The obsession with Atlas that the notes conveyed terrified me. The man sounded almost desperate, and a year in prison taught me what people were willing to do when they got desperate.
Atlas grabbed my hand, which was resting on the gearshift, and placed it on his lap. I pushed my fears away and tried to focus on enjoying this rare free time with him. At least with us together, I could protect him.
We were alone when we reached the little parking lot just outside the springs. Being a Monday, the adults were probably all at work, and the kids were in school.
It suited me just fine, being out here alone with Atlas and holding his hand, as we strolled along the quiet path that led deeper into the collection of springs the town was named after.
I knew there was a possibility Atlas’ creepy stalker was following us, but I almost welcomed it. I’d never been a violent person, but I wished he’d show his face so I could put him in his place.
“This looks like a good spot,” Atlas said and pointed to a flat piece of grass a couple of feet away from the third spring we came across. We’d walked past the first and second springs to venture deeper into the trails.
I set the red picnic blanket, which was also borrowed from Becca, onto the soft grass. We both settled on the blanket, with Atlas sitting as close to me as possible, snuggled into my side.
There were a few minutes of silence as I took in the serene moment, forgetting everything but the yellow and orange leaves that landed like fallen stars onto the blue spring, and the man by my side who made me feel things that scared the hell out of me.
Atlas tilted his head to snuggle into the nook of my neck. He had one arm wrapped around my waist, and the other had my hand in a tight grip. Was he also holding on to me so tightly because, like me, he was afraid this moment could poof away if he didn’t?
“So, do you come here often?” Atlas’ sudden question had me looking at him. All I could see was the whirl at the crown of his head. He was looking out into the distance at the nature in front of us.
“You know I don’t,” I murmured in reply.
Atlas finally looked up at me with a grin. He was very well aware that I spent my days either at home, at the diner, or getting supplies for the diner.
“I just thought maybe you snuck out here when I wasn’t looking. Maybe on one of your supply runs.”
“Right,” I deadpanned. “Because I’m very sneaky like that. Quick on my feet too.”
I patted my stomach and the pooch that had gotten larger over the past few years. Hard work at the diner used to keep me in better shape, but keeping the weight off had become more difficult these days.
While I tried not to be self-conscious of my looks, it was hard, especially now that I was with someone so much younger and in better shape than I was.
It was stupid of me to worry when Atlas had reassured me more than once that he liked me just the way I was, but logically, knowing something and actually believing it were two different things.
Atlas pulled away from me, and the sinking feeling that I’d fucked up washed over me. Not even ten minutes into this official date, and I was already fucking things up. Maybe I just wasn’t cut out for this.
But not even a second later, Atlas was back, and this time, he was climbing onto my lap. He made himself comfortable with his legs spread out on either side of me, and his cock practically pressed up against mine.
I instinctively wrapped my arms around him to keep him steady, but my grip was light. I didn’t dare hold him too close.
Atlas wasn’t having it, though, and used his hands to guide mine in place until I was holding him impossibly close.
“It seems my words aren’t getting to you, so I need to speak through my actions. I really do like you, Hector. I do. Exactly as you are,” he said.
Before I could process anything, his face inched closer until our lips crashed together in a kiss that just about breathed life back into me.