Chapter 4
Caleb was uncharacteristically nervous for this date.
He didn’t usually get ready an hour early or put much care into what he wore. Dating had always come easily to him. It was fun and straightforward.
Go out for a meal or some coffee. Talk. If he liked the guy, he’d ask him out again. If not, they’d go their separate ways. Simple.
But as he sifted through the few collared shirts hanging in his closet and sent photos of them to Tay, his emotions were anything but simple.
It had been over a month since he and Jamie first met.
The exhibit Jamie was working on at the library went so well that they decided to extend it, which meant Jamie hadn’t been free to meet up all month.
Which was fine—Caleb didn’t mind waiting.
There was no doubt in his mind that he wanted to see Jamie again.
In fact, he couldn’t seem to stop thinking about him. His bright green eyes. His dimples. The way he didn’t have any control over his facial expressions, every emotion written plainly across his face.
Adorable. The man was just… adorable. And Caleb couldn’t fucking wait to see him again. Hopefully, if he got lucky, kiss him a little more, too.
This thing between them—if hooking up a little and then texting for a month could be considered a “thing”—was so new and fragile, Caleb didn’t want it to end before it began.
He wasn’t used to feeling this desperate to prove himself to someone.
Desperate for Jamie not to forget about him and, instead, go out with another guy vying for his attention.
The thought made Caleb feel so jealous that he’d set an alarm for six in the morning, hopped on the Tube, and hauled a cup of coffee across the city for Jamie.
The coffee made Jamie so happy—if his texts were anything to go by—that Caleb smiled like a goofy idiot at his phone for a solid hour.
After that, he just kept showing up. Always getting to the library before Jamie, Caleb would be led into the back offices by a French man named Jean-Baptiste.
The guy dressed extremely well and looked Caleb up and down like he was something interesting in an art gallery.
Skin a few shades darker than Caleb’s, the Frenchman had an allure to him, and Caleb couldn’t help but wonder if he and Jamie had ever—
His phone buzzed in his hand.
Tay
Wear the red one.
Caleb plucked the red shirt off the hanger and tugged it over his head, giving himself another once-over in the mirror. He felt tempted to wear shorts with how damn hot it had gotten this summer, but trousers looked nicer, and he didn’t want to look like a bum when picking Jamie up.
Checking the time, he saw he still had over thirty minutes before he needed to catch the train to Islington.
He grabbed his keys from the bowl on the counter and headed out.
Fuck it. He might as well stop by the shops on the way to the station and pick up flowers.
If it came off as desperate or cheesy, he didn’t really care.
He wanted Jamie. And he wanted Jamie to know it.
After what felt like a million years in Poppy’s Petals, Caleb balanced his phone between his ear and shoulder as he exited the Tube.
The woman at the shop, Poppy presumably, talked him into an enormous bouquet of flowers—which took both arms to hold—and he was doing his best to protect it from the chaos of people around him.
“Dude, I don’t know,” he said into the phone. “I’m so nervous for this date that I’m like… early.”
“Wow.” Tay snorted on the other end of the line. “You’re never early.”
“Okay, that’s not true,” Caleb said, doing his best to maneuver around a group of older women gathered right in front of the exit.
“Yeah, it is. You always made us late for church growing up.”
“I was a teenager. I’m an adult now, Tay.”
“An adult who watches anime?”
“You love anime.”
“I never pretended to be an adult.”
He finally made it around the group. One of the women turned and smiled at him. “Beautiful flowers. She’s one lucky lady!”
“They’re for a guy, actually,” he called over his shoulder as he jogged up the steps.
“You got this dude flowers?” Tay asked. He could hear the ocean in the background, and Caleb felt a stab of guilt for not making it out to California to visit her yet.
“Yep.”
“Damn. You really must like him.”
The sun hit Caleb’s face as he emerged from the station. He scanned the street, looking for the building Jamie had described. “I do, Tay. I…” He let out a breath when he spotted it and started walking, still early. “I really do.”
A wave crashed in the background. “Well, go get him.”
Caleb smiled, tipping his head towards the sun.
“Text me after. I wanna hear everything,” Tay added.
“Will do.” Caleb hung up and approached the building, flowers in hand. His palms were a little sweaty, not entirely from the heat, and his stomach was in knots. He checked the address one last time and walked up the steps of a garden-style unit to a door with a flowered mat.
He took a deep breath and knocked.
“J!” a woman’s voice called from inside, followed by a muffled, “What?”
“Your date is here!”
A pause followed by more shuffling. “But—it’s quarter till!”
“You know he can probably hear you—”
“Ugh, answer it and give me a second!”
Footsteps approached, and Caleb took a small step back, suddenly remembering that Jamie had a roommate. And that the roommate was the woman from the bar, and his ex-girlfriend, and he was standing outside her door with flowers like an idiot—
The door swung open with a creak, and Caleb came face-to-face with Ellie.
“Hello, Caleb.” Her straight black hair was pulled into a tight, sleek ponytail, and she had on pink scrubs. A name tag pinned to her chest read: Nurse Marsh.
Caleb straightened as her eyes dropped to the flowers in his hands. “Hey… uh, Ellie, right?”
“Correct,” she said sternly.
From what he remembered, she was friendly at the bar. He squirmed a little as she eyed him up, glancing at his outfit and then back to the flowers. He towered over her, but somehow, her energy made him feel shorter, the way she angled herself in the doorway so he couldn’t get past.
Jamie’s voice called from somewhere inside. “Caleb, come in! I’ll just be a moment.”
“Take your time!” he called over Ellie’s shoulder.
With a quick glance at Ellie for permission, he stepped around her. He felt her gaze on him as he entered the small, cozy apartment. Looking around, he noted that the place had a cozy, messy charm to it. Lived-in, a little chaotic, but not dirty.
Caleb stepped over a backpack leaning against a worn sofa and turned, taking it all in. Plants covered almost every surface—some thriving, some barely hanging on—and there were books everywhere.
Caleb smiled. “I love your place,” he said honestly. More shuffling came from behind a door, and he imagined Jamie bumbling around, getting ready.
“We’ve lived here since we left uni,” Ellie replied.
Caleb glanced back at her, trying to place the edge in her tone. “How long’s that?”
“Three years.” She held his gaze until he turned away and drifted toward a gallery wall of photos. Clutching the flowers tighter, he stepped closer, taking in a picture of Jamie and Ellie in front of the Eiffel Tower.
“Long time,” he muttered.
“I’ve known Jamie since we were kids,” she added, drawing his attention back. Her eyes were burning now, and Caleb had the feeling she wanted to say more. If she was trying to make him nervous, she was doing a bang-up job.
He turned fully to face her, straightening his spine as his guard flew up.
They stood there in a silent standoff, Caleb silently urging Ellie to just come out and say whatever it was she wanted to say.
The longer it went on, the more the fire in her expression softened into something less severe. Almost… sad.
She glanced toward the bedroom, her shoulders easing. “He’s my best friend,” she said softly, too low for Jamie to hear. Probably.
“I know. He told me.”
Her eyes flicked back to his. “He’s very sensitive. And I’ve… I’ve always protected him.”
Caleb’s stomach tightened. Was this a warning? Or was she upset that Jamie was dating at all?
“I don’t plan on hurting him,” he said, louder than intended. The rustling from the other side of the door stopped abruptly.
Ellie held his gaze for a beat longer just as the bedroom door opened. A very flustered-looking Jamie padded into the room, and Caleb tightened his grip on the flowers to stop himself from reaching out.
There you are.
God, he was even more gorgeous than Caleb remembered.
His curls were adorably messy, like he’d tried on half his wardrobe before settling on the light green shirt that made his eyes look even brighter. When Jamie brought a hand up to brush a curl from his eye, Caleb could make out the slight bulge of lean muscle in his arms. And those khaki shorts…
Caleb clenched his jaw to keep from staring at Jamie’s muscular legs.
“Hey!” Jamie said excitedly before scrambling to add, “Erm, sorry for the wait.”
Caleb cleared his throat. “No problem. I was early.”
“Are those—?” Jamie’s cheeks flushed as he looked at the flowers.
“For you. Yeah.” Feeling like a complete idiot, Caleb stepped forward and handed them over. “I, uh—yeah. For you.”
“Wow, I’ve never…” Jamie’s whole face went red, right up to his ears. He slipped past Caleb into the kitchen. “Thank you.” He fumbled through a cabinet until he found a vase and filled it with water. “I’ll just put these up, and then we can go? El, are you off to work?”
“Yeah, I’m heading to the hospital.” Ellie crossed the room, pressing a quick kiss to Jamie’s cheek before heading for the door.
“NICU?” Caleb asked, nodding toward her scrubs. Pink usually meant pediatrics, but he wasn’t sure how it worked in Europe.
She narrowed her eyes slightly. “Yeah. I’m doing my clinical rotations.”
“Have a good day at work, El!” Jamie chirped as he carefully arranged the bouquet in the center of the counter. He reached out and gently brushed one of the blue petals with his fingertip.
Ellie kept her eyes locked on Caleb.
“Have a good time, boys.”