Rodney hums. “I don’t think so. You wanna play something?”
I bite my bottom lip so hard it might bleed. My stomach is a mess of nerves. I let out a shaky breath. “I was just wondering if you wanted to come hang out? Maybe? We could watch a movie or play some board games or even go out to dinner. Or something. In person? Calloway will be at his other dad’s house so we’ll have the place to ourselves.”
I wince as I ramble, suddenly feeling very, very nervous. Thankfully, Rodney doesn’t make me wait long.
“I’d like that,” he says softly. “I’d like that a lot. Text me your address and I’ll bring boba. We can decide what we feel like doing when I get there?”
“That would be great.”
“Great,” Rodney says and I can hear his grin. “It’s a date.”
“Yeah,” I say softly. “It’s a date.”
Chapter Seven
Rodney
I sit back inmy seat, looking down at my phone and doing my best to ignore the nerves trying to force my breakfast to make a reappearance. My hands are sweaty and my heart is leaping up into my throat. I feel like a complete fucking mess.
You’d think I’ve never been on a date before! I’m not some high schooler getting his first crush! So why the hell does this feel so monumental?
I rub at my eyes before looking back down, reading through my messages again. Rin and Kei have been blowing up our group chat, hyping me up and reminding me of how awesome I am. It’s helping. A tiny bit.
Azaad also knows about the date and has been reassuring me. Apparently, he thinks if I’m just myself, anyone would be able to see what a catch I am. It means a lot coming from him, since he’s always got his shit together. Out of all of us, Azaad is the most ‘adult’. He’s the one we call when we need supervision.
My train comes to a stop and I stand up, shuffling my way through the open doors. Gayle offered to pick me up from the station but because it’s nice out, I decided to make my way to his house on foot. I already looked up the route on my phone and plan on stopping for boba on the way over. I refuse to go to my date’s house empty-handed.
Just admitting that this is a date leaves my heart fluttering inside my chest. Despite my nerves, I can’t stop grinning all the way to the boba shop and then down the street towards Gayle’s house.
It takes about thirty minutes to walk from the boba shop to Gayle’s house. In the future, I’ll probably let Gayle pick me up from the station. Once I’m walking down his street, I balance our bobas in one arm and take out my phone, sending him a quick message on Discord to let him know I’m almost there.
By the time I walk up his driveway, Gayle is already sitting outside. He looks so casual in a pair of plaid shorts and a hoodie. He looks up from his phone, his face splitting into a wide smile that has my breath catching in my throat.
“Hey,” I say right away, doing my best to wave while holding our boba.
“Hi, Rodney,” he says, opening the door to his house and letting me inside. “It’s so great to see you.”
“You too.” I slip my shoes off at the door and hand over his boba. I got him some coffee concoction with brown sugar boba at the bottom, after hearing about his coffee addiction the other night, while I got myself a raspberry refresher thing. Then I slide my messenger bag off my shoulder and set it on the floor.
“Thanks for this,” he murmurs as he takes the boba, sipping at it and groaning happily. “I love coffee so fucking much. You’re the best.”
“It’s nothing,” I say, ignoring the way my stomach swoops at the praise. I look around Gayle’s home, taking everything in.
There are pictures of him and his kid on the wall. They look so similar, they could be brothers instead of son and father. There’s also art of classic video games that makes me smile. As we make our way into the living room, I can’t help but notice how neat everything is. Gayle and Calloway are either super tidy or Gayle spent all last night cleaning. Either option is incredibly endearing.
“Are you hungry or anything?”
I shake my head as we get to the living room. There’s a couch in front of a huge television along with an armchair on either side of the couch. A long coffee table sits in front of the couch.
Gayle sits down on the couch and I sit on the floor in front of the coffee table, looking up at him with a soft smile.
“I ate before I came. I should be good until we decide what to do for dinner.”
“Awesome,” he says, rubbing his hand over his short hair. “I’m sorry if this is kinda awkward. I’m like properly out of practice when it comes to dating.”
“That’s okay,” I tell him right away, wanting to do what I can to ease some of his nerves. “We can just focus on getting to know each other. No pressure or anything.”
“Good. I’d really like that.”
