“Yeah,” Derek whispered. “It was… until I fucked it up.”
“How?”
Sagging against the sofa, Derek laid his head on the back and stared up at the high, dark ceiling, his words hollow. “I… I questioned hisSide Bbeliefs. I didn’t mean to, but that’s how it came out.”
Gideon cleared his throat. “What did he say to that?”
“Not much. But he took off when I went to the restroom.” He exhaled hard. “Told me all I needed to know.”
Gideon stroked his jaw thoughtfully. “Maybe… maybe not.”
Lifting his head, Derek frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Not everyone who runs away… is trying togetaway. People run for a lot of different reasons.” He smiled small. “Running from one’s feelings is a common practice among us complicated human beings.”
Doubt and hope battled it out behind Derek’s eyes. “You… you think that’s why Patrick ran…becausehe has feelings for me?”
“I can’t say for absolute certain, but if I had to make an educated guess, I’d probably say yes. Or at the very least, experiencing a very strong attraction to you.”
“Why?” Derek asked thickly.
“Why what?”
“Why do you think that’s the reason he took off?”
Quiet desperation gripped the young man as he waited tensely for Gideon’s reply. He needed something to grab on to, a thread of hope—and needed Gideon to throw it out there for him.
“Simple deduction,” Gideon said. “From everything you’ve told me about him and how he has responded to you since the moment you two met… I see the classic signs of two young men falling for one another.”
“But how do I know for sure if he actually likes me? Maybe he did run away togetaway. Considering what he believes, why wouldn’t he want to get away from me, and stay away?”
Gideon breathed deep and released it slowly. “Answer me this… if Patrick truly had no interest in the date, then why did he show up at all? Why did he go to the restaurant?”
“He thought I would be gone.”
“That isn’t the point,” Gideon explained. “He still came. Why?”
Derek lowered his eyes. “I don’t know. I thought about that, too, tonight when I saw him there in the parking lot.”
“Something drew him there. If hetrulywanted nothing to do with you, he wouldn’t have shown up—at all.”
Sighing, Derek mumbled, “What am I supposed to do now?”
“Take a few days, give him some space, some time to sort out his feelings. You can take that time to do the same. Sometimes infatuation can feel like budding love, but with time apart, a person tends to see things more clearly.”
“You think that’s all this is?” Derek whispered. “Infatuation?”
“Honestly? No. But time will tell. And if this is meant to be, the feelings won’t fade—in either of you.”
Derek rose from the sofa and walked over to the dark pool table. He gripped the edge and leaned on his arms. “I feel like a fool.”
“Why is that?”
“Getting all worked up and upset over a guy I’ve barely known a full day. I never do this.” He turned around. “I never get caught up in all the drama ofromance.Why am I so fucked up now?”
Gideon stood. “Maybe this time it’s the real thing. That’ll turn a man’s world upside down quicker than anything.”
Derek scooted up on the table, his legs dangling over the edge. “I don’t know why I’m even giving him a second thought,” he murmured. “It isn’t like we could ever have a relationship. Even if he believed it was okay to be romantic without the sex—I can’t do that. I can’t go without sex—period. So, what the fuck am I doing? Why would I want to start something with him when it could go nowhere?”
