How carefully he phrased that, as if he’d been worried I’d think he’d lost interest, cracked something open in my chest.
Jett:I figured you were busy. No big deal.
Liar.
Ellis:Still want to grab that coffee sometime?
I stood in the stairwell, keys in one hand and phone in the other, andmade a decision that terrified me.
Jett:Yeah. I do.
Ellis:Wednesday? There’s a place near the gym I’ve been wanting to try.
Jett:Wednesday works.
Ellis:Great. I’ll text you the details tomorrow. And Jett? I’m really glad you gave me your number.
I climbed the last few stairs to my apartment, let myself in, and collapsed on my couch. The apartment hung emptier than usual.
I’d almost ruined something before it even started.
All because I got scared.
My phone buzzed again. Calliope checking in.
Calliope:You alive?
Jett:Alive. Home. Didn’t do anything too stupid.
Calliope:Define “too stupid.”
Jett:I’m going on a date on Wednesday.
Calliope:WITH ELLIS???
Jett:Yeah.
Calliope:Oh my God. OH MY GOD. I’m calling Sierra right now. This is happening. You’re going on an actual date.
Jett:It’s just coffee.
Calliope:It’s NEVER just coffee. I’m so proud of you I could cry.
Jett:Please don’t.
I smiled despite everything. Despite the failed hookup and the three days of spiraling and the fact that I had no idea what I was doing.
Ellis wanted to see me again. And I wanted to see him.
That should’ve been simple. It wasn’t.
Chapter six
The coffee shop Ellis picked was three blocks from Foundation Fitness, between a vintage record store and a laundromat that always had the dryer on the left running unbalanced. Small place. Roasted its own beans. The mismatched furniture worked the way it works when somebody’s actually thought about it. Big windows. Afternoon light. The smell of dark roast and pastry hit me the second I walked through the door.
Ellis sat at a corner table, scrolling through his phone. He looked up when the door chimed, and a careful smile spread across his face.
“Hey.” He stood, and he’d dressed up. Not formal. A dark green henley that did something for the color of his eyes, jeans that fit, boots instead of sneakers. “You find it okay?”
