Page 11 of Jacob Michaels is Not Crazy

Lucas entered the Sunny Side Up Café, a smile on his face, and a spring in his step. I was sat in the same booth we had occupied on our previous visit, a cup of coffee half drunk already. When I had left Oma’s, I had shot off a text to him, asking if he wanted to meet for breakfast. Of course, he had responded immediately to the affirmative, which unnerved me. Lucas’ immediate desire to see me again made me wonder if Oma wasn’t on to something when she asked if he had feelings for me. One wouldn’t think that one night of having drinks and one night of debauchery would enamor one to another so quickly. But Lucas had the look as he made his way over to my booth in the mostly empty café. Sundays obviously weren’t very busy after the breakfast rush, either.

When Lucas slid into the booth across from me, that smile growing wider and more genuine, I brought my coffee mug to my lips and took a long drink. The waitress, Jill, popped up and took Lucas’ order for coffee as well and we both ordered our meals. I opted for another veggie omelet and fruit cup, which made Lucas smile, so he ordered the same. However, I desperately felt the need to explain to him that his vegetarian lifestyle was not rubbing off on me. I just desired to eat something at least halfway healthy instead of something like the heart-clogging fare Oma offered at home.

“Hey, you.” Lucas grinned at me as he started to unbutton his coat in the seat across from me. “I was worried when you didn’t return my texts last night.”

“I slept from the time I got home until the sun came up this morning,” I said simply.

There was no need to provide details that were unimportant in the grand scheme of things. The grand scheme being whatever it was going on between Lucas and myself.

“Did I wear you out that much?” He grinned wickedly, yet somehow still shyly as he slid his coat off. “Maybe you need to do more cardio?”

“Maybe.”

“I’m glad you asked me to come have breakfast.” He smiled widely. “I didn’t really have anything to do this morning.”

“Not working at the hardware store? High school doesn’t need your skills either?”

He chuckled. “I usually have Mondays and Tuesdays off—if I have days off. They’re the least busy days at grandpa’s store…though you’d think some teachers would’ve called in today, right?”

“Look,” I didn’t want to banter, “Lucas, I wanted to talk to you about this weekend and…I don’t know what to say really…I just know that we need to talk about it.”

“I had a good time.” His smile practically split his face.

Staring into his eyes, the color of gilded jade, from across the table, I didn’t know if I had the heart to have this conversation with Lucas. I didn’t know if I had the heart to talk to anyone about anything. Except maybe Oma and Andrew since it was easy to talk when I’m angry. Lucas hadn’t really done anything to draw my ire. Sure, he hadn’t told me he was gay—but that hadn’t really been my business, and I hadn’t asked anyway. Of course, he hadn’t told me he knew that werewolves were real and Oma was allegedly a witch. Then again, if he had told me before I had seen it with my own eyes, would I have believed him? No. I wouldn’t have. I would have called him crazy and avoided him in the future.

“Um, yeah, I mean, I had fun, too.” I nodded, trying to gather my thoughts.

Lucas started to reach across the table for my hand that held my coffee mug, realized where we were, then slid his hand back into his lap. But his smile didn’t falter. Which scared me more than anything—even more than his thought to grab my hand to hold.

“Are you busy tonight?” He asked. “We could go into Toledo and see a movie. Maybe have dinner first? There’s a really good vege—”

“I’m not dating you.” I interrupted him.

Lucas stopped abruptly and I got to witness the heartbreakingly slow transition of smiling to frowning on his face.

“I—jeez—I didn’t want to, I don’t know, hurt you or anything.” I shook my head. “But I wanted to make it clear that what we…did…doesn’t mean that suddenly we’re…boyfriends.”

“Boyfriends?” He frowned.

“Yeah.” I nodded warily. “A couple. Partners. Whatever you want to call it. Obviously, I haven’t dated in forever and I don’t even know what to call two guys who are in a relationship. So, that should tell you that I’m not a guy you want to partner up with anyway.”

“I see.”

“And I wanted to get it out there before it became imprudent to bring it up again,” I said. “So, there it is.”

“Well, thank you for being prudent.”

His tone was just this side of snarky.

I rolled my eyes softly.

“I know,” I said. “I shouldn’t have slept with you if I didn’t know how I felt about…us…but…”

“What’s wrong with you?” Lucas sat back in his seat. “Seriously, Rob. What is your major issue? Because I haven’t been able to figure that out.”

“I’m sorry?” I blinked at him.

“You have some serious boundaries and barriers.” He said, frowning at me. “I mean, you have some issues with relationships of all kinds.”