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Parking, he gets out and opens my door for me, giving me a sheepish smile. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make that sound so…”
“It’s okay.” I smile, and his shoulders relax.
As we walk a few storefronts down the block to Anthony’s, he doesn’t try to hold my hand or place one on my lower back again, and I’m grateful for that. I’d feel bad if he’s able to sense the apprehension on my end, but I’m grateful all the same.
Being a gentleman, he opens the door for me, and I’m immediately hit with the delicious scent of Italian food.
“I love this smell,” I tell him, and he smiles.
“Me too.” The hostess greets Caleb like she’s known him forever, which it turns out, she has. “I’ve known Elise since grade school,” he tells me when we’re seated. “She’s been dating the chef here since we were all in high school. Or, well, he was just a line cook then, but you know what I mean.” It’s kind of cute how he seems so nervous to say the wrong thing and is stumbling over his words.
I give him a reassuring smile. “I knew what you meant.”
So, they’ve been together since high school and they’re not engaged or married yet? I hope that her chef boyfriend isn’t a lying, cheating, dirtbag like mine was.
A waitress comes over, and Caleb orders a bottle of Merlot and the vodka penne for each of us. I know he means well, but I’ve always kind of hated when a guy orders for me. It always seems like they’re trying to act superior or something, and think that I’m incapable of choosing my own damn food.
With that said, though, I give him a pass since he challenged me to a taste test.
After a glass of wine, I’m much more relaxed, and I actually find myself smiling without having to force it. Talking to Caleb is easy. He’s nice, loves his job, and loves his family.
On paper, he’s perfect. But…I’m just not getting a spark of anything between us. No chemistry lighting up my heart or making me wish dinner would hurry up so I can get to the goodnight kiss.
I don’t feel any of that.
I like him enough. Just as a friend, though.
Ugh. That mother freaking word.Friend.
“What’s the worst call you ever had to go on?” I ask him, needing to distract myself from my thoughts spiraling out of control.
Laughing before he even starts talking, he rubs the back of his neck. “Well, it was kind of scarring for me. It involves a life alert panic button call from an elderly couple who thought it was a good idea to take a bath together, but then realized they couldn’t get out of the tub…”
“Oh my god,” I say in a rush, quickly covering my mouth to keep from laughing too loud. “That’s horrible! You had to touch them?” I ask, and he shudders, making me laugh harder.
“No, luckily that was the paramedics’ job.”
“Yes, luckily.” I chuckle.
And that’s when I feel it, a spark of awareness on the back of my neck, and I already know why.
I turn my head towards the door, and my eyes clash with Tyler’s hard, penetrating, stare.
Shit.
I’m caught. Ensnared. And I instantly feel like the biggest asshole in the world.
I can see the anger and hurt etched in his face like red gashes, and the crack in my chest I felt when I walked away from him starts to throb. I absentmindedly rub my chest over my heart, trying to ease the pain.
Tyler clenches his fists open and closed at his sides, shifting his unrelenting gaze over to Caleb, his scowl somehow deepening. And after what feels like eternity, he turns on his heel and storms out of the restaurant.
It takes me a few seconds to blink my way out of the stupor I was in, and to realize that everyone in Anthony’s is now staring at me.
Great. Now I’m going to be town gossip.
“I’m sorry about that,” I whisper, casting my eyes down at my plate.
“Are you and him…” Caleb trails off, leaving the question hanging in the air.
