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Gael looked down, fingering the edge of the book he was reading. Just as I was about to say something, Corbin beat me to it.
“You will. I know it. Believe me, I never thought I’d have a boyfriend. Hell, my first kiss was with my best friend because he felt sorry for me.”
Gael scoffed. “I doubt that. You’re hot.”
“Looks aren’t everything, but you wouldn’t recognize me if you saw me as a kid.”
Corbin said looks weren’t everything, but I wondered if he got the irony of his statement because I knew he believed that when it came to everyone but himself.
“You were always beautiful, baby. I don’t know why people like to hurt others so much, but they do. They’re more willing to share things they hate than things they like, or tell someone something negative instead of something positive. You’re gorgeous and a great person.” I turned to Gael. “And you’re one of my favorite people in the world. Definitely one of the smartest.”
Gael playfully rolled his eyes at me. “How do you do that? I swear you’re the most confident person I know.”
“That’s not true, and I wasn’t always the way I am now. It took me a long time to get to the point where I’m happy with myself and don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks.” And I wanted that for them. Both of them.
Neither replied right away. Corbin was looking at me. Nothing would have made me turn away from him.
“Are you guys about to kiss again?” Gael asked. “And you totally called him baby.”
Corbin and I burst into laughter. I had called him baby. Sure, I’d done it last night too, but I was still getting used to it. This thing was progressing faster than I would’ve ever imagined.
“Tell me about the book you’re reading,” Corbin said to Gael, and the kid immediately launched into a story.
I mostly let the two of them do their thing, only chiming in every once in a while. On the surface Corbin seemed like himself, but I had this weird, persistent feeling that something was off.
Corbin must have dropped his car at home and then gotten a ride here, because when we left an hour or so later, he went straight to the passenger seat of my vehicle.
“I need to go grocery shopping,” I told him, “so looks like you’re going with me.” I wanted to make sure we had stuff at the apartment to eat.
“Works for me.”
Corbin was still quieter than usual. Every now and again he would look at his phone, scroll, then put it away again. A few minutes later he’d do the same thing. I had a sneaking suspicion what he was focusing on. If I could delete that app from his phone, I would.
“What do you want for dinner tonight? We can get something to cook together,” I said when we got into the grocery store.
“I’m not really hungry tonight. I had a big lunch.”
I bit my tongue not to respond. Figuring out what to do in this situation was tough. Corbin was an adult. I couldn’t control him. Plus, it wasn’t as if I’d never had a big lunch and not eaten dinner. Also, I didn’t know the ins and outs of this, and for all I knew, if I pushed too hard, it could actually be harmful for him. On the other hand, I wanted nothing more than to protect him, to take care of him and make sure he always knew how incredible he was.
“Okay…well, what are some of your favorite foods? I’ll just get them so I have them around.”
“I’m not an idiot. Jesus, I don’t need you to fucking coddle me. You’re my boyfriend, not my dad,” he snapped.
A woman walking by stared at us, clearly having heard what he’d said. The last thing I wanted was to fight with him, but also, I was pissed. I hadn’t done anything to deserve that. “Noted.”
Corbin continued to walk with me around the store but didn’t speak. I got the kinds of foods I liked, and some stuff I’d seen him eat as well. He helped me put the reusable bags in the trunk when we were finished, still not talking. The second we were in the car, he was back on his phone.
I thought maybe he was going to go to his apartment, but he still went with me into mine. When I started to put the groceries away, he said, “I’m going to take a shower. Do you have anything I can wear?”
“Yep. Take anything you want out of my drawers. Plus, you have a few things you left here that I washed. They’re folded in my closet.”
He gave me a slow nod, watched me for a moment, then disappeared down the hallway. I made chicken breasts and white rice with broccoli and zucchini for dinner, knowing it was a meal he’d liked in the past.
