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“How’s your mother? Did you spend the night at the hospital?”
“She’s coming along. No, I went back to campus. My brothers and I have this thing we do on Saturdays.”
“Really? That’s awesome. What is it?”
“It’s nothing special. It’s just when we usually have time to hang out with each other. I probably should have told you that I wasn’t gonna be back,” he said lowering his eyes with guilt.
“No,” I said relieved. “Why would you have to tell me? You don’t owe me anything.”
“But still, I could have called,” he admitted.
“I’m just happy you’re safe.”
When I said that, he stared at me again. Realization washed through him.
“Right. Sorry. What are you doing tonight?”
My heart raced. Was he about to ask me on another date?
“I don’t know. Do you have any suggestions?”
“My friends sometimes do game night on Sundays. I was wondering if you wanted to join me,” he said more nervously than I would have guessed a man as big as him would be.
“Yeah, of course. I would love to meet your friends,” I said beside myself.
“Great,” he said relieved. “I think you’ll like them. They’re all really friendly. They’re a great bunch of guys. You’ll also meet their boyfriends.”
“Wait, all of your friends are gay?”
“Mostly they’re bisexual. Titus’s boyfriend Lou is gay, I think. I don’t know about Quin. But I think you’ll like them. You should fit right in,” he said with kindness in his eyes.
I barely knew what to say. I had never been a part of a group before. The fact that he was doing this for me almost brought me to tears. It took everything in me to hold them back.
“Thank you. I’m sure your friends are great. I mean, they’re friends with you, aren’t they?” I said with a smile.
Cali smirked.
“You should be ready to head out around five. We’ll probably order a few pizzas there,” he told me as he shifted to walk away.
“What are you up to today?” I asked hoping he would want to spend it with me.
“Oh, I have an errand I need to run. I’ll be back. You just be ready for five,” he said before disappearing into his mother’s room.
Listening to him leave, I decided to take my mind off our exciting night by cleaning up the place. I rearranged and fluffed the cushions. I swept downstairs. And I made my first ever attempt at cleaning a bathroom.
I don’t know how I felt about the last one. I still liked knowing that I was the one keeping the business afloat. But bathrooms aren’t fun to clean. Who knew?
When Cali returned, I was sitting on the back deck admiring the view. The bed-and-breakfast overlooked a valley layered in pine trees with a mountainous backdrop covered in the midst of a waterfall. Growing up in New York I didn’t know that places like this existed.
“What are you doing out here?” Cali asked joining me.
“Enjoying the view. I can’t imagine growing up every day looking at this.”
“I can’t imagine growing up in a city.”
“It’s nothing like this. We have a view, and it’s nice, but it’s of the New York skyline.”
“That does sound nice.”
