With one final deep breath, Finn stepped out and stalked into the restaurant.
The owner and chef, Andi, was behind the counter and waved him back to the booth he usually shared with Silas. They came here at least three times a week for the amazing food, so he figured it would be a nice spot for a first date.
He ordered a couple of waters and chatted with Andi for a bit, but told her to wait a few minutes before bringing any food. She gave him a curious look, so he explained that he was waiting on someone.
She grinned. “A date?”
He shuffled his feet, cheeks hot. Checking his phone, he saw that Jaime was only a few minutes late. He’d probably been caught up with his work thing. He’d text if he wasn’t going to make it. “I’m meeting a friend.”
She gave him a knowing look. “I’ll swing back by when he gets here.” He nodded and she sauntered off, back into the kitchen.
Finn checked his phone again, ten minutes late now. Maybe he should ask if Jaime was ok? What if he had a flat tire, or hit a deer on the way here and was stuck on the side of the highway somewhere?
He fired off a quick text.
Hey, no rush, just want to make sure you’re ok.
Nothing.
He waited another fifteen minutes before he stepped out to make sure Jaime wasn’t waiting for him in the parking lot.
Forty-five minutes.
Still no word. Finn sent another text, confirming that Jaime had the address. People started to glance over at him with pity. Andi refilled his water once, and then again.
Maybe he wasn’t late, maybe he just wasn’t coming. Maybe he didn’t care enough about meeting Finn, after all.
He carded his fingers through his hair and worried over every text sent between them in a way he hadn’t before. Was it something he’d said? Had he been overbearing? Too much?
Finn scrolled back through their conversations, trying to see where he’d gone wrong. Oh God, what if he hadn’t flirtedenoughwith Jaime and he thought Finn didn’t actually like him?
He sent another message.
Is everything ok? Have you decided not to come? Are you stuck somewhere?
An hour passed.
Someone leaned over to him, voice filled with pity. “We’ve all been there, man. Being stood up sucks.”
An hour and a half.
Two hours.
He avoided eye contact with Andi as he ducked out of the restaurant. Alone in his truck, Finn stared out through the windshield, fogged over from the heat coming off of him. He heard people laughing together as they walked by, muffledfrom the distance and closed windows, unaware that he was unraveling a little bit, inside.
Finn closed out of the string of unanswered messages and put a lid on the fragile, hopeful parts of him, his wolf now aching and howling. He stuffed the hurt down, down, down.
Jaime never came, and Finn went home.
Part Two
New
Chapter 3
Jaime
3 MONTHS LATER
