“What would you like to eat?”
A little while later, Rowan and I sat on my bed, pizza boxes open in front of us. It had been difficult to keep my hands off him, but I had prevailed, distracting him with leafing through the endless takeaway menus Oliver and I had pinned to a board in the kitchen. Once we had decided on pizza, Rowan had phoned the restaurant and cancelled the reservation.
I was secretly relieved. I wasn’t embarrassed by any means to be seen on a date, but it somehow seemed more personal and real to be ordering in and hanging out here. I got the impression that Rowan had booked an official date because that’s just ‘what you do’, rather than because that’s how he wanted to spend an evening with me. The atmosphere changed completely as soon as he had hung up the phone and we’d spent half an hour or so kissing in the kitchen until the pizza had arrived.
“How has your day been?” Rowan asked through a mouthful of pizza.
“Yeah, good, I guess. A bit nerve racking,” I replied with a sheepish smile.
“Yeah?” Rowan grinned. “I’m glad it wasn’t just me then.”
That made me feel better, knowing Rowan had been nervous too. I laughed and swallowed my food before speaking again. “It’s stupid really though, isn’t it? We spend all week together. I’m not usually the nervous type, but shit…”
“I know. It was like being a bloody teenager again, honestly.” Rowan shook his head with a smile and took a large bite out of his pizza slice.
We ate in silence for a moment before I dusted off my hands and reached for my TV remote. “You want to watch something?” I asked, pressing the power button.
“Sure, anything.” Rowan nodded. He put his half-eaten pizza back into its box and propped my pillows up before swinging his legs up onto the bed and shuffling to lean back against the headboard. He grabbed his pizza box and rested it on his lap before continuing to eat.
Without giving it too much thought, I selected the TV show I was last watching from the list and joined Rowan back on the bed. We sat in silence, absorbed in the show and eating our pizza.
At one point during an episode, subtitles flicked up whilst two characters were speaking Russian and I glanced across at Rowan.
“Can you speak any other languages?” I asked.
He shrugged, not looking away from the TV. “I could hold a shaky conversation in German, maybe... If they spoke slowly.”
“Well, that’s still better than a few scant sentences of French,” I laughed. “That’s about all I’ve got.”
“Maths and science were always more my thing,” Rowan replied, looking across to me with a smile. “Though I’m sure you could have worked that out by yourself.”
“Yeah, you probably wouldn’t have made a very good dentist otherwise.” I nodded. “I was always better at all that side of things too.”
“That’s no real surprise. You’re damn good at your job. You’re much better than any of the other nurses I’ve had – though I wouldn’t ever tell them that.” He grinned.
“Am I the first male nurse you’ve worked with?” I asked curiously.
“Yes, actually. You don’t seem to find so many men in that position. There are lots of male general nurses and that kind of thing, but not so much in dentistry,” Rowan mused.
“Yeah, there was only one other guy on my course, and he failed his final exams, so...” I shrugged.
Before either of us could say anything more, Rowan’s phone chimed in his pocket. He put his slice of pizza down and brushed off his hands before stretching back to pull it free. I couldn’t help my eyes being drawn to the screen. His background photo was of a young, blonde girl, undoubtedly his daughter. I swallowed my mouthful and reached for my can of Coke; my throat suddenly dry.
Rowan opened the message and I saw his expression change. The warmth was gone, replaced by a brief scowl. Realising I was looking at him, he masked it with a fake smile, but not before I had caught the look in his eyes. I suddenly felt awkward and looked away, grappling for a topic of conversation.
“Everything alright?” I asked, keeping my gaze fixed on the TV.
“Yeah, sorry,” he replied, slipping his phone back into his pocket.
Silence enveloped us as we both finished our food and watched the TV. Though I continued to stare at the screen, I found myself wondering whether Rowan considered what was going on between us as ‘cheating’. Had Rowan had an affair before? It disturbed me a little to consider I wasn’t the first. I quickly pushed the thought out of mind.
I took Rowan’s empty pizza box from his lap and placed it on the floor with my own. He startled, clearly lost in his own thoughts as well.
“Oh, thanks. Do you want me to take them to the bin?”
“Nah, I’ll do it later. Do you need another drink or anything?” I asked.
Rowan stretched for his can, and I fought to keep my eyes from his abs as they rippled beneath his shirt. He lifted the can and shook his head. “No, I’ve got plenty.”
