I recognized him, of course, but Ididhave to look him up and down a couple of times to be sure it really was him.
It occurred to me that the sight of Devon Rhodes standing on my front stoop in a tuxedo with a bouquet of flowers in his hand should have elicited a whole range of responses, but I only managed to get out one useless, entirely inappropriate word that also managed to sum up everything I was feeling in that moment.
“Wow.”
I wasn’t sure how long I stood there gawking at him before he thrust the flowers at me.
“Rhodies.”
“What?” I blurted.
“My… my brother says I have the best rhododendrons,” Devon stammered.
I looked down at the bouquet of flowers that had various shades of pinks and purples.
“They’re beautiful,” I murmured.
Devon seemed to actually sigh in relief.
“They’re for me?” I asked.
“What? Oh, yeah, sorry. Yeah, I picked them from my garden because I didn’t have time to go out and get you some real flowers… and I thought you might like to see what they look like in case you decide to work on your garden…”
Was the man actually…blushing?
“They’re beautiful, Devon,” I said. “I love them.”
He hesitated, then smiled this big grin. Then hedidsigh in relief. “Good.”
I waited for him to continue, but when he just stood there, things became really awkward really fast. Especially since I was pretty sure I was actually starting to drool as I took in the way he filled out the tux.
“Are you… are you going somewhere?” I asked as I motioned to his tux.
“What?”
“You’re dressed up,” I reminded him.
I wondered why he was staring at me. Did I have something on my face? I wasabout to ask him to excuse me so I could go double—check my appearance in a mirror when Devon blurted, “I thought I’d go with you.”
“What?” I asked, certain I’d heard him wrong.
“Fuck,” Devon whispered. “I didn’t mean to say it like that. Sorry.”
I didn’t even understand what he was apologizing for. Had he said he was going to go with me?
Devon began shifting back and forth on his feet. “You, uh, said you didn’t have a date tonight and it’s Valentine’s Day and all those people will probably have dates, right? And that asshole will have someone with him, so you should too.”
Understanding finally dawned, but before I could even respond, Devon seemed to go even redder as he said, “Oh fuck, you probably found a date, right? Jesus, why didn’t I think of that? I, uh, I’m sorry,” he stammered. Suddenly, he reached out and took the flowers from me. “Just, um, be careful with your knee tonight, okay, Sebastian? Don’t let that piece of shit talk you into doing more than you can handle.”
With that, Devon turned to hurry down the porch steps. “Devon, wait,” I called, but he was halfway down the walkway. “Devon Rhodes, are you really going to make me chase after you?” I added.
That stopped him in his tracks. He turned, and when he saw me starting to maneuver the stairs, he trotted back to me. “Don’t, Sebastian,” he said as he took my arm. “I don’t want you to fall.”
My heart skipped a beat as his fingers closed around my elbow. I wasn’t sure if it was his touch or his words that were causing the reaction.
Probably a little bit of both.
“Devon, did you seriously just ask me out on a date and then dump me before I could even answer?” I asked with mock anger.
