Which… okay, didn’t sound that bad.
In hindsight, I could’ve just invited Eric over for a cozy movie night, but I’d wanted to meet him on neutral ground. I needed to make sure he really wasn’t my stalker. At the same time, I needed to make sure that if he really wasn’t my stalker, just a good guy I’d just met at a weird point in my life, I wasn’t puttinghim in danger by meeting up with him. The problem was I had no idea how to make sure of that.
Why was my life so fucking complicated?
I hopped out of the elevator, pulled my hood over my head, and dashed through the icy rain to the red Subaru that was waiting for me at the curb.
“Damn,” I said as I slid onto the back seat, goosebumps rising on my skin even though I was wearing a coat.
“Yeah, man, it’s fucking freezing,” my driver said, giving me a half grin through the rearview mirror. “I can put the heat on full blast, if you want.”
I shook my head. “Nah, I’m good. I’ll be out of here in like five minutes anyway. Thanks, though.”
The driver nodded, then pulled away from the curb while I fastened the seatbelt and stared out the window.
It was still early in the evening, but it might as well have been midnight with how empty the streets were. Usually, there was a steady stream of people walking by at this time, but today the sidewalk was nearly void of anyone.
Yeah, I’d so take an Uber back home later.
And maybe, if I managed to convince myself that Eric was indeed a good guy, I wouldn’t have to go home alone…
The warmth of the café hit me full force, my face throbbing from the sudden change in temperature. I shuddered, trying to shake off the coldness, and rubbed my hands against each other to warm them up.
Fuck.
If I’d known there’d be an accident right up the street from the café, so I’d have to actually walk a block to get here, I might’ve just saidfuck itand invited Eric over after all.
I looked around the café, searching for his dark mop of hair. While the streets outside were almost like the set of a horror movie, it was completely different in here. Most tables were still occupied, and the quiet chatter and tinkering of porcelain immediately set me at ease. The clicking of knitting needles was like a comforting hug.
Yeah, this place was definitely climbing higher on my list of favorite places to be.
I walked a little further into the café, eyes darting left and right, trying to find Eric, but it wasn’t until I rounded the corner that I found him sitting in one of the ugly yet charming armchairs we’d sat in last time we’d been here.
He was engrossed in something on his phone and hadn’t noticed me yet, so I had the rare opportunity of ogling him in peace.
He was stunning.
A seriously beautiful specimen of mankind.
My stomach swooped as I took him in. His skin was so incredibly pale he almost looked like he was made out of marble, his jaw definitely square and pronounced enough to be carved out of stone, cheekbones high and harsh. And his eyes… how they managed to be so cold and calculating in one moment, and so fucking warm the next was a mystery to me.
Like right now, he was staring at his phone, his mouth pressed into a stoic line, face incredibly still with no muscles twitching at all, his eyes completely focused on the screen while his fingers flew over it, typing so fast I could barely make them out. There was no warmth, no hint of emotion at all to be seen anywhere on his face. He really looked stone-cold.
“Hi,” I said, purposefully drawing his attention to me to witness…that.
The way his eyes came to life. A tiny spark ignited, turning the icy blue of his eyes so warm they doubled as a radiator, heating me up in seconds. And his smile…ohh, his smile… the stoic mask drained away, quickly replaced by the tiniest yet most intense smile there was.
“Finn,” he greeted, excitement obvious in his voice.
One moment he was sitting in his chair, and the next he was standing right beside me, pulling me into a hug. It’d all happened so fast it almost appeared impossible. Then again, I’d been so focused on his expression my brain might’ve taken a second or two to catch up with what was happening in real time.
I took a deep breath, inhaling the cool air that surrounded him, breathing in his fresh, crisp scent mixed with a hint of spice that made me want to lick… yeah. Needless to say, if he turned out to be my stalker, I was royally fucked.
“Was your trip here okay?” he asked as he slowly let go of me.
I scrunched up my nose and shuddered dramatically. “It was while I was sitting in my warm Uber with a blissfully quiet driver. But there was a car crash up the road, which meant I had to walk a block. Now I’m frozen.”
To emphasize how fucking cold I was, I rubbed my hands over my arms. Unfortunately, I was still wearing my coat, which was wet from the rain.
