Two days had passed.
Scottie looked at the calendar on the wall of his office just to be sure.
Yep. Two days.
Well, a day and a half, technically. But for sure one entire day had passed without his phone ringing and without any surprise appearance by Trenton in his doorway.
If that night had been an actual date, Scottie would have been pissed. It would have felt like Trenton was ghosting him.
And it still felt that way, if he was being honest—he just didn’t feel like he had as much right to be angry about it.
But maybe he did?
He sighed. This was why he needed to be able to talk to his friends about Trenton. Surely one of them would know what the hell Scottie was supposed to do in a situation like this.
Because no matter what Scottie wanted to believe, the fact of the matter was that he hadn’t been on an actual date with Trenton. Up until Trenton had kissed him, Scottie hadn’t even thought that might be an option, hadn’t thought that dating Trenton was ever within the realm of possibilities.
He’d just assumed that Trenton was straight—or at least mostly straight—and had left it at that. And even though he might still be straight, or mostly straight, or sort of bi, or whatever, Scottie had absolutely no experience with a situation like this.
This was more like Calvin and Jack’s territory, but at least they had been friends for a long time. Best friends, even. So that was different, too.
There was nothing in Scottie’s past that had prepared him to be at odds with a man one week and head over heels for him the next. That didn’t sound like a thing that ever happened in real life.
But here he was, head over heels and wondering how he’d gotten this far.
He picked up the phone.
There was no way he could go on like this. There was simply no way.
Scottie quickly scrolled through his contacts, stopping at Calvin’s number and dialing before he could talk himself out of it. He needed some practical, sensible advice, and Calvin was one of the few people who knew him well enough to help.
Perhaps more importantly, Calvin was the only person Scottie could think of who wouldn’t sugarcoat things. If Scottie was being a complete imbecile, Calvin would let him know.
Calvin answered on the second ring, his voice bright and cheerful as it boomed through the speaker. “Hey, I was just on my way over there to grab some coffee and a bagel. What’s up?”
“Nothing,” Scottie said, mostly out of reflex. “I mean, um… nothing much? I’ll get your coffee ready. Can you just meet me back in my office?”
There was a long pause. “Of course,” Calvin said, finally. “Is everything okay?”
“Sort of… but…” Scottie sighed. He couldn’t do this over the phone. Not like this. “I’ll explain everything when you get here. See you in a few.”
He hung up the phone and pushed away from his desk, wondering if he was making a big mistake.
If he was, it would only be the latest in a string of mistakes lately.
And either way, there wasn’t any use in stressing about that right now. Calvin would be here in just a couple of minutes, and Scottie needed to get his coffee.
He wished for a moment that he served something a little stronger than coffee at the shop. Preferably something with liquor.
Scottie had a feeling they were both going to need some before this conversation was over.
“So what’s the emergency?” Calvin asked as he sat down in the chair next to Scottie’s desk and took a tentative sip from the steaming cup of coffee in his hand. “I almost called right back after you hung up. You had me starting to worry.”
“Sorry,” Scottie said, sighing as he sat down at the desk and turned his chair to face his friend. “I didn’t mean to worry you. There’s no actual emergency, just a… a problem. Or maybe an issue? Something I need to tell you about.”
If Scottie had been trying to ease Calvin’s mind, the expression on Calvin’s face told him he’d done a pretty horrible job of it. He just didn’t know how to begin, or what he was even going to say, really.
He hadn’t exactly planned this out. And he hadn’t really planned on Calvin being only a couple of minutes from walking through the door when he’d placed that phone call, either.
Scottie had just assumed he would have a little while to get his story together and maybe bring it up in a calm, reasonable way.
Or better yet, that he’d be able to think of a way to get Calvin’s advice without even telling him it was about Trenton. That would have been ideal.
But Calvin was looking at him now like he really was just half a beat from calling for backup, so the time for thinking things through had already passed. Now he was going to have to do some explaining.
“I’m listening,” Calvin said, quirking an eyebrow to prompt Scottie as he took another sip of coffee. “You know if it’s something I can help you with, I absolutely will.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for, to be honest.” Scottie nibbled at his lip for a moment, then huffed out a short breath. “I think I like Trenton.”
Calvin blinked, then cocked his head to the side. “Because he helped Sasha, right? I mean, sure. That sort of redeemed him a little in my eyes, too.”
“No,” Scottie said. “Well, yes, I do like him because of that, too, but…”
Scottie watched as Calvin finally connected the dots. He could see his friend’s expression change from confusion to complete surprise over the course of several seconds.
“Wait a minute,” Calvin said. “Just… okay hold on.” He scooted up to the edge of his seat, his eyes bulging. “You aren’t just talking about liking Trenton because he did a nice thing? You’re saying you like Trenton? Like… you want to…”
“I kissed him, Calvin,” Scottie said. “Or…well, he kissed me, I guess, technically. But we definitely kissed.”
“Oh. My. God.” Calvin’s mouth fell all the way open as he stared at Scottie like he had just sprouted a second head. “Oh my God.”
Scottie was really second guessing his decision to ask Calvin for advice now, but there was obviously no turning back at this point. Of course, it probably would have helped if Scottie had eased Trenton into the news a little better, but he couldn’t hold it in any longer and Calvin wasn’t really catching on quickly enough.
“I know,” Scottie said. “It’s ridiculous, right?”
Just a few days ago, Scottie would have said his life was starting to look up. Sasha was on the mend, business was good. He had even somehow managed to make friends with his main competition.
What could be better?
Except, then it had somehow all gone to shit. A kiss, that should have been—that was—the best thing to happen to Scottie in a long time, had only ended up ruining everything.
And now he had no idea what to do. Not only that, but one of his best friends was still looking at him like he was an actual crazy person.
“Ridiculous isn’t the word I would have used,” Calvin said, finally. His eyes were still as wide as saucers, but at least he was speaking coherently again. “Unbelievable, maybe. Improbable, too. Batshit crazy, definitely. But not necessarily ridiculous.”
“Thanks for the help,” Scottie said, failing to keep the sarcasm from his voice as he sank lower into his chair. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, what am I supposed to do about it?’
“I have no idea,” Calvin said, shaking his head as he sat back a little. He slowly brought the coffee cup to his lips again and took a long drink. “What do you want to do?” he asked, finally. “In an ideal world, how does this play out for you?”
That was a good question. A really good question, actually. But unfortunately, Scottie wasn’t sure if he could answer.
A week ago, he’d had fantasies of doing a whole lot more than kissing Trenton. But now?
It seemed awfully naive to think he could just pretend like they weren’t both bringing some unpleasant history and a whole lot of baggage to any potential relationship.
And that was assuming that Trenton would even consider doing something else with a man. Judging by how freaked out he’d become after that kiss, he probably wasn’t going to be onboard with anything else.
“I’m not sure, honestly,” Scottie answered. “I think I’d just like to know why he hasn’t tried to talk to me since then—or if he even wants to talk to me again. I don’t really have any expectations at this point. I’d just like to stop wondering about everything, you know?”
Calvin nodded. “That makes sense to me.” He was quiet again for several long seconds, drumming his fingers against the side of his cup as he thought. “I think you’re going to have to go over there.”
“Really?” Scottie asked. “You think I should just… show up? Unannounced?”
Scottie had sort of anticipated the shock that Calvin had shown when he’d first heard about the kiss. It was no secret that Calvin and Trenton didn’t get along. Scottie had even prepared himself for the possibility that Calvin might get angry at him for confessing that he might be interested in Trenton.
What he hadn’t expected was for Calvin to be completely reasonable about the whole thing. Well, after the initial shock had worn off, at least.
Calvin shrugged. “I’d go over there right now if I were you. You said you wanted some answers. Go get them. What’s the alternative? Sit here and hope he decides to call? What if he doesn’t?”
“He hasn’t yet,” Scottie said, conceding Calvin’s point. “And I really do want answers. Or at least a chance to tell him what I think—maybe give him an opportunity to tell me what he was thinking.”
“I think you owe it to yourself to do it,” Calvin nodded. “No matter what he says, it should at least give you some peace of mind to know for sure where you stand. Not knowing is the hardest thing. It’s the worst.”
Scottie knew Calvin was speaking from experience. Before they had become a couple, Calvin and Jack had gone through a bit of a rough patch in their friendship. A ten-year rough patch when they didn’t speak at all, in fact.
If anyone knew the pain of not knowing how someone felt, it had to be Calvin.
“If you could do it over again,” Scottie began. “Would you have called Jack right away after high school? After he moved away to Boston?”
“You don’t know how many times I’ve asked myself that same question,” Calvin said, a small sigh escaping his lips. “If I’d known things would have turned out as wonderfully as they have, I would have called him the very next day after we had our uh… misunderstanding. But I also think things happen when they’re supposed to, you know? So, I’m not sure.” He gave a half-shrug. “If the question was whether or not I wished I could have spent that extra ten years with Jack by my side, the answer is absolutely yes. No doubt about it.”
Scottie worried his lip between his teeth as he considered those words. If he went over there and tried to talk to Trenton before he was ready, would that be rushing things? Would Scottie be trying to force something to happen that wasn’t supposed to happen yet?
Or was he supposed to keep going on like this, guessing and wondering and speculating over what everything meant? Was he supposed to wait indefinitely for Trenton to call or visit?
Scottie definitely couldn’t see himself doing that. He had barely even made it two days before he had cracked. Waiting for ten years like Calvin had?
No way.
Not going to happen.
“I think there’s only one thing to do,” Scottie said, finally.
“Yeah?”
He nodded as he slowly stood up from his desk. “Yeah. Thanks for coming over, Calvin. And thank you for listening to me. You’ve been a big help.” He let a small grin play across his lips for just a moment. “But now you’ve gotta go, because I have to walk across the street. I have some questions that need answers.”
Calvin didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. Scottie could tell by the wide smile on his face that he agreed with the decision. Calvin reached out and caught Scottie in a quick hug, then turned to go, only pausing for a moment at the office door.
“Good luck,” Calvin said. “But I don’t think you’ll need it. Just remember that no matter what he says, it’ll be better than not knowing at all. And don’t forget to call me immediately when you get back. This is going to have me on pins and needles until you get those answers.”
“Thank you,” Scottie said, following Calvin out the door and down the short corridor toward the front of the coffee shop. “I’ll call you later.”
He watched as Calvin walked out of the shop and back down the sidewalk toward Second Chance Books. Scottie knew that Calvin was right. He knew that Calvin would have good, solid advice.
It was why Calvin had been the only real choice when it came time to call someone.
That had been the easy part. Now, though, he had to go and talk to Trenton alone.
That was the conversation Scottie wasn’t looking forward to. That one wasn’t going to be easy at all.