Scottie usually looked forward to the morning. It was his favorite time of day.
Not only was it the best time to have a cup of coffee—or three, or four—but it was just the feeling that anything was possible, that anything could happen.
He was usually at work an hour before the sun came up, making sure everything was ready to go for the morning rush, finishing up things from the night before, and just doing whatever he could to set his day up for success, while enjoying the relative peace and quiet before the shop opened.
And then he looked forward to his friends stopping by on their way to work, chatting and having a cup of coffee and just catching up on whatever fun, interesting things were going on in their lives.
He normally loved all of those things.
But today his mind was somewhere else.
Somewhere… across the street.
More than once he’d resisted the urge to get up from his desk and walk to the front of the store, wondering if Trenton was over there doing the same thing.
More than ten times, he’d resisted that urge.
Which was ridiculous, really.
It had just been a nice, simple dinner. They had talked and enjoyed each other’s company, just like Scottie would have done with any of his other friends.
Except Scottie had never felt like that with any of his other friends before. There was never that sort of frisson of excitement, that unspoken chemistry that he had felt last night with Trenton.
And maybe it had mostly been in Scottie’s head?
But even if Trenton hadn’t been necessarily flirting, Scottie wasn’t stupid. Something had happened between them.
Maybe it was just friendship. A different kind of friendship, for sure. But Trenton was different from his other friends, so that could possibly make sense.
“Earth to Scottie,” Gage’s voice broke through his thoughts, making him jump and spin around in his desk chair.
“Oh my God,” Scottie took a deep breath, trying to pretend like he hadn’t totally just been caught daydreaming. “I didn’t even hear you come in.”
“I could tell.” Gage grinned. “I’ve been standing here calling your name for a couple of minutes.”
“No you haven’t,” Scottie felt his eyes go wide. “Not for that long, surely.”
“Something like that.” Gage shrugged as he stepped inside the office and eased himself down into the chair next to Scottie’s desk, his giant, muscular frame making the entire room feel suddenly smaller. “Anyway, what’s up? What’s on your mind?” He leaned in and got an excited look on his face like a kid on Christmas. “Was it something about last night?”
“No,” Scottie answered quickly. Maybe too quickly, judging by the unconvinced look Gage was giving him. “I was thinking about… other stuff.”
“Right.” Gage snorted. “Other stuff. Fine, you don’t have to tell me. But how did dinner go last night? Was the risotto a hit?”
Scottie smiled as he remembered his last-minute confession to Trenton that he didn’t actually cook most of the meal, and how Trenton had said something nice or funny or cute…
Okay, so he couldn’t remember exactly what Trenton had said, but it had probably been nice and funny and cute.
He absolutely remembered everything about the look Trenton had given him in that moment, though. In that split-second, it felt like Trenton saw him and connected with him even more.
“Damn, Scottie, did you get laid last night or something?” Gage was staring at him incredulously, barely holding back a laugh. “You’re fucking glowing right now, man.”
“What? No. No, God no.” Scottie shook his head so hard, he thought he might sprain something. “That was not… no. Last night was fun. But it was just dinner. A friendly dinner. You know, the kind friends have?”
“I can’t remember the last time I had dinner that left me looking like this the next day.” Gage gestured toward Scottie. “Not unless it was dinner followed by some really good sex, anyway.”
“Oh my God,” Scottie rolled his eyes. “You’re impossible.”
“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Gage said, his smile still firmly in place. “But seriously. You’re going to have to give me some details about dinner. Newton will not be okay if I go home this evening without any intel about last night. And I make it a point to keep him happy, so spill.”
Scottie sighed. He knew Gage was right. If he didn’t give at least a few details right now, it would be even more difficult later when Gage inevitably came back with Newton.
But even though he knew Gage was just teasing—well, mostly teasing, at least—Scottie still wasn’t sure how much information he wanted to share about the night before.
It felt sort of… private. And maybe that was dumb, but it felt like he and Trenton really had bonded last night. It seemed somehow wrong to turn around and talk about those shared looks, or the way Trenton kept giving him those knowing little smiles.
All of that aside, there was no guarantee that Gage would even believe any of it, even if Scottie did spill his guts about the whole thing.
Trenton hadn’t exactly endeared himself to Scottie’s friends—or to Scottie, for that matter—over the years. Everyone had been doing a pretty convincing job of humoring Scottie so far when he’d said he wanted to do something nice for Trenton, but… there was probably a limit to how much they were willing to indulge him.
Telling his friends that he had suddenly felt some kind of connection with the guy who had been a pretty big pain in the ass before this week would probably be a bridge too far for them.
Not that Scottie could blame them, of course. But it was just another reason to keep these particular thoughts and feelings to himself.
At least for a little while longer. At least until he managed to figure out whether or not most of it was only in his head.
“Tell Newton that dinner was a great success,” Scottie said, finally. He was still acutely aware of the way Gage was looking at him—probably because Scottie was still glowing or whatever. But he couldn’t help that now. “Tell him that the risotto and scallops were amazing. I’d put them up against Martha’s any day. Trenton came over. He brought a nice bottle of wine. We had dinner and talked a bit, and then he left.”
Gage waited, then quirked an eyebrow. “Then he left? That’s it?”
“I’m afraid that’s it,” Scottie shrugged. “I hate to break it to you, but that’s about as exciting as my Friday nights get these days. Trenton left, I gave Sasha her bedtime dose of medicine, and then I went to bed.”
Gage stood up and stretched, then sighed. “Well, I think that should be enough to keep Newton happy for now. He’ll be happy about the risotto and scallops, at least.”
“I couldn’t have done it without the two of you,” Scottie said, meaning it. “So thank you for that. If I ever need to make a dinner like that again, I’ll know who to call.”
“I’m glad we could help,” Gage said, clapping Scottie on the back before heading toward the office door. “And I’m glad it went well, even if I think you might be holding back a little on some of the details.”
He tossed Scottie a wink but thankfully didn’t press him for any other information. Scottie wasn’t good at lying at the best of times, and especially not to his friends.
But this wasn’t exactly lying, was it? There were just some details that not everyone needed to know.
Like how his heart had started beating faster whenever Trenton would look into his eyes.
Or the way he could still feel the warmth from Trenton’s hand when it had briefly come into contact with Scottie’s.
Yeah, those were things that were better left unsaid for now.
At least until Scottie had a handle on what it all meant.
He wanted to share those feelings with his friends, though. He especially wanted to get their opinions on what, if anything, he should do about it.
But not yet.
“I’ll talk to you later,” Scottie said, giving a little wave and decidedly not giving in to the temptation to spill just a tiny bit more about last night. “Maybe stop by for lunch if you’re not busy.”
“Sounds like a plan. See you later,” Gage said, waving back before he disappeared out the door, his heavy footsteps echoing along the tiles that led to the front of the store.
Scottie waited a few more seconds until he heard the front door open and close again, wanting to be sure Gage had made it out and that Scottie didn’t have any other unexpected visitors.
Then he sat back in his chair and exhaled, closing his eyes and trying to clear his mind.
Except of course he couldn’t.
His brain had only been willing to focus on one thing since last night.
One man.
Trenton.