Page 16 of Sebastian

His voice suddenly died, like the word had been snatched right off his tongue, and he looked up at me with wide eyes.

I watched him for a moment, silently waiting to see if he would finish the sentence or try to correct himself. His mouth opened a few times, but no words came out.

My smirk deepened. “On a... what? Is there a reason your clothes should matter for our meeting?”

Nervously licking his lips, Newt looked down and shook his head.

I leaned a little closer, and would have been speaking directly into his ear if it wasn’t covered by his hat. “Let me guess, there’s not actually a rule about delivering medical information over the phone. You just wanted to meet with me.” I flashed him a knowing smile.

Like a balloon that had been stuck by a pin, Newt deflated in his chair until his forehead rested on the table.

“Argh! I just... I wanted to ask you out, but I panicked and said the first excuse I could think of.”

The little nurse had such over-the-top reactions, it made me want to keep teasing him, but I held back. Teasing could easily become bullying if I wasn’t careful, especially since we didn’t know each other that well yet.

Hopefully, if I handled this situation correctly, there would be more opportunities in the future to tease him.

I leaned back enough to give him space but didn’t move my chair away. “So, is this a date?”

Without raising his head from the table, one blue eye peeked at me between orange bangs. “Maybe. If you want.”

That answer wasn’t as confident as I would have liked. My personality had often been labeled as “intense,” and my life came with a lot of baggage. If someone was going to date me, they needed to be certain.

As I weighed my options, an idea suddenly struck me. Our conversation had been going so smoothly earlier, when we were talking about something we had equal feelings about.

Perhaps that was the key to communicating with Newt. Making sure we were equal.

I laid my head down on the table as well so that our eyes were on the same level. My height made it difficult, and my spine protested the uncomfortable arch, but the effort was worth it when surprise flashed through those beautiful blue eyes.

“I’m more concerned about what you want. But just so you know, if you had asked me out on a date when you called, I would have said yes.”

Newt shot up so fast in his seat he looked like a puppet whose strings had suddenly been jerked by an inexperienced puppeteer.

“Really? You’re not just saying that out of pity, right? You actually would have said yes?”

“I really would have.” My spine popped when I sat up, making me feel momentarily older than my thirty-three years. “You want this to be a date, and I want this to be a date. That makes this a date.” I flashed him a grin.

The joy radiating off of Newt could have turned day to night.

Who needed daylight when I had such a little ball of sunshine at my side?

He even tucked himself back under my arm, which brought a genuine smile to my face as well. The man’s joy was contagious.

We talked for a little longer, discussing other games that we liked while Newt chewed his way through the pastries he’d bought. We’d been so wrapped up in our conversation, the baked goods had sat forgotten on the table until that moment. I wondered if this was a normal example of his eating habits, and almost asked how he stayed so slim with such an appetite. However, common sense silenced my tongue. We were not close enough yet for such personal questions.

Eventually, our newly named ‘date’ came to an end when Newt declared that his nursing shift would be starting soon. The hospital was only a few blocks away—apparently one of the reasons Newt frequented this coffee shop—so I offered to escort him.

I worried that my offer might be taken the wrong way, like I thought he couldn’t be trusted to walk on his own. Really, it was just an excuse to prolong our date. It had been so long since I’d found someone other than my brother that I could relate to, and I didn’t want the interaction to end yet.

Luckily, Newt seemed to realize the true reason behind my offer and eagerly accepted. Even once we reached the hospital, he didn’t try to make me leave. I entered the building with him and even followed him up the elevator to one of the higher floors. It was as though we’d reached a silent but mutual agreement to fight off our separation as much as possible.

As we wound our way through the maze of hospital hallways, we discussed our upcoming schedules to try and find a chance for another date. Next time, it would be a proper one that we both agreed to beforehand.

Eventually, we reached a door labeled “staff only” and ran out of excuses to delay the inevitable.

“I’ll call you later,” Newt said as he loitered just outside the door. “We need to set up a game night some time.”

There were many games that required a second player that I’d never been able to play on my own. The entire multiplayer genre was now open to me and I was filled with excitement.

---