Page 8 of Atlas & Miles
Atlas’s answering chuckle was bubbly and terrific. “Duly noted, thank you.” They eyed the menu again. “What’s your go-to coffee here, then?”
I grinned. “The Huehuetenango medium roast. It’s from a region of Guatemala known for having some of the best coffee.” I stepped to the side to see around the one customer ahead of us and scanned the menu sitting atop a small easel on the counter. “Yup, they have it in a pour-over today.”
Atlas blinked up at me with those long lashes of theirs, and I never thought I’d say this as a thirty-eight-year-old man, but I was pretty sure I swooned. “Sounds good.” They frowned at me. “How do you take it?”
Oh, I needed to convince them not to make a huge mistake before the customer ahead of us was finished paying. “Nothing, I drink it black.” They scrunched up their face, but before they could interject, I held up my hand. “Trust me, just try it. If you don’t like it, they’ll remake you something you do like, and I will buy you something else, too.”
They narrowed their eyes at me and leaned in, keeping their voice down. “Are their pastries even any good here?”
A laugh burst out of my throat, shocking the hell out of me. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed like that. “Not the world-famous cinnamon rolls, to be sure, but they’re okay in a pinch.”
A bright smile shone across their face, and they stuck out a hand as the customer in front of us moved out of the way. “Deal.”
I shook it as we stepped up to the counter, feeling electricity sparking where our skin touched. I wanted to buy them coffee and even breakfast if that was why they were here, but I didn’t want to assume. I’d already done that enough, even if only in my head, and I was determined to do better.
I turned to the side, motioning for them to order first.
As we’d discussed, Atlas ordered the Huehuetenango black and a breakfast sandwich on a croissant, which sounded amazing, so I ordered the same after they’d paid for theirs. If they ever agreed to a date with me, I’d offer to pay for us both.
Wait . . . what?
Where the hell hadthatcome from?
I’d been into Atlas forever, of course, and I’d spent twenty years lamenting that I hadn’t had the guts to ask them out back then. But we were different people now, and they could be married for all I knew.
And truthfully, I had no more courage than I had back in high school. My nearly two decades of meaningless, out-of-town app hookups because I was too scared to come out of the closet proved it. So why was I even entertaining the idea of a date?
My thoughts sent shockwaves through me as we stepped aside to wait for our orders, and I felt a little nauseous. Aside from those hookups, my sister, Claudia, was the only one who knew I was gay, and I’d planned to keep it that way for possibly forever. But this wasAtlas. Did I want to let them get away again?
I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I was too much of a coward to ask them out, so why was I wasting time thinking about something that would never be a concern? Claudia was always telling me to live in the moment, so that was what I was going to do.
I turned to them. “Would you like to sit together? I have a bit of time before I need to get going.”
Atlas’s gorgeous eyes scanned me from head to toe, and it seemed they’d only now noticed the way I was dressed. “Oh, sure! I’ve got some time, too.” They motioned to a nearby table with two chairs, and I dropped into one as they hooked their bag on the back of theirs then gracefully lowered themself into their seat. “So what is it you do?”
I shrugged dismissively. “I’m a handyman, basically the only one in Gomillion. Anything anyone needs doing around their house, I do.” I cocked my head. “Actually, businesses, too.”
Atlas smiled at me. “Sounds fun.”
I smirked. “Eh, at least every day is different, and I’m not stuck behind a desk all the time. Like today—I’m painting a nursery, putting together a crib and other furniture for said nursery, doing an internet troubleshoot, fixing a hole in a fence, trimming a few trees, and taking down some outdoor Christmas lights the homeowner apparently hasn’t found time to remove.”
Their mouth popped open. “Oh! I think the internet one might be me, actually.” They rattled off the name of the app and their address, and—
“Yup, definitely you. I was actually trying to find your number to see if we could bump up your appointment since I’m already on this side of town.”
Atlas was grinning, and I got the distinct impression yet again that they were attracted to me. How the fuck—what the hell did I even do with that? My hookups had always been either at a hotel in Westminster, a few towns over, or all the way in Atlanta where privacy was all but assured, and I rarely remembered their names. I’d never had anything more serious than that, and I hadn’t wanted it.
But god, I wanted Atlas.
“That works for me—with internet, the sooner, the better, right? I had to watch my favorite show on my phone last night like a Neanderthal.”
I laughed, a sound that still startled me. What were they doing to me? “Sounds good.”
The barista called our names, and I hopped up to grab our coffees before Atlas could. I suddenly wanted to take care of them, serve them, even, and . . . well, okay, that wasn’t entirelyunprecedented given my preferences, but still,what the ever-loving fuck was happening to me?
I set the coffee in front of them on the tiny wooden table before placing my own in front of my chair and sitting back down. “Okay, now, keep an open mind. But I think you’ll find it’s delicious black.”
They eyed the mug suspiciously, and the way the corner of my lips turned up felt foreign. Their eyes flicked to mine. “If you say so.”
