Page 29 of Coffee Shop Cupid
“Thank you.”
He reached out and ran his fingers along my cheek, and I leaned into the touch.
It was so tender, and I realized that I’d started to crave little interactions like that.
“We should put these in some water.”
“Hmm?” I asked.
He chuckled and held up the roses. “Do you have a vase?”
“Oh, yeah,” I replied. I ducked into the kitchen, found a vase and added a bit of water to the bottom. “Will this work?”
“Perfect,” he replied, taking it from me and putting the bouquet inside. Then he turned to me. “Do you need any help finishing dinner?”
I shook my head. “It’s all ready.”
“Shall we eat before it gets cold then?”
I smiled. “Yeah.”
We sat down and dug in, Chase praising my cooking throughout. It felt odd at first because I wasn’t used to it, but I quickly realized that he was sincere as he was specific about what he liked.
Soon dinner was over and we moved to the couch to cuddle and watch a movie.
It felt weird. For years I’d been expected to wash dishes as soon as dinner was over while Vince relaxed. Watching a movie with him would have been a rare treat, and cuddling almost unheard of after the first year or so.
But Chase… He’d seen me headed towards the kitchen and had promptly steered me into the living room, citing the romantic holiday as an excuse to leave the dishes for a bit.
It was nice, just the kind of gentle relationship I craved. But I couldn’t stop the nerves from eating at me.
I was going to ask him for sex.
I barely paid attention to the movie, worried that he’d be disgusted by the scar from my hysterectomy—terrified that all the kindness would dry up as soon as I was unable to satisfy him in bed.
“Are you ok?” he asked, after a while. “You seem tense.”
I forced a smile. “I’m ok, just engrossed in the movie.”
He made a noise, but didn’t push the issue. His arms tightened around my middle though, and he traced his hand back and forth along my arm. It would have been soothing had I not been so on edge.
The movie ended, and I realized I couldn’t remember any of it.
“This is nice,” Chase said softly, nuzzling my hair.
“Mm-hmm,” I agreed.
He sighed. “Are you ok Tristan?” he asked again.
I licked my lips. It was time, if it was going to happen.
“I… um… do you want to…?” I used my head to motion to the bedroom.
Chase stared at me. “Are you ready for that? I can wait.”
It was an out, presented so matter-of-factly that I almost took him up on it. But I had to do this.
“I want this,” I said softly.
