Page 14 of On The Run

I shook my head rapidly. “I don’t feel obligated. I want to go! I-I just have a lot on my mind so my processing is slow.” It sounded so fucking lame, but Max didn’t call me on it.

“Great, any preferences?”

I shrugged. “I’m not picky.” And it was true. Most of my childhood, I had to eat whatever Pops could manage to get for us or I’d go hungry. I learned to have a taste for just about anything.

“Have you ever had Thai?” he asked.

I shook my head. I wasn’t even entirely sure what that was, but I wouldn’t ask him. I was sure he already thought of me as a child, so I wouldn’t add to that. “No, but it sounds good.”

Max beamed, and I was glad I didn’t say no. “Perfect. There’s this great little place in the next town over.” He pulled out his phone and I could see him flip open his calendar. My heart fluttered. Of course, he kept a freaking calendar.

“I’m not sure of your work and school schedule. When are you free?”

He looked like such a dad, but I kind of loved it. He was squinting at his calendar, clicking on a date to read what he had scheduled. He looked up at me, and I realized he was still waiting for me to answer the question.

“Oh, um, I only have class in person on Wednesday, and I don’t ever work later than four. But, uh, my pops has chemo next week, so if you’re not free this weekend, we may need to wait.”

Sadness flashed through Max’s eyes before he schooled his expression, but I still saw it and a small knot formed in my gut. I couldn’t believe I even told him about Pops’s treatments. I usually kept that wrapped up, except for the people who needed to know, but it just slipped out. Something about him put me at ease.

I was praying he didn’t ask me about it, though. I didn’t want to talk about it. Not now. Thankfully, Max just nodded and said, “So, is Saturday at 7:30 ok? I just have to make sure either my parents or sister can watch Gray, but it shouldn’t be a problem.”

I completely forgot Gray was here until he nodded sagely. “Halmeoniand Grampa will watch me.”

Max rolled his eyes but kept his attention solely on me. I tried not to squirm. Another wave of fear ran through me, but I pushed it down. It was fine. I could go on one date, damn it. I knew better than to take it further than that. But one dinner—one dinner was ok.

“7:30 sounds good.”

Max seemed genuinely happy as he smiled at me. I was still having a hard time believing this was real, so much so that I just took Max’s phone when he handed it to me and now I was staring at it, completely unsure what he wanted me to do.

Max was amused but he didn’t make fun of me. “Put your number in there. I’ll text you so we both have each other’s.”

“Oh,” I muttered.Real smooth, A.If I kept it up at this rate, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting attached to Max. He’d probably bail before we made it to Saturday.

Somehow, I managed to function enough to add my number. I handed him back his phone, my hands shaking. He typed a couple things and a few seconds later, my pocket vibrated. I pulled out my phone and saw he’d sent me his number. All the text said was:

Hi, this is Max.

Oh. My. God. Could he be any more adorable? A man his size was probably never considered adorable, but he fucking was.

He had a sheepish look on his face once I added his number and slipped it back into my pocket. We both stared at each other awkwardly, not sure where to go from here.

“Do you want to meet me here? On Saturday, I mean?”

“No, I’ll pick you up at your house.” I knew my walls went up even though I didn’t mean for them to. Pops and I were very careful about who had our address. We didn’t even get delivery or order from Amazon. I drove forty-five minutes away to pick up his meds every week because we didn’t want to risk the delivery. I may have trusted Max, but I couldn’t just give out that information.

He was startled by the change in my demeanor but just rolled with it. “Unless you’re not comfortable with that. Then I can absolutely meet you here.”

I felt like an idiot, but I just couldn’t let him know where I lived. I couldn’t risk it. The sperm donor always found us no matter how careful we were, and with Pops so sick, running would not be easy. “I’m sorry,” I muttered, looking at my feet. Why couldn’t I just be normal?

I felt cool fingers on my chin—fingers that gently lifted my face. “Hey, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We all have limits, and it’s good you can enforce them.”

I looked up at Max. His expression was earnest, honest. He wasn’t lying. “Yeah?”

He smiled at me. “Yeah. I’ll meet you here, no worries.”

“Thank you. Maybe one day, I’ll feel comfortable. It’s just that—”

Max held up a hand, interrupting me. “You don’t need to explain yourself, Aiden. You have a boundary, and I respect that. I’ll meet you here at 7:30. If for some reason something comes up with Gray, I’ll let you know, ok?”

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