the food. I was drinking my milkshake when he made the first little moan that sounded so much like a sex noise, I nearly choked on my shake.
“Sorry,” I said, coughing. “Went down the wrong pipe.” It hadn’t, but I didn’t want him to know the real reason I’d had an issue with my straw.
“This is really good food,” he said as he finished off his meal.
I nodded. I knew it was. I was halfway through both my burger and my shake and mostly done with the basket of fries. I didn’t know if I’d be ordering more or what my plans were for the rest of the night. I didn’t want to go home, though. Not just yet at least. Simon hadn’t ever been in that townhouse, so it wasn’t that.
It was more like I didn’t want to just sit at home thinking about him. But getting on the dating app and finding some random person to take to a hotel didn’t really work for me that night either. Most nights I would have been fine with that. I liked hooking up. I liked the lack of complications and how there weren’t any expectations. I never saw them again and even if they did text me and ask me for another night, I always said no. I let them know it had nothing to do with them, but I didn’t do repeat visits. I was an ass, and I’d been called worse than that often enough. But really, these guys were on a hookup app. What did they expect? A ring, a key to my townhouse, and permission to get a dog after one good fuck? Not likely. I didn’t ignore their texts or play other games like that, but I didn’t do begging either. Some guys had to be shut down hard or else they wouldn’t get the hint that I wasn’t interested in them for anything more than a one-night stand. That didn’t make me evil; it made me uncomplicated.
“I can’t take care of a horse. I had a car accident and sometimes my back acts up,” Caleb told me, bringing me back to our earlier conversation. “If I had someone that could take care of it, I might have one, but then it would be more their horse than mine. I didn’t mean to buy a horse property. I just wanted the biggest house I could afford in a tiny town.”
“Why Thornwood?” I asked. No one really moved to my town. Plenty of people moved out, usually to go to college in Denver or northern Colorado near Fort Collins. But very rarely did people choose to move to Thornwood. It was weird.
He smiled and pushed away his empty plate. “Honestly? I took out a map of the US, closed my eyes, and picked a state. Then once I’d decided on Colorado, I did the same thing with a big map of Colorado. My finger landed on Thornwood, and I called a real estate agent that worked in the area.”
I stared at him. “You seriously decided to move here because your finger landed on our town?”
Caleb gave me a little laugh and nodded. He was blushing again, and I shook my head, not believing what I was hearing. “Sounds crazy, I’m sure.”
“Yeah, just a bit,” I agreed with him.
“But I can work from anywhere, and once I walked in and saw those big windows in the living room, I fell in love. So I bought the house, moved in, and now at some point I need to go buy a lot of furniture because I moved from a one-bedroom apartment to this huge house, and it feels so empty.”
I was still shaking my head at him. “Wow. That’s just… okay, then. You’ve got to be the craziest rich person I’ve ever met.”
Caleb looked a little surprised at my assumption. “I’m not that rich. I got a good settlement for the accident, but I still have to work.”
That was a little better, I guessed. But I was still really shocked at what he’d done.
“Do you want to come over?” he asked.
I frowned as I wondered what he could be getting at. “I thought you didn’t want….” I looked around the diner as I let my voice trail off. People there knew I was gay, because it wasn’t like my sexuality had ever really been a secret, but at the same time, I didn’t want them knowing I was into casual sex either.
He
“Sorry,” I said, coughing. “Went down the wrong pipe.” It hadn’t, but I didn’t want him to know the real reason I’d had an issue with my straw.
“This is really good food,” he said as he finished off his meal.
I nodded. I knew it was. I was halfway through both my burger and my shake and mostly done with the basket of fries. I didn’t know if I’d be ordering more or what my plans were for the rest of the night. I didn’t want to go home, though. Not just yet at least. Simon hadn’t ever been in that townhouse, so it wasn’t that.
It was more like I didn’t want to just sit at home thinking about him. But getting on the dating app and finding some random person to take to a hotel didn’t really work for me that night either. Most nights I would have been fine with that. I liked hooking up. I liked the lack of complications and how there weren’t any expectations. I never saw them again and even if they did text me and ask me for another night, I always said no. I let them know it had nothing to do with them, but I didn’t do repeat visits. I was an ass, and I’d been called worse than that often enough. But really, these guys were on a hookup app. What did they expect? A ring, a key to my townhouse, and permission to get a dog after one good fuck? Not likely. I didn’t ignore their texts or play other games like that, but I didn’t do begging either. Some guys had to be shut down hard or else they wouldn’t get the hint that I wasn’t interested in them for anything more than a one-night stand. That didn’t make me evil; it made me uncomplicated.
“I can’t take care of a horse. I had a car accident and sometimes my back acts up,” Caleb told me, bringing me back to our earlier conversation. “If I had someone that could take care of it, I might have one, but then it would be more their horse than mine. I didn’t mean to buy a horse property. I just wanted the biggest house I could afford in a tiny town.”
“Why Thornwood?” I asked. No one really moved to my town. Plenty of people moved out, usually to go to college in Denver or northern Colorado near Fort Collins. But very rarely did people choose to move to Thornwood. It was weird.
He smiled and pushed away his empty plate. “Honestly? I took out a map of the US, closed my eyes, and picked a state. Then once I’d decided on Colorado, I did the same thing with a big map of Colorado. My finger landed on Thornwood, and I called a real estate agent that worked in the area.”
I stared at him. “You seriously decided to move here because your finger landed on our town?”
Caleb gave me a little laugh and nodded. He was blushing again, and I shook my head, not believing what I was hearing. “Sounds crazy, I’m sure.”
“Yeah, just a bit,” I agreed with him.
“But I can work from anywhere, and once I walked in and saw those big windows in the living room, I fell in love. So I bought the house, moved in, and now at some point I need to go buy a lot of furniture because I moved from a one-bedroom apartment to this huge house, and it feels so empty.”
I was still shaking my head at him. “Wow. That’s just… okay, then. You’ve got to be the craziest rich person I’ve ever met.”
Caleb looked a little surprised at my assumption. “I’m not that rich. I got a good settlement for the accident, but I still have to work.”
That was a little better, I guessed. But I was still really shocked at what he’d done.
“Do you want to come over?” he asked.
I frowned as I wondered what he could be getting at. “I thought you didn’t want….” I looked around the diner as I let my voice trail off. People there knew I was gay, because it wasn’t like my sexuality had ever really been a secret, but at the same time, I didn’t want them knowing I was into casual sex either.
He
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