Page 15 of Call Me Yours

He was excited for this first date in a way he had not been for a long time.

He had not been excited about a date since his divorce.

The thought of Erin popped into his head and he frowned, the pain still there; even though it had been over a year already since she'd left him.

They had not been working out for a while, but the issues had escalated one night, and he had just given up.

She had left him, and they had divorced a week later.

It had not taken long as they did not have children or any assets to speak of to fight over.

He sighed. She had moved on and was engaged to the man she had an affair with, which he found out about after their marriage had ended.

Now he had his own apartment and was living by himself with his dog, Raina.

At the thought of Raina, he looked down at the end of the bed, the large black and white Husky mix looking up at him with her blue eyes.

"Hello sweet girl," he cajoled, her tail starting to wag at the sound of his voice.

"Come here!" he patted the bed next to him and she stood up, walking the short distance over to him and plopping down next to him, rolling over on her back and presenting her belly to be rubbed.

He rubbed it vigorously and she panted with happiness. Her tongue hung out the side of her mouth as she did, making him laugh.

He patted her belly gently and stood up, leaving the room and heading towards the kitchen.

Looking around his bachelor home, he realized he missed having a woman around.

Erin had always added homey touches and now that she was not here, it was almost bland.

He sighed and yanked open the fridge door, grabbing one of his favorite beers.

Popping it open as he shut the door, he took a long swig.

With a sigh he headed back to the bedroom to go lay down, tired from the day.

Chapter Five

The next day, the day of their date, Elisa stressed for hours about her hair and her makeup and what she was going to wear.

Multiple times through the day she teased herself for caring so much, but she decided that Gage was worth it, so she would put as much effort as she could in to looking nice.

Gone was her bun and sweatpants, and in its place: a freshly showered, dress and heels with curled hair kind of girl.

She sighed and looked herself over in the mirror again, excited for the date.

She had about half an hour and her phone was being blown up with constant texts from Esme to let her know how the date went.

She rolled her eyes as the last text came in.

Please let me know how it goes. You really need this since last time.

I know that. It will be fine, I'm sure. He seems like a great guy.

She could almost feel her friend's eyes rolling from here.

He is HOT! If he is annoying you can at least sleep with him once and then move on.

Elisa's jaw dropped open.