Page 74 of Should Our Hearts Catch Fire

“Not sure where he’s taking me, but he said to wear something comfy.”

Jordan’s face lights up. That’s not good. “Oh, you have to wear gray joggers.”

Ellis frowns. “That’s oddly specific. Why?”

Jordan looks like he’s not sure if Ellis is joking or not. “My god, how are you this sheltered? Nevermind. Gray joggers. Now.”

“I don’t own gray joggers.” He pauses. “I have dark blue ones.”

Jordan dramatically flops back onto the sofa. “This is gonna be harder than I thought.”

Ellis parks the car in his usual spot near the café, taking a few minutes to fortify himself before he goes to pick Gabriel up. Today has beena lot.

As sad as he was when he was dropping Jordan off at the airport, knowing it’d be a while before they’ll get to see each other in person again, he was also undeniably relieved. He wasthisclose to strangling his best friend and leaving him to the sharks, especially after he googled what the whole thing about gray joggers was about. Then Jordan insisted on a white t-shirt, which Ellis had planned on wearing, but decided against out of pure spite.

Despite Gabriel’s insistence on something comfy, he still feels strange wearing jeans and a simple black t-shirt to a date. Then again, he’s never been on a date that didn’t include some fancy establishment.

At five to six, he finally gets his ass out of the car and heads to the café.

Gabriel isn’t waiting outside, but the lights are on in the kitchen. The sign saysclosed, but when Ellis tries the door, it opens. Stepping inside, he’s instantly hit with the familiar scent of sugar and spices.

“Gabriel?”

He hears a crash, and then Gabriel’s head appears behind the pass. He’s smiling wide.

“Hey! I’m sorry, I’m running late. Almost done here!”

“No, you’re fine.” There’s some more crashing, a muttered curse. “You need help?”

“I’m good!” Gabriel yells, sounding anything but. “Just take a seat and look pretty. I’ll be right there.”

Not sure how to feel about being referred to as pretty, Ellis dutifully takes the chair closest to him, drumming his fingers on his thigh as he waits for Gabriel to finish whatever he’s doing.

Gabriel emerges shortly, flushed and a little frantic but beaming. “Hey, you.” He removes his apron, which saysKiss the baker,and throws it over the back of a chair.

Now that he got a proper look at Gabriel, seeing him in khaki shorts and a plain white t-shirt, Ellis doesn’t feel underdressed anymore.

Running a hand through his hair, Gabriel gives Ellis a smile so wide it nearly blinds him. “Glad you could make it. When I woke up this morning, I wasn’t sure I didn’t dream the whole thing up. Had to check my texts to reassure myself.”

“You’re making it sound like I’m some sort of celebrity. I’m just a guy.” Not even a remarkable one, unless being a dick counts. What Gabriel sees in him is beyond Ellis.

Gabriel’s smile dims a little, but his eyes are soft and kind. They always are. “Well, you happen to be a guy I like, so there’s that.”

Ellis coughs awkwardly. Gabriel sure has a talent for flipping Ellis’ world with a few words. “Yeah, okay. Fair enough.”

Gabriel laughs. “You know, if you need me to tell you how much I like you in regular intervals, I can definitely do that.”

Feeling the skin on the back of his neck burn, Ellis mumbles, “No, that’s okay. I’d like to preserve some dignity.”

Gabriel laughs again, and Ellis notices there’s a smudge of something, maybe flour, on his cheek.

“You have a…” He gestures at his own cheek, curling his finger into his palms when he’s hit with a sudden urge to reach out and wipe it away for Gabriel. He’s seen way too many movies where this happens. Someone has a smudge or something on their face, and the other person helps them get it off, and then they gaze into each other’s eyes, and before long they’re kissing.

That’s lame. And Ellis is not lame. Nope.

Gabriel swipes at his cheek, getting the smudge on the first try. He chuckles. “Icing sugar. Figures.”

“You were baking?”