Page 73 of Worth the Wait

“He has brown hair, kinda scruffy.” Callum messed his own hair around his face. “Brown eyes. He has his PhD.”

“Holy shit,” Mark whistled.

“He’s a doctor?”

“He’s a physical therapist,” Callum corrected. “He just got a job at Cedars.”

“That’s impressive,” Samantha said with a nod.

“We, uhm, he took me on a date last night.”

“Where?”

“The observatory. We had a picnic and then we looked at the stars.” He closed his eyes, remembering the way Jack’s hand felt against his chest while he explained the galaxies and constellations.

“That is so romantic,” Samantha sighed dreamily.

“It was just different before he came,” Callum tried to explain.

"Well, of course it was. You’re not as shiny and new now,” Mark countered Callum’s unhappiness with the suggestion.

“Thanks.”

Callum pulled the sandwich wrapper out from his lap and unwrinkled it, smoothing the paper and wrapping the sandwich back up. He hadn’t taken a bite.

“You’re both getting to know the real parts of yourself now. It’s like dating. He’s dating you.”

“He said the same thing,” Callum scoffed.

“Well, he’s right,” Mark said gently.

“Do you at least see where I’m coming from?” Callum asked. His shoulders were tense and he knew they weren’t ganging up on him even though that was how it felt.

“Of course,” Samantha soothed. “You had all this focus and dedication from him online because your interactions were centered around each other. But he’s here in person now, and you both have jobs and rent and obligations, and there’s other things getting in the way. That doesn’t make anything less serious, though.”

“I’m being ridiculous, aren’t I?” Callum questioned.

He was met with silence and looked up to find Mark and Samantha nodding at him in agreement.

“You need to have patience and trust. Anything worth having is worth waiting for,” Samantha promised. “Besides, I’m sure this is a huge adjustment for him too. He moved to a new city! He’s starting over.”

“He has friends here; it’s not like he’s a stranger.”

Samantha rolled her eyes. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“I know,” Callum sighed.

“Have you told him about Ian?” Mark asked.

Callum shook his head.

“You should.”

“He’s in the past.” Callum rolled his neck from side to side trying to stave off the building tension in his bones.

“Is he, though?”

“If anything it’ll help him understand why you get upset about things sometimes,” Samantha told him.