by KC Burn
The memory of Raven moaning while they kissed was the only thing that gave him the courage to move forward. He wasn’t relegated to sycophant, like all the others in the bar.
Raven’s reaction when he noticed Caleb’s approach was more than gratifying. A wide smile and welcoming expression transformed Raven from ice prince to approachable wet dream.
“Good to see you. Sorry I’m late. Traffic was bad.” Caleb wanted to lean in for a kiss, even just on the cheek, but they hadn’t discussed PDAs in their few phone conversations. He’d make sure to ask over dinner.
“That’s okay. I wasn’t waiting long.”
“No kilt today?” Not that Caleb was complaining. A kilt would have sentenced him to eating an entire meal hard as a rock. Not that the snug black pants and sapphire dress shirt didn’t look hot as hell on Raven.
“I wear ’em a lot, but they’re not daily attire.” Raven shrugged, like that would be weird, but Caleb could think of a couple of good reasons to make them everyday wear. Suppressing a groan, he wrenched his thoughts away from just how he’d like to deal with Raven in a kilt. His khakis weren’t going to hide a damn thing.
Caleb cleared his throat. “Let me just let the hostess know to find us a table.”
Raven nodded and sipped from his red drink again.
In a matter of moments, they were seated. Caleb had chosen a tapas restaurant, which had the reputation for being romantic, and so far, the hype hadn’t been wrong. The lighting was soft, and the booths afforded a surprising amount of privacy as well as doing a fine job of muffling conversations from other tables.
The wine list was extensive, and Caleb flipped through it. Wine seemed more date-like than beer, but Caleb didn’t know how he’d choose from the different options. When he drank wine, he usually just asked for red or white, depending on his mood, and someone handed him a glass of whatever.
Before he broke down and begged for help from the server, Caleb’s curiosity finally got the better of him. “What is that you’re drinking?”
Under the low lighting, he wasn’t certain but it was possible that Raven was blushing. “Cranberry juice and soda.”
Not what he’d expected. At all. “Did you want… um… I had been thinking about ordering a bottle of wine….” Was there a nice way to ask if someone had a problem with alcohol? Josef, a guy he’d met through Jaime, was in AA, and he always made a point of telling people they should go ahead and indulge if they wanted. There wasn’t any guessing.
Raven’s blush deepened, as though he knew exactly what Caleb had avoided saying. “I’d prefer to stick with this, but if you want to order something, go ahead.”
Which didn’t answer his unspoken question. If Raven was a recovering alcoholic, it wouldn’t change Caleb’s desire to get to know him better, but knowing that would help him avoid any potential land mines.
Caleb nodded but wasn’t sure how to proceed. Obviously there was no point in ordering wine, but to beer or not to beer?
Raven rolled his eyes, once again almost like he could read Caleb’s mind. “I was hoping to get at least ten minutes into this date before airing any dirty laundry.”
Okay. Recovering alcoholic. “So, um, how long?” Once again, this wasn’t something anyone had to ask Josef. He volunteered the information readily. But then, Josef could also be classed as an oversharer, so maybe he wasn’t the best benchmark for appropriate behavior.
“Not that kind of dirty laundry. No, it’s just—” Raven swallowed heavily and stared intently at the menu he hadn’t opened yet, idly flicking one of the corners.
Instead of coaxing Raven, Caleb sipped at his water and waited. For some reason, he was certain that letting Raven go at his own pace would get better results.
“It’s nothing weird. I just… used to own a motorcycle. A drunk driver hit me on the highway, and I’ve been a little, uh, fanatical about not drinking when I’m driving anywhere.”
For a moment, Caleb’s breathing suspended. He’d heard stories from Jaime about accidents—in fact, he was a stickler about how much he drank when driving too—and all too often bikers ended up in a bad way, if they survived at all.
“Are you okay now? Were you injured badly?”
With his gaze directed downward, Raven replied, “I was injured badly, yes. But I don’t really like to talk about it. It’s still too… fresh.”
This guy was going to kill him. Caleb had never gone for sweet and vulnerable, but every minute in Raven’s company only made him want to spend another hundred in the exact same place.
After that, Caleb wasn’t even going to order beer. Not if it would make Raven uncomfortable. “I’m sorry it happened, and I understand about the drinking. You don’t have to tell me anything you’re uncomfortable talking about, but….” Caleb bit his lip. Maybe he didn’t need to worry if it was desperate to say this, because his cool factor had gone out the window when he’d practically begged Raven to move their first date to Monday instead of waiting until Saturday. “I want to know all about you.”
Raven flinched, just a bit. If Caleb hadn’t been indulging in the opportunity to stare at Raven, he might have missed it.
“It’s okay. We don’t have to spill our entire life stories tonight.” Hell, he wasn’t ready to talk about not being out to his family, and why. This was a date, not a job interview. Getting to know each other would be the process of days or weeks, and Caleb intended to enjoy it as it happened. A moment of impulse led him to grab Raven’s hand and give it a gentle squeeze. Finally, Raven lifted his eyes, his smile almost having the same wattage as the one he’d given Caleb in the bar.
Since their server had passed by a couple of times, Caleb turned the conversation to the menu. If nothing else, that had to be safe.
“Have you eaten here before?”
“Nope.”
Neither had Caleb, but he had looked at the menu online. “It’s mostly tapas. I thought it would be fun to order a bunch of different things and share them, instead of ordering from their entree selections.”
“Sounds great.”
The process of picking out their shareable plates did wonders to ease Caleb’s remaining nervousness, and conversation flowed far more easily than Caleb would have expected with a virtual stranger.
RAVEN’S CHEEKS ached from smiling, and his belly was ever so slightly distended from sampling the bazillion tapas Caleb had been bent on ordering. He didn’t think he’d ever eaten so well, nor with so little consideration of what his eating would mean for having sex. Because he wasn’t having sex, even though Caleb feeding him bites off his fork had been so sexy. Always looked stupid in the movies, but in real life? So awesome.
He knew he’d be reversing his intractable moratorium on sex, but he wasn’t ready yet, and as far as he could tell, Caleb was okay waiting. If future dates went this well, he’d have to explain why he wasn’t ready, but they’d managed to have a great time filled with conversation and discovery of a number of common interests, without ever edging near Raven’s taboo topics. If he could keep a couple of them secret forever, he would, but he wasn’t willing to bare those particular skeletons until he was sure of Caleb, or at least felt he could trust him not to freak out.
Instead, they’d talked about school (they’d both taken creative writing as electives), Caleb’s work, Tartan Candy—Caleb had been as impressed as Raven about how quickly Will had slapped up a decent website. They’d touched on politics. Amazingly enough, Caleb also loved to read. It hadn’t been difficult to find safe topics of conversation.
The check came, and Caleb snatched it up before he could even grab at it.
“If you want, you can pick up the next one.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” Although Raven might have to make sure they went someplace a little less expensive. He was, after all, unemployed. Or maybe a fledgling new business owner. Either way, he couldn’t afford to be too frivolous.
Caleb threw some cash in the billfold and stood. “I need to hit the restroom. I’ll
be back in a minute.”
A few new butterflies burst out of their cocoons. What now? What if Caleb wanted to go back to his place right now? He’d never deferred sex before. Outright turned it down, yes, but he was out to fucking sea without a paddle or shark repellant or a signal flare.
Then again, Raven could be ready to fuck on the hood of Caleb’s car, and he’d still have to defer. About thirty minutes ago, his hip had started twinging. Between the stress leading up to the date and the oncoming storm, he was going to be in a shitload of pain before too long. He’d been freaking out so badly, he’d forgotten to bring his painkillers—not that he would be able to drive after taking them anyway.
Caleb slid back into his seat with a smile. “Ready to go?”
Raven nodded, hoping he’d be able to walk without limping too badly. Like he needed yet another thing to show Caleb how fucking defective and useless he was.
“I had a great time, but I think we need to call it a night. I’ve got an early start at work tomorrow.”
Raven couldn’t interpret the expression that crossed Caleb’s face as he spoke those words, but he was as certain as he could be that Caleb wasn’t giving him the brush-off. Not with the number of times Caleb had “accidentally” touched him, raising goose bumps or inflicting tiny, sensual shivers. On Raven’s part, the equal yet conflicting flares of relief and disappointment made his head swim, but the fact he was conflicted at all was enough to make him agree that calling it a night was a wise idea.
Despite an intense flash of pain, Raven was able to walk without too much difficulty. Well enough to fool Caleb, at least. Tonight, he’d be ending his date solo in a hot bath.
When they reached the front, Raven realized the rhythmic thrum he’d been hearing underneath the music and conversation was rain pouring down. More like a deluge, one step from tropical-storm intensity. No fucking wonder he was in pain. They stepped outside, still protected—mostly—by the overhang.
“You know, this rain kinda sucks.”
Raven agreed but probably for different reasons. “What do you mean?”
“Because I was hoping to kiss you good night, and I don’t want to do it here.” Caleb waved at the front of the restaurant, where couples and families still waited to be seated. “But out at the car won’t work either. Whoever thought kissing in the rain was romantic obviously never visited Florida during hurricane season.”
Despite his growing discomfort, Raven laughed. “So true. Even regular storms during the summer feel like standing under a hose.” Feeling safe and playful, he winked. “Rain check on the kiss?”
Caleb rewarded his pun with a laugh. “Next time, for sure. I don’t want to miss out.”
The obvious conclusion that there would be another date warmed Raven, and he appreciated, so much, that Caleb wasn’t asking for something Raven wasn’t ready to give.
“Ready to run?” Caleb grinned like a kid, and for a brief moment, Raven expected him to burst out into the rain and start splashing in the puddles.
Yeah, he’d be running, all right. Because sitting for another twenty minutes in his car with soaking wet pants wasn’t going to improve his discomfort at all.
“Let’s go.”
Pain pills and an umbrella weren’t the only the things Raven had forgotten. Between the uneven gravel and the mud that formed in areas where the gravel had been spread thin or ground deep into the dirt, Raven lost his footing. The fiery lance of pain that arrowed into his hip as he hit the ground hard reminded him forcibly that he hadn’t run since before the accident, and he was no longer the same man.
Adrenaline pumping, he used the bumper of an SUV to pull himself to his knees, heedless of the rain sluicing down his face or the water and mud soaking into his pants. All he could do was try and breathe through the pain. Didn’t feel like he’d done any damage, just overuse on top of a joint already sensitized by the weather. Nevertheless, he couldn’t force himself to rise and put any weight on his leg. Not yet.
“Raven! What happened? Are you okay?”
It was too much to hope Caleb had simply gotten into his car and driven away. Raven had already failed—several times—to make a good impression. It was about time to give up on the whole dating thing. He could learn to tolerate celibacy.
He took a couple of deep breaths, hoping to keep his voice from betraying how much pain he was in.
“Slipped and twisted my ankle.” Partially true. His hip hurt so bad he wasn’t sure if his ankle was also damaged, but it was a reasonable explanation. “I’m okay.” Totally untrue, but he hated Caleb seeing him so vulnerable. Again.
“Should I call an ambulance? Or should I take you to the hospital?”
Raven shook his head. The pain was bad, yes, and depressing as all get-out, but if he never saw the inside of another hospital, it would be too soon.
“Help me up. I’ll go home and give it some rest.” He’d made a couple of connections at the romance event. Paolo had been pleased by Tartan Candy’s performance and reception, and Will assured him that people were seeing the new website. He was hopeful someone would be paying for his attendance at something soon, but he was so fucking glad right now that there was nothing that he absolutely had to do the next day.
Fortunately, Caleb didn’t press the hospital issue but helped him stand, then provided some much-needed stability as they made their way to Raven’s car.
He was also grateful that the accident had primarily affected his left hip and leg. With the amount of lingering pain, he didn’t know if he’d have been cleared to drive if his issues were centered around his right side. Without a way to get around this city, he probably would have had to relocate somewhere else.
Caleb stared at Raven’s car and frowned. With one hand on the trunk for balance, Raven dug his car key out of his pocket.
“Thanks for the help. And for dinner. It was a lot of fun.” Until he’d fallen, at least.
“Look. I’m worried about you. Will you at least let me drive you home?”
Raven drew in a breath, preparing to refuse the offer, but he’d just gone through this with Will and had resolved to try and open up more. Let more people in. No, he didn’t like appearing vulnerable. Nor was he accustomed to relying on anyone but himself. But the accident had illustrated how alone he was in this world, and if he didn’t have the pseudocompanionship of the models from Idyll Fling, then his life was only going to get more lonely.
It helped that something about Caleb made him seem trustworthy, aside from the fact that he’d woken up Raven’s cock in a way that hadn’t happened since before the accident. There was nothing about Caleb that made Raven worry he’d try to take advantage of him or push for sex. Not until Raven was ready, and for the first time in a year, Raven thought that might be a “when,” not an “if” idea.
“What about your car?” Naturally, Raven couldn’t just give in gracefully.
“It’s my truck, and it’s okay. I’ll get a ride back or get an Uber.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Caleb hadn’t had anything but iced tea while he’d been with Raven. The slight niggle of fear at trusting someone else behind the wheel couldn’t stand up to Raven’s pain, but if Caleb had had any booze, the answer would have been an out-and-out no.
Acquiescing was so damned hard, but Caleb’s bright smile, despite the rain sliding down his cheeks, was surprisingly rewarding.
“Wait here. I have a couple of towels in my truck. We can at least minimize the mess.”
Within a few moments, they were both seated in the car, soaking through towels, not that Raven cared that much. His car wasn’t his baby, not like his bike had been. Water would dry, mud would clean. Caleb fiddled with the heater, and Raven dug his fingers into his thigh, shivering and trying not to moan.
Chapter TWELVE
CALEB HAD been a little surprised when Raven directed him to drive into downtown. Downtown Orlando wasn’t quite like downtown areas in other cities. With so much of the city’s economy tied up in the theme parks and t
ourist trade, the city hadn’t exactly spread out from the downtown core. In many ways downtown, which was a good thirty-minute drive from the theme parks, seemed almost like an isolated business or financial district. There were still clubs, theaters, and museums, but it always felt almost… abandoned on the weekend, although less so at night.
The apartments and condos, though, were quite nice, if more than Caleb would have wanted to pay, especially when he’d have to drive such a long way—on I-4—to visit his family or get to work. Still, he was glad they’d arrived, finally. Even with the heater in the car on full blast, Raven’s fingers remained cold and bloodless looking for the entire trip.
When Raven opened the door to his condo, Caleb blinked. Not that Raven’s place was ready for a spread in an interior design magazine, but it was a lot bigger and nicer than what he’d expected.
“What now? Did you want help getting undressed?” Amazingly, the question came out as innocuously as he’d meant, even though a split second after they fell out of his mouth he realized how awful they could have come across.
Raven’s pink cheeks told the story. He’d heard the alternate meaning as well, even though Caleb was determined not to rush Raven into anything. He was pretty sure Raven wasn’t bi-curious or experimenting, but he’d clearly panicked at some point during their first kiss in his hotel room, and Caleb didn’t want to scare him away. Especially not when things seemed to be going well, injuries aside.
“I’ll be okay.”
“What about a painkiller? Ibuprofen or something? Ice for your ankle?”
Raven paused for a moment. “I’m going to get out of these clothes and run a bath. If you could bring me the prescription bottle from the kitchen counter, I’d appreciate it.”
Caleb watched for a moment as Raven braced himself against the wall and headed toward the bathroom. He paused at the hall closet and grabbed a thick towel before tossing a glance at Caleb over his shoulder.
