At ten to five, I parked on a side street next to what used to be an abandoned factory but was now trendy loft apartments. Inside the lobby area, brick walls and exposed silver pipes in the ceiling led to a large elevator with a collapsible gate for a door.

The industrial aesthetic continued on the fifth floor, where I exited in search of Nate's home, and followed the white painted brick hall to a plain black door labeled with a gold number ten. Nerves made my hands shake as I lifted my fist to knock on the cold metal.

I took a half step back and told myself to relax. Nate and I had already spent plenty of time together. Enough that I shouldn't be so nervous, but hanging out and a real first date were two very different things.

The door swung open, and Nate stood there beaming. "Joby, hi!"

I ignored the fluttering in my stomach and worked to make my voice steady. "Hello."

He studied me with emerald eyes made brighter by the burgundy of his shirt. My heart shuddered in my chest as my gaze fell to the little dip at the base of his neck exposed by the two open buttons. I wondered what the skin there would feel like against my mouth, and warmth bloomed on my cheeks as I made myself abandon that train of thought.

Dragging my attention from the rapid pulse in his neck giving me hope that he might be nervous too, I scanned the rest of him. I'd told him to dress casually, and he looked relaxed with his sleeves cuffed to the middle of his toned forearms and his shirt tucked into dark jeans, but casual wasn't the first word his look brought to mind. Hot, gorgeous, muscular, beautiful—any of those were more fitting.

An unusual wave of self-consciousness washed over me, and I hoped my pale blue sweater and navy chinos made me look at least half as good as him. Judging by the way his appraisal lingered and his full lips tipped up in the corners, he wasn't disappointed.

"Are you ready to go?" Nate asked, and I nodded.

"Ready if you are."

He smiled as he stepped outside, pulling his keys from his pocket and locking the door. As we strolled back toward the elevator, my mind swirled, searching for small talk. Why couldn't I think of anything?

It's cool outside. Maybe I should suggest a jacket? I rolled my eyes at the thought. What am I, his mother?

Panic rushed through me as I worried the entire night would be awkward because I couldn't think of anything to say. It'd been so easy in Savannah. What was wrong with me? Did labeling this a date make that much of a difference?

The back of Nate's fingers skimmed the material covering my bicep, and my frantic thoughts crashed to a halt at his touch. "You look great," he said. "This is so soft."

"Thank you." My body calmed enough to meet his eyes when I told him, "You look great too."

A few minutes later, we were settled in my car, wading through Atlanta traffic on our way out of town. "I found a wine bar called Savor that looks nice. I made a reservation for six, if you want to try it?"

"Sure." Nate turned from the window to face me. "Is it new? I've never heard of it."

"That's probably because it's in Woodstock, so it's a bit of a drive."

"Oh."

His brow furrowed, and I hoped he wasn't in a hurry to get back. What if he'd only made time for dinner nearby? "Maybe I should've mentioned that earlier. Will that be alright? Or do you need to get home early?"

"No. There's no hurry." Nate shook his head and leaned back against the seat. "I'm all yours."

All mine. The thought made me grin. "Good, because I've been looking forward to this since before we left Granny's."

"Me too." Nate chuckled. "Granny's the best. I've talked to her a couple of times since I got home. I think she's added me to her regular rotation of people to call, and I love it."

The image of Nate in Granny's kitchen, working beside her, filled my mind and warmed my heart. "I'm glad you two are friends." I glanced over as I switched lanes, catching Nate's soft smile and trying to suppress the shiver that zipped up my spine knowing he was watching me.

"Liv said you guys are having lunch with your parents tomorrow. Actually, she was pretty on edge about it."

"Can't blame her. I'm not overly excited myself."

Nate hummed in thought. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"It's okay. You know how they are." I scoffed. "You had a front-row seat to our family drama."

"Yeah, but you and Liv were drama-light compared to everything else going on over Christmas." Nate's hand curved around my tricep, above where my elbow pressed into the armrest, and his thumb rubbed a soothing rhythm over my thin sweater. "It's good that they want to talk, right?"

"Yes." I sighed. "I'm surprised they're coming for a visit, but it's better than waiting until the next holiday to see how they act around me."

"Waiting is the worst," Nate's words were almost a whisper.

"What about your parents?" I stopped at a red light and met his gaze, struck by the sadness in his eyes. "I'm sorry. We don't have to talk about that either."

He shrugged and seemed to shake the melancholy away. "I was there to witness your coming out, so it's only fair. Besides, it's been years. I'm over it."

"I take it your parents weren't immediately accepting?"

His answering chuckle was tinged with hurt, telling me he wasn't as over it as he claimed to be. "No, not immediately. Not years later, either."

"Still? Now?" Surprise sliced through me, but I kept my focus on the road, even though the pain in his tone made me want to pull into the emergency lane and wrap him in a hug. How could anyone make this sweet, caring man feel so low?

"Yep, still." He sighed. "They pretend and say they're fine with who I am, but they're not. They're just waiting for me to change my mind, as if that's how sexuality works. I finally told them over the holidays that they can't say they accept me and then make it conditional. Especially if one of those conditions is marrying a nice Jewish girl."

My mouth fell open. "They want you to marry a woman even though they know you're gay?"

He nodded. "Ideally, they want me to keep my job because it's doctor-adjacent, and they like telling people I'm a physical therapist, even though I'm starting to dread going to work. And they want me to marry a Jewish woman so we can have Jewish kids, even though I'm not sure I ever want kids, and I'm one hundred percent sure I never want a wife."

"I'm sorry they're pressuring you like that. That's awful."

"Awful is showing up to what you think is a family dinner to find you have a woman there waiting for you who thinks she's your date, and your parents have been talking you up for weeks, while leaving out some very important details."

I cringed. "I shouldn't complain to you about my parents. They're not perfect, but I'm sure they're not bringing a woman to lunch tomorrow to ambush me with a relationship."

Nate took a deep breath and blew it out. "It's all right. I'm just venting. Coming out can be difficult, especially if you've been hiding it for a long time. You have every right to feel your feelings, and I'm glad to talk to you about it."

Slipping my arm through Nate's hold, I stopped when our fingers laced together. "I think you might be the kindest person I know."

"You're sweet." Nate glanced at our joined hands before shifting his gaze to the windshield to watch the trees on either side of the highway fly by. "That can't be true, though. What about Granny? She has to be higher on that list."

"You're both in the top five, then."

"Top five." He nodded. "Not bad."

"Not at all." I smiled as he relaxed, and the sadness left his expression.

Leaning forward, he pointed to the radio. "Do you mind?"

"Nope. Put on whatever you like."

For the next twenty-five minutes, Nate flipped through the stations, pausing on whatever caught his interest, and when I was lucky, he sang along. His voice was almost too quiet to hear, but I strained to listen and tried not to react, afraid he'd stop. His warm tone followed the melodies without faltering and made me wish the drive was longer.

When Talk by Hozier came on and Nate's soulful voice sang the line, 'imagine being loved by me', tingles shot through my limbs. It wasn't a difficult thing to imagine. In fact, it was too easy. I had to tune him out and focus on the directions for a moment to keep my body from reacting to the images suddenly bombarding my mind.

It was good timing because, without realizing it, we'd arrived. Driving past Savor, a crowd waited outside for their tables, and I was glad we had a reservation in about ten minutes. After pulling into a parallel parking spot across the street, I shut the engine off and turned to Nate.

His eyes darkened as he looked at me, and those images I'd avoided returned in full force. My hands in his hair. His hands on my skin. Heat covered the back of my neck, and Nate smirked as though he could see my thoughts on my face.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Perfect."

"Good." The smirk fell from his mouth as he leaned closer, and I couldn't take my eyes from his.

My fingers threaded into the soft, dark hair at his nape, and his minty breath feathered over my skin a moment before his lips brushed mine. His touch was light, tentative, so careful, as though he thought I might object, but I wanted more of him.

Heart racing, my grip tightened on his hair, and that was all the encouragement he needed. With a rough sound in his throat, his kiss changed from exploring to conquering, and I was more than willing to give him control.

When he pulled away with a smile, he rested his forehead against mine. "Everything still okay?"

Was he joking? My pulse pounded in my ears and my hands ached to hold him. "Everything's still perfect."

"Should we go to dinner?" He checked the time on his cell. "I think we're late."

A surprised laugh escaped when I saw he was right. We'd been parked here longer than I thought. "Oh, well. If they gave our table away, we'll wait for another. Or go somewhere else. Whatever you want."

"I don't mind waiting if we have to." He pecked my cheek before opening his door. "Let's go see."

Thanks for reading! 💜

This is the first time I've ever added music to a chapter, but since I mentioned the song specifically, and I happen to love it, I thought I'd share it here. Take a listen up top if you've never heard it and let me know what you think!