Page 209 of Game Night: Truth or Dare

“You said you liked chicken salad, so I asked dad to make that today and he made brownies. Two of your favourites.”

That was not my heart beating out of rhythm for the man because he brought me my favourite foods.

“Oh.”

He unpacks the food, both of us with a sandwich and brownie, and he sets one of the take out cups down for me.

“A café mocha… extra whip.”

Just his lips forming the words have all the dirty images vault to the front of my memory. Caleb and whipped cream are my new favourite addiction. We had the taxi driver stop at the corner store on our way home Saturday.

We ate the whole container of it over the course of the night and into Sunday.

“Thank you. This is, ah…perfect. It’s perfect.”

The door bell jingles and we both look up. Caleb is still pressed to my side, but he takes a small step back before dropping a kiss to my cheek.

“Well, well. Aren’t you two cozy?”

Old lady Green stops at the counter with a toothy smile. Caleb, who seems to have lost his shyness, chuckles.

“We’re very cozy, thank you.”

“Malcolm, was there romance? Make this old lady happy and tell me yes. I’m sure you both had a wild night of skin slapping sex; I can see it in your dopey grins. But tell me there was romance.”

“Mrs. Green!” Ignoring her sex comments is best, and I glance at Caleb with a smile. “He brought me homemade flowers with chocolates inside. He made them himself. He kissed me first, and he sang to my cat.” I notice Caleb dip his head. “It was the most romantic date I’ve ever been on.”

“Don’t tell people about singing to cats. It’s embarrassing.” He reaches over to touch my arm. “But I’m glad you liked it. I thought it was romantic, even though I didn’t know how you’d take it.”

Mrs.Green says nothing, simply glancing between the two of us while we exchange a silent moment.

“My husband once said, ‘those who are kind to animals are kind to others. They have a lot of love to give and it overflows into their everyday lives.’ Do you agree Malcolm?”

Studying Caleb, I run through what I know about his everyday life. Or what I’ve seen of it. He’s great with customers because he’s truly kind. There’s never a moment where his intentions are anything but good. I may have only known him for a few days, but I’m certain of it.

“Yes, I do. Caleb is one of those people who can just make you feel at ease no matter what. And let me tell you,” I motion for Mrs. Green to come closer and she leans in with a smile. “He remembered my favourite food from a single conversation we had at a ridiculous time in the morning and then he brought it to me today.”

Mrs. Green actually sighs out loud.

“That’s romance, Malcolm.”

Nodding, I turn to find Caleb grinning and it’s an instant response to just smile back. The man just makes me float on a big ole happy cloud.

“Your dimples are so stinking cute.”

I grin bigger and Mrs. Green gags.

“Please, stop. I wanted to hear about romance. I don’t need to see it right here and right now. You could’ve left it at ‘he brought me food’ and called it a day.”

She wanders into the store leaving Caleb and I chuckling while we eat.

“So, I was wondering…”

Caleb darts a glance after Mrs. Green. “Is it romantic or creepy if I ask you to lunch every day? We’re both busy and I’d like to use a lunch break to spend time getting to know you.”

He keeps his voice low and reaches over to smooth his thumb over my knuckles.

“I really like you, Mal. I know we’re going full throttle, but I’d like to slow down and know you.”

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