Page 14 of Love at a 7-Eleven

Caleb was also a few minutes early and got there right after me. I saw him when he was still outside. There were windows lining the whole place, and I watched as he approached. He had on a light blue t-shirt with a zip-up hoodie and jeans. He also had on a baseball cap and glasses. I, too, had on glasses, and I took them off and set them on the table since it felt like we matched. He was less recognizable now, and I figured no one would know who he was.

I saw when he caught sight of me. I watched nervously as he greeted the server and told her he was heading for my booth. I stood up as Caleb approached the table, and he came straight to my side with his hands out. I knew he was coming in for a hug, and I easily hugged him back. It was a quick embrace, but not quite as quick I thought it would be. He paused, holding me for a second or two longer than I expected. Maybe I just thought that because I hoped it was the case.

"Hey, thanks for meeting me," he said.

"Are you kidding? Thank you. This is fun. I would have ordered you some pie, but I wasn't sure what you wanted. I thought about French fries, too." I gestured to the table, to my pie, which had just been delivered and only had one bite missing.

By the time he got settled across from me, our server was there to take his order. He said he would have another slice of pie along with fries and coffee, and she double-checked about the decaf before taking off.

"What did Marcus and Sasha say about you taking a history lesson?"

"Oh, I didn't tell them," he said. "I just said I was going out. I, uh, it wouldn't be something I would normally do, so I didn't tell them about it."

"You wouldn't normally study history?"

"No, I just normally wouldn't do it at ten o'clock at night with a woman." He paused just long enough to look up at the server when she came back to bring his coffee.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome. The cream and sugar are right there on the table. I'll have your food out in just a minute."

My heart was racing, and the interruption from the server allowed me to take a deep breath and a sip of my coffee. Caleb took a sip of his coffee without putting anything in it, and I smiled at him. He was absolutely beautiful. I loved the way he looked when he swallowed, for goodness sake.

"I watched your videos."

He grinned and nudged his chin at me. "Oh, yeah? More than one?"

"Oh, yeah. Probably like six of the longer ones, and I don't know how many of the two-minute ones. Maybe twenty or more. I got hooked on those. You're really good. I see why so many people follow you."

"Nice. Thank you. That's a very kind thing to say."

"You have a good outlook. You're smart. And you're so patient with those people."

He let out a laugh. "Thank you," he said. "I wouldn't say that's naturally my strongest attribute, so I'll take it, thank you."

"Well, history takes patience," I said. "You know that with how many facts you retain. You have to keep going back and back to the facts to really lock them in. At least I do."

"Would you be able to sit here and give me a whole class of accurate information without opening these books?"

"Oh, yes, definitely. But the books are cool. You'll get to see pictures and maps and everything."

He stared at me with an unreadable expression. It seemed his train of thought had changed, and had no idea what he was going to say next. "I’m excited to get started, Lila Decker."

I grinned. "Good. Me too. Let's get to it."

Chapter 6

I called my college friend, Emma, the following afternoon on my way to the gym. I was nervous about seeing Caleb again, and I had to tell someone about it. I had lunch with my mom earlier, and I didn't mention it to her. I also did not tell Blake, even though I had told her about meeting him. I didn't want my excitement to be known by my family or close friends.

Honestly, didn't know how my family would feel about him. It wasn't just about his tattoos, although my grandparents would certainly mention them. Other things about Caleb would have them worrying about me—one of the biggest ones being that he lived in California. As the only girl, I was close with my mom. She would be so sad if I ever met and started dating someone who didn't live in Chicago.

I wanted to tell someone, what was going on with me, so I called Emma who was my friend from college. She had great qualities that would make her the best person for the call. One, we didn't know any of the same people. Two, she wasn't a gossiper. That combination was hard to come by, and I loved Emma for it. I had briefly dated a guy at school, and she was my wingman in that situation. I was happy that she picked up when I called.

"Hey, Emma, how are you?"

"I'm doing well, how are you, my friend?"

"I'm great. I saw your post the other day. Congrats on that job. I meant to comment and I forgot."

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