After getting away from his cruel father's tyranny, Randall has to learn how to live again, and accept the person he was meant to be - with a little help of a local bartender...
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An empty shell is all what is left of twenty-five-yea...
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-Randall-
Cole was so excited about the date. He refused to give me any details about what he was planning, and boy, he was planning something, all right. He spent a lot of time behind his laptop, smirking like a schoolboy and peering at me with a happy smile on his face. He wanted it to be a surprise, and I let him keep his secrets. I trusted him.
I was looking forward to it, too. Our first real date. My first real date. Not a fake one with a girl I didn't love.
I spent a lot of time sitting on the couch during those few days, just talking with myself. Learning to know myself. The fact that I now had a boyfriend was not really sinking in. Boyfriend. A man. I'd thought that idea would drive me crazy, and my father would gain control over me again, but it did not. No one was screaming squealy pig in my head.
The silence still scared me. I feared that if I let my guard down even for a moment, I would freak out. I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to stop being scared of that. Maybe it was a good thing I was wary of it. It could still happen. I could still crash. Vaughn had warned us about that. He'd told me to be aware of these things.
Boyfriend. I had a boyfriend. A man who kept glancing at me over his laptop to make sure I wasn't trying to find out what he was planning. When our eyes met, a boyish grin appeared on his lips. I smiled at the sight of it. I liked seeing him so excited. He'd been scared because of me, so I was happy to see him like that. Also because of me.
And then it was Sunday evening. The day of our date. Cole had told me to put on something nice, but casual. He'd let me know we had a reservation at a restaurant just to make sure I was prepared to go out in public, but he refused to tell me the name of it.
"You look so hot," he told me when I stepped out of my room, wearing a simple black suit and a blue shirt under it. I hadn't worn the suit in ages, so it was a little too big for me, but I hadn't lost too much muscle mass yet – thankfully.
I stopped to take in his towering frame in his navy-blue suit and black shirt. "We're wearing opposite colors," I noted. "You look hot too."
"Thanks," he smiled.
I stopped in front of him to adjust his tie. His smile grew warmer when I did that. I had his hands on my sides in no time, and he inched closer to me. I looked up. I wasn't a small guy, but next to him, I always felt like I was.
I lifted my chin up, and that was all I needed to do to get his lips on mine. The kiss was sweet, but a little too short.
"Are we ready to go?" he asked me.
I pecked his lips before I nodded.
There was a taxi waiting for us when we stepped out of the building. Cole held the door for me, and I climbed in. He joined me on the backseat, and the car started moving without Cole telling the driver where to go. I suspected he had already given the man instructions to keep me out of the loop.
