Eli rolled his eyes. “You’re trying to kill me.”
Before I could respond, he was gone again, bouncing down the hallway after Lane. I just sat there shaking my head and smiling. They both meant well, and I hoped Casey could see that. Thinking that giving him a heads up might be a good idea, I pulled up my email and started sending him another message.
I thought you might want a heads up that Eli and Lane are concerned about you. I told them both very clearly not to drive you crazy, so if they (Eli especially) make you uncomfortable, then just let me know and I’ll step in. They seem to have good intentions, though (even Eli lol).
Since we’re talking, what do you think about another question tonight? I did give you an easy one this morning, so another easy one tonight seems fair.
Have you ever submitted for anyone before?
See, that’s not hard. Just a yes or no question. Now, I wouldn’t be upset if that simple answer turned into something longer, but that’s up to you. If there’s something you want to know about me, just say so. I don’t want to overwhelm you, but don’t be afraid to ask if there’s something on your mind.
I can’t wait for Wednesday. Okay, back to work. I have a few things to finish, then I’m heading home. Early. I promise.
Preston
It was easy to picture Casey worrying about me staying late. I didn’t mind working long hours, but I also didn’t want him to think I was so focused on work that there was no room in my life for him. Hearing him talk about his new business and his plans for that made it clear how many hours he was putting in outside of his traditional job as well, so setting a good example was a must.
As I dove back into the paperwork I’d been ignoring before Eli and Lane had popped in, I kept one eye on my email. It took longer than I expected for a reply to come back from Casey, but I had a feeling he’d been debating what to say.
Thanks for the warning about Eli. He might have texted me a few times (I’m understating this in case you can’t tell) last night so hopefully your talk was helpful. I was pretty proud of myself for telling him to back off. Telling you that sounds silly, but I’m trying not to second-guess myself in these emails, so I’m going to leave it in.
No.
I haven’t done that with anyone.
Are you really sure you’d like a longer answer? I think that simple can be good. (I’m sighing here in case you can’t tell) Um. Let’s see. I…I feel stupid but here goes. I’ve researched things, but I’ve never taken the steps to try things in real life. Clubs and things make me nervous and when I looked for people online, that was…frightening. So yeah…knowledgeable and curious, but that’s it. And now I’m going to go hide for a while. Don’t work too late.
Casey
He was so cute. I read his email several times before hitting the reply icon. I kept the message short. Telling him simply how proud I was of him and that I wished I were there to give him a hug before letting him know that I was heading home for the night.
As I closed down my computer, I couldn’t help but wonder how our date on Wednesday would go. Casey was slowly stepping outside his comfort zone and finally letting me see who he really was. Every little peek into his world felt like a huge accomplishment. Knowing that I was one of the only people who got to see this side of him had my heart beating faster.
After a year of watching and slowly getting to know the sweet man, the progress we’d made in the last twenty-four hours felt like a whirlwind. I just hoped it wasn’t going too fast for Casey.
As much as I wanted to knoweverythingthat was going on inside him, I wouldn’t want that knowledge to come at the expense of his trust in me.
NoI won’t post pictures. That’s just crazy.
Six months, two weeks until first date
