One Step Closer

Chapter 3: A Date

Several days passed since Riley was at Landon's place. Several, long days. Long days for all different reasons. Long because Riley wanted Landon again. Long because Riley wanted Landon to back off. Landon had texted him every day, and among all the confusion, Riley couldn't get himself to respond. As much as there was fun being had, and there was a lot of it, Landon's shifting gears were pushing Riley away.

I think I'm gonna get you to change your little relationship rules ;)

That was the text Landon sent after Riley left from his shower visit. It put a knot in Riley's stomach. An uncomfortable, frustrating knot. He couldn't recall using the term 'rules' with Landon, but any conversations that had taken place were becoming a blur within this mess.

I have no plans tonight. Let's order some pizza and see where the night takes us.

Hey. I don't know if I said something wrong, but I'd really like to see you again. No pressure to label it as anything. Let's just hang out.

Can you at least tell me what I did wrong? If anything?

I'm sorry if I came off as mocking your rules. I'm not trying to make you sound uptight or unreasonable or anything. I was just caught in the moment after being in the shower and was feeling frisky. I can't help that I really like you, but I won't push for anything if that's not what's meant to come of this. I would still love to have some fun, you know, while we're both available :) Hope to hear from you soon!

Those were the messages Landon had sent each day. Riley was torn. Landon was one of the best guys he'd ever done things with. Easily. As much as he was annoyed and unsure of Landon's intentions, Riley's body was aching for more time with him. Unfortunately, he was aware that getting more of Landon was going to be giving in a little.

It was only that morning Landon had sent the lengthy message. Now Riley was at work running the dinner shift. Thankfully, the text wasn't distracting him much. Bottled-up feelings and thoughts over the past few days have led to mental exhaustion. In fact, Riley was beginning to feel bad. No matter how deep he searched for one, Riley couldn't find a legitimate reason to label Landon a bad guy and ghost him. In the least, he felt he owed Landon an acknowledgment of his attempts.

"Desserts only!" Riley called out to everyone in the back. "Start cleaning up the line. And..." Riley's phone rang from his pocket. He pulled it out and saw Landon was calling. He froze. One ring passed. Two rings passed. "Shit," he muttered.

"What else, boss?"

Riley looked up at Bryant, one of the line cooks. "Um...sorry, I gotta take this. Clean up the line. Get things done."

Riley slid his finger across his phone screen to answer the call and hurried out the backdoor. "Hello?"

"Hey," Landon said.

Riley leaned against the building. His heart raced to hear Landon's voice, but the bitter feelings also returned. His guard needed to stay up. "Hi."

"Thanks for answering, at least," Landon said. It was followed by a small chuckle that said it wasn't truly a laugh. One of those awkward reactions to make the truly harsh statement more lighthearted.

Riley nodded, knowing there wasn't any right response to that. "Sure. What's up?" Like Landon's chuckle, the question wasn't genuine. He already knew what was up, but it was the awkward response to get the conversation moving along.

"I want to figure out what's going on," Landon said. "Are you mad at me? Do you not want to hear from me again? Because I can leave you the hell alone. I hope that's not the case, of course, but your silent treatment isn't telling me anything. I'm not a mind reader. I don't know if my texts are making you think about what you want. I don't know if you need to sort these thoughts or sort your feelings. That's the whole problem. I don't know anything. Just...I'd appreciate it if you could just tell me what's going on with you and with us, and I'll go from there. I'm sorry if that was harsh, rude, or all over the place. I've bottled up a lot and needed to let it out."