Unconventional Lovers ☑️

Chapter 12 - Car Trouble

Jessie walked out of his brother's bathroom dressed in a navy shirt and trousers. Tonight he had his second-first date with Olivia, at a nice Italian restaurant she picked which was out of town.

"Thanks for letting me use your shower, Cam."

Cameron nodded his head at his brother while he was reading Of Mice and Men. "No problem, you know when they fix your room's plumbing?"

"No idea, I asked around and it looks like the whole floor is messed up." Jessie wrapped a silk tie around his neck to match his outfit. He then added product to his hair so that he could look his best for Olivia. "What'd you think Cam?"

Cameron closed his book and looked at his little brother with a small smile on his face. He walked up to Jessie so that he could readjust the tie, to make sure it wasn't too short.

"Could you tell I'm a bit nervous?" Jessie laughed as he wiped the light sweat on his head. "It feels like forever since I've been on a date, and I want this one to work out."

Brushing the imaginary dirt off his shoulder, Cameron slapped Jessie's cheeks lightly to add a bit of colour to them. "You look like you've seen a ghost! Just relax a bit Jessie, I'm sure everything will go great."

Cameron had just passed Jessie his shoes to put on when Riley walked into the room. He dropped his food container in the bin when he look at the pair with a confused look on his face.

"What's all this?" Riley asked as he noticed Jessie all dressed up nicely.

Jessie looked at the mirror one more time before he answered Riley. "I'm going on a date with Olivia."

"Like a date-date? Or a friend-date?" When Jessie told him it was the real deal, Riley could only reply with one word. "Oh."

"Yep, and Jessie's shy all of the sudden." Cameron laughed. "He's changed his outfit so many times already, and I'm trying to convince him this is the right one. What'd you think?"

After Cameron made Jessie spin around on the spot for Riley, Riley offered Jessie a comforting smile. "You look great."

"Just great?" Jessie chuckled, "No busting my balls for taking longer than a girl to get dressed? No, 'You look like a wannabe model for a knockoff brand of Hugo Boss that takes photos in a shady basement?'"

"Nothing like that," Riley repeated once again. "You look great."

"Weird..." Jessie shrugged his shoulders as he then realised that he was running late. Picking up Cameron's keys, "Thanks for letting me borrow your car."

With a salute goodbye, Jessie grabbed the door handle when Riley told him to wait. "Here it comes..."

Riley took a step closer and removed the tie off Jessie. Riley then straightened the collar and smoothed out the wrinkles near his chest.

He answered the confused look on Jessie's face by telling him, "You look like you're trying too hard. And she's going to look like a dumpster fire when she stands next to you with this tie."

With one last furrowed brow, Jessie thanked Riley for his help. As he left the room, Jessie told them not to wait up, as the last thing they saw was his smile before closing the door.

Riley was still holding onto the tie in his hand when Cameron spoke to him. "Hey, what you still looking at?"

Riley quickly averted his eyes as he unconsciously put the tie in his pocket. "Nothing."

~~~~~~~~~~

It was still a Wednesday evening, and Riley had some spare time on his hands. Along with Cameron and Luke, Riley joined them on the football pitch as they practiced their penalty shooting.