chapter 27

It was late in the afternoon as Ezra sat in a cafe nearby the university campus. It was a long day and he wanted nothing more than to go home and nap in his apartment. However, he had a date with his girlfriend, Bea.

So there they were, sat next to each other. Not interacting at all. Just like how all their other dates went. Bea was completely immersed into something on her phone. Ezra took this as an opportunity to finish his English assignment. His professor, Mrs Stevens was being a pain in the butt today.

"I want your whole summary on Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis by tomorrow morning!" She had practically yelled to the entire class. That woman had no conscience. Does she not know how fucking long that Shakespeare poem was?

Ezra was practically typing at light speed. After spending all his high school years writing on his computer, he was a pro when it came to typing now. Sometimes his roommate, Jason even made him type out his essays for him. He didn't mind though.

Ezra was almost done with his work when he felt someone shake his arm. It was none other than Bea. She gave him her signature smile.

"Can you get me a cup of coffee?"

Ezra eyed her before looking back at his laptop screen. He was almost done. But- "Sure."

With that, Ezra got up and walked towards the counter to order drinks. The cashier, who was a sweet elderly lady smiled at him as he asked for a medium-sized Americano (Bea's to-die-for coffee choice). He paid for the drink and took the cup the lady handed him, also saying a quick 'thank you' to her.

Just when Ezra turned around, he bumped into another person. He tried his best to move his beverage away to avoid it from spilling but it still collided with the chest of the person in front of him. He kept his eyes to the ground to avoid any eye-contact. He was sure the person in front of him was scowling right then.

"I'm so sorry!" Ezra cried out.

If there's one thing Ezra hated, it was causing inconvenience to others. All he could think of was to apologize and hope he's forgiven. So when there was still no reply to his apology, he assumed the worst. With a deep breath, he slowly lifted his head up.

However, instead of being yelled at, Ezra received a warm smile from the guy in front of him. The guy was probably around his age. He had dark raven hair that fell over his forehead. His eyes were dark too. Ezra narrowed his own eyes, scanning this guy's entire face (also, probably looking like a creep in the process) when the other man’s lips started to move. He was saying something. Ezra immediately looked back up to the person's eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Wait what?

"What?" He asked, confused.

Ezra spilled coffee all over this guy's t-shirt but he wants to know if Ezra's okay? Who was this guy? Nobody else would have said that. If it were anyone else, they'd probably yell at him and create a huge scene in front of everyone.

"I asked if you were okay?" The guy's deep voice repeated.

"I'm fine. I should be asking you that seeing as how I've just spilled hot coffee all over you." The guy chuckled in response which again, confused Ezra.

That's when he saw the giant brownish stain on the raven-head’s white t-shirt. Why did he have to wear white?

"Here." Ezra dabbed the pile of napkins onto the guy's shirt, trying not to look up, knowing the guy was probably staring at him.

"It's okay. You don't have to-"

"I'm so sorry. I can be really clumsy sometimes."

Ezra rambled on as he tried to clean the stain, only making it worse. Suddenly, a pair of warm big hands came over his hands making him stop what he was doing. Ezra looked up at the stranger feeling his heartbeat quicken. He noticed the guy had a mole right below his bottom lip.

"I'm not mad. It was just an accident."

With that, Ezra nodded and pulled out of the guy's hold, his hands instantly feeling cold. What was he supposed to do now? Just walk away? He just couldn't find it in himself to leave yet. Then, he finally had an idea.

"I'll pay for your coffee." He blurted out earning him another smile from the stranger.

"You really don't have to do that."

"I want to. Besides, I probably have to get another cup for my girlfriend anyway." Ezra said and immediately felt stupid for mentioning Bea. He probably shouldn't feel weird for talking about his girlfriend, but he couldn't help the feeling of not wanting this guy to know about her.

"That coffee wasn't for you?" The stranger asked.

"Oh no. I don't drink coffee."

The guy simply nodded as they both got back in line to order their drinks. Ezra ordered the same medium-sized Americano and a cappuccino for the tall stranger next to him. After he paid for the drinks, they stood by the counter, both of them not making a move to leave yet.

"Thanks for this." The guy smiled as he gestured to the coffee the other man had bought for him.

"You're welcome."

The raven-head then glanced to the front entrance of the cafe before turning back to Ezra, giving him a long lingering look. "Uh, I still don't know your name."

"It's Ezra."

The stranger smiled. "I'm Ryan." He held out his hand.

Ezra took a deep breath before shaking Ryan's hand. It was warm, just like before. This was way too much interaction for Ezra. Especially with a person he just met. But something was off. He didn't feel uncomfortable talking to Ryan. There was just something about this

For instance, the raven-head wore a leather jacket over his white t-shirt. Did he perhaps ride  motorcycles? And Ezra had just noticed the tattoos peeking out of Ryan's jacket sleeves. There was even one on the side of his neck. Ezra had the urge to pull the man’s t-shirt collar down to see what the tattoo was.

"Well, I'd better get going." Ryan suddenly said pulling Ezra out of his thoughts.

"What- oh sure."

He looked to the ground before bringing his eyes back up to Ryan. The tall boy gave him one last smile before leaving. He finally let out a long sigh. Why that boy captivated Ezra so much, he didn't know. He then mindlessly walked over back to his table. Bea was in the exact same position she was as before.

"What took you so long?" She reached her hand out to retrieve her drink from Ezra without looking away from her phone. To the man, it looked like his girlfriend was having a staring competition with her phone. 

"There was a long line." He lied as he sat down.

"Oh, okay but you-" Bea stopped talking as her eyes widely opened after reading something on her phone. "Oh my goodness!" She turned to her boyfriend with a giant grin on her face.

"Remember how I told you about my best friend Jessica who recently finished her studies in London?" Ezra nodded having remembered a little bit of what Bea told him about her friend. 

"Well..." Bea inched closer to the other as her smile grew bigger. "She's moving here!"

"That's great?" He said not really feeling the excitement radiating off of Bea. The woman rolled her eyes at Ezra’s fake enthusiasm as she brought her phone in front of her again.

"You'll definitely like her once you get to know her."

Ezra sighed but it was unnoticed by Bea. He was struggling at the thought of having to meet someone new. Just thinking about it made him physically tired.

"We'll meet up with her tomorrow. She's still new around here so I think we should show her around."

There it was again. That word, 'we'. Ever since they began dating, it was 'we' most of the time. Was it wrong for Ezra to want a little space to himself? But of course he could never deny any of Bea’s wishes because he had this undying need to please people.

If he said otherwise, it would only lead to more questions. More talking. All this could be avoided if he just agreed to everything. As wrong as this seemed,

"Ezra?"

"Yes?"

"Will you come with me to meet her tomorrow?"

"Yes."