Page 25 of Finding His Fox

Nate let out a laugh, a sound filled with lightness and even a hint of hope.

"Cal, you didn't ruin anything. In fact, thanks to you, this task felt so much easier," Nate reassured me.

"Glad I could be of service,” I replied, returning his infectious smile.

Chapter 8

Nate/ Cal

NATE

“So I saw Cal the other day,” Ian said cheerfully.

“Uh huh,” I replied, schooling my features to show I wasn’t interested in what else Ian had to say about Cal.

I furrowed my brows, pretending I was deep in thought, deciding what to order from the takeout menu.

Of course, I already knew what we’d get. It was movie night, and that meant Chinese food. Chow Mein, egg rolls and beef with broccoli.

When Ian was still living in the city, we always had movie nights every Friday. I loved our weekly get-togethers.

Sure, the movie and food were great, but we mostly used the time to catch up.

We didn’t even stop when Ian moved to Fox Haven. We improvised by having a watch party online, watching the same movie together in our own respective places.

Although, I had gotten used to resorting to certain tactics every time Ian brought up something I didn’t want to talk about.

I’d pretend I had technical difficulties or excuse myself to go to the restroom.

Now, however, being in the same room with him, I couldn’t do the same.

I lifted the menu up to eye level, keenly aware Ian was staring at me like a hawk. He was waiting to call my bluff.

To be honest, I was close to giving up. My face was starting to hurt from holding the same expression for so long.

Noticing I wasn’t going to cave, Ian finally continued, “He asked about you.”

My eyebrows immediately went up, betraying me. I made a mental note to start exercising my facial muscles in the future.

“I told him you were fine,” Ian said.

He was about to say something more, but went back to flipping through the movies on TV.

This was absolute torture. I desperately wanted to know what else Cal said about me. Couldn’t Ian just say it already?

I put the menu down harder than I had meant to on the kitchen counter and cleared my throat.

“I’m just getting the usual. Do you want anything else?” I asked, ignoring the smug look on his face. Ian knew he got to me.

“Well, what I want is for you to tell me what’s going on between you and Cal. You guys looked chummy at the party,” Ian said, narrowing his eyes at me.

My eyes instinctively darted to the bathroom, like I was conditioned to run there to escape uncomfortable topics.

However, I stood my ground and picked up the phone instead and began to call Mr. Wong’s for our takeout order.

Ian was glaring at me the entire time I was on the phone. When I was done, I slowly walked over to the couch where Ian was sitting.

I grabbed the remote from him and started looking for a movie. Ian crossed his arms, looking annoyed at me.