Chapter 1 - The Beginning

Gabe used to take his coffee almost black. Almost. Just a little cream to top it off, and then he was set.
Gabe used to work out twice a week. Not nearly enough to call him a gym rat or anything, but enough to feel good and keep himself healthy. He enjoyed it. He didn't drink protein shakes, either. Just enjoyed the exercise.
Gabe was tall and sturdy, not skinny but not really big. He had just enough muscle to surprise someone when he lifted something heavy, and an ass that drove girls wild. He always had a little bit of softness covering those abs, though. Maybe that’s what got me interested.
I met Gabe at a birthday party. Celia Clarence, a friend of a friend that had some connections, sent out a few invites to her 23rd. Celia was the type of girl you never said no to. Whether it was help on a project, spotting her at the gym, or invites into her bed, you never said no. Guys fell to her feet, girls either hated her or were always with her, and everyone either wanted to be her or be with her. She was fair, had long dark hair, and the kind of curves that made her look like a Kardashian’s Southern cousin.
Celia and I had a few classes together in college, and she seemed to take a liking to me for some reason. I didn’t really take her shit, which she said she respected. But I’d do the smaller, more reasonable favors without much fuss. So she kept me at arm’s length, calling on me when needed and gracing me with a night out every once in a while. It was fine by me, I had more important things to focus on, and she was nice enough to be around when you weren’t blinded by her money and looks.
Of course she invited me to her party. It was just as grand as the rest of her get-togethers, Gatsby-esque in their elaborateness, but with more of an AHS Season 3 sorority party kind of vibe. Instead of being the center of attention, she preferred roaming the crowd, mingling with people and keeping her social status intact. She was smart enough to be sure she at least greeted everyone, but never gave them too much. “Glad you’re here, enjoy the party!” and then would disappear into the crowd. Made people think she was nice, but not so nice as to be easily attainable.
I was greeted with an enthusiastic squeal and an uncomfortable hug. I didn’t mind her touching me, but she was holding quite a few mini tequila bottles in one hand, and had about a dozen bracelets on her other arm. It was more a half-hug that squeezed all the wrong parts. She handed me one of each of her apparent party favors, and leaned in to whisper-yell at me over the music.
“There’s a guy upstairs I want you to meet,” She sounded like she was up to something. “I’ve been telling him about you and he thinks you’re like, such a babe. Which you are! And he seems like your type, I think.” She pulled back to give me a once-over and then leaned back in. “Yeah, totally. Go on! He’s waiting innnnnn… I think the third guest bedroom. Door at the end of the hall on the left upstairs. GO!” She didn’t give me time to process her demand before shooing me in the right direction, practically pushing me by my ass up the stairs.
Now, I know that I’m not anywhere near as attractive as Celia, at least by the standards of everyone around here. I’ve had my fair share of Tinder flings, and a few exes, but I never got the attention Celia did. Still, guys like short girls. And girls who work out. I think if my aesthetic was a little different I might not scare away so many people. Goth, alt, emo, e-girl. Everyone seems to use these interchangeably but they’re not the same thing. Either way, I know that my style is a little drearier than most guys around here are looking for. They go “oh I want a goth girlfriend, I want an e-girl baddie,” and then they figure out your actual personality and go running. The red hair dye usually puts them off too. Apparently it’s a sign a girl’s unstable or something.
I almost didn’t listen to Celia. I didn’t think it was going to turn out the way she thought it would, and wanted to save myself the embarrassment. But she was eyeing me all the way up the stairs, and I knew if she checked that room later and didn’t find me in there I’d have to hear her whine about it later. So against my better judgment, I went.
He was sitting on the bed, looking nervous. When I came in he stood up immediately, which kind of made me laugh. He was very awkward. Right off the bat, I noticed that he was tall and looked like he took care of himself. He had a bit of a 5 o’clock shadow, but not in a bad or lazy way. His hair was also so pretty—deep brown waves and curls down to his shoulders. He was pretty cute.
“Adrian?” He asked nervously. He was fiddling with his fingers.
“Yeah…” I trailed off. She hadn’t actually told me his name.
“Oh! I’m Gabe!” He flushed, and kind of looked like he didn’t know whether he should shake my hand or something. I laughed again.
Gabe and I spent the next few hours sitting and talking (which I’m sure is definitely not what Celia had in mind for us). I learned that he was so nervous because he didn’t know how to explain that this whole thing was Celia’s idea, and that he really wasn’t looking for a relationship, or even hookups right now. He just had a nasty breakup, and they were together for a little over 2 years before she cheated on him. He said she wasn’t even remorseful about it or anything, she brought it up in the middle of dinner one night and just kind of… left. It had been really eating away at him, so when he confided in Celia, she immediately sprung into matchmaker mode. Which sounds like her, and I’m sure wasn’t the right thing to do in that situation. He seemed very genuine, and very sweet, so of course I liked him immediately.
We decided to be friends. Celia would be whining about that outcome for sure, but he wasn’t in the market for a relationship and I thought it would be nice to get to know him before jumping into anything anyway. We exchanged numbers and social media, and left the party separately.

About a week after we met, Gabe asked me to grab coffee with him. There was a cozy little cafe near his gym, and he’d been wanting to see me again. We had been talking a lot. I sort of stalked his social media (is it really stalking if they give it to you first?) and learned a lot about him just through that. He wasn’t a gym rat like me by any means, but he liked to keep himself in shape. Especially since he apparently ate so much all the time. Every photo on his Instagram was either a picture of him at the gym or a plate of food, aside from maybe 3 or 4 that were stray cats he’d run into. He LOVED food. His ex-girlfriend’s name was Autumn, and she was evidently in Brazil with her new dude, celebrating their “anniversary.” Some of the gym pics were in slideshows with pictures of he and his mom, or he and his sister (Michelle and Brielle). We’d been sending each other memes on Instagram, and texting all the time, mostly talking about our days and what we were doing.
“Hey, it’s good to see you.” Gabe beamed as I walked up to the table. He stood again, which was starting to make me think he was trying to be polite or something and not just that he was nervous. He walked to the front counter with me and we ordered—a vanilla raspberry latte for me, and a coffee with cream for him. We sat and talked while we waited for our drinks, and when they brought it out to us they also set a couple plates down in front of Gabe. I gave him a curious look and he grinned.
“I kinda ordered before you got here…” He said sheepishly, picking up one of the sandwiches. It looked packed full of meat and cheese and the bread looked perfectly toasted. “Turkey and havarti with all the regular sandwich stuff and garlic mayo. It’s so good.” He took a huge bite, closing his eyes and almost moaning at the taste. That sandwich was gone in moments.
We did a little bit of catching up, but almost the entire time we were there I watched Gabe eat. He had multiple sandwiches, two of his coffees, three Danish pastries, and a very large cinnamon roll. And he didn’t seem to even register the sheer amount of food he was consuming. It was almost mesmerizing, watching him enjoy his food so much. I’d never really been a foodie, and I’d never really dated any. A lot of the girls I knew in high school and college ended up with some eating disorder or another, and the ones that didn’t went to the gym religiously. My family also kind of sat in the middle of healthy and relaxed when it came to diet. I never went a day without food, and my mother never shamed me or anything, but it’s not like we went out of our way to eat well. Seeing Gabe really savor his food was refreshing. Intriguing almost.
I started having some thoughts after that.