As they walked toward the elevator, the weight of the meeting still hanging in the air, Luke casually turned to William. “Hey,” he said, voice nonchalant, but there was something different in his tone this time. “You want to grab dinner later?”
William’s footsteps faltered for a second, his mind going completely blank. Dinner? With Luke? The thought of it made his heart race. Was this real? Was Luke actually asking him out? His mind went into overdrive, and before he could stop himself, he found his mouth moving.
“Dinner?” William repeated, his voice a little too high-pitched. He cleared his throat quickly, trying to salvage what little composure he had left. “Oh, I mean—to catch up. I meant, like, to catch up, talking, you know?” Luke rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly glancing around the hallway. “Not... dinner. Just, uh, talking, friends. Catching up.” Luke stated.
William raised an eyebrow, the corner of his lips twitching up into a smile. “Right, of course. Catch up. Yeah, I get it.”
Luke felt a wave of embarrassment flood over him, but he tried to laugh it off. “Yeah, yeah. I haven’t—uh, I haven’t had a chance to really catch up with you in a while. I mean, we could go, like, grab some food or whatever. Nothing crazy.”
William nodded. “Cool. We’ll grab some food and talk about.......everything, I guess. I’ll text you when I’m free later.”
William could barely keep himself together, his heart still pounding in his chest. Luke had just asked him out—well, kind of—but now it seemed like he was just brushing it off as if it was no big deal. Maybe it wasn’t. Maybe William was reading too much into it. But the way Luke had said it, the way his eyes eased when he mentioned catching up—it all felt a little more than casual.
“Yeah, sounds good,” Luke managed to say, forcing a grin, but on the inside, he was a whirlwind of embarrassment. “I’ll, uh, I’ll wait for your text.”
William gave Luke a small nod and a final, knowing smile before heading toward the elevator. Luke stood there for a moment, watching him go, trying to steady his racing thoughts. William entered the elevator as it was closing. His mind drifted. It wasn’t just dinner. It wasn’t just catching up. Not anymore. Something had shifted between them, and William had no idea how to handle it.
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