SIXTEEN YEARS
999 Words
CHAPTER FOUR
Nolan woke up thinking about Adrian.
Again.
He stared at the ceiling for several seconds before covering his face with his pillow.
“This is ridiculous.”
It had been one evening.
One dinner.
A few cups of coffee.
A handful of conversations.
So why was Adrian already taking up so much space in his thoughts?
Nolan got out of bed and headed for the shower, determined to forget about him.
It lasted exactly twelve minutes.
When he stepped into the café that morning, his eyes immediately went to the house next door.
He sighed.
I'm twenty-four.
The thought had been following him since last night.
Twenty-four.
Adrian was forty.
Sixteen years.
Nolan had never dated anyone that much older.
He had always imagined falling in love with someone around his age. Someone who understood his references, his plans, his stage of life.
Someone who was still figuring things out with him.
Adrian already had a career.
A house.
A teenage son.
A life that seemed completely established.
What could someone like Nolan possibly add to it?
The bell above the café door rang.
Nolan looked up.
Adrian.
His heart betrayed him immediately.
Adrian walked toward the counter.
“Good morning.”
Nolan smiled despite himself.
“Morning.”
Adrian studied his face.
“You look tired.”
“I didn't sleep well.”
“Why?”
Nolan almost laughed.
Because I couldn't stop thinking about you.
Instead, he shrugged.
“Too much work.”
Adrian nodded.
“Then you should rest.”
“You sound like my mother.”
“I'll take that as a compliment.”
Nolan laughed.
There it was again.
That quiet smile.
That warmth.
The thing that made the age difference disappear for a few seconds.
Until Nolan remembered it again.
Sixteen years.
Adrian ordered his coffee.
They talked about nothing important.
The weather.
The café.
Liam's school.
Yet Nolan found himself watching Adrian's hands whenever he spoke.
The older man carried himself differently from people Nolan knew.
He was calm.
Patient.
Certain.
And Nolan liked it.
Maybe too much.
Adrian noticed Nolan staring.
“What?”
Nolan quickly looked away.
“Nothing.”
“You've said that twice this week.”
“Maybe I say nothing a lot.”
Adrian smiled.
“Maybe.”
Their eyes met.
Neither looked away.
Then Liam entered.
“Dad!”
The moment broke.
Nolan exhaled quietly.
Liam dropped into a chair.
“I'm hungry.”
“You're always hungry,” Adrian said.
“I'm growing.”
“You've been saying that for three years.”
Nolan laughed.
Liam pointed at him.
“See? Nolan understands me.”
Adrian looked at Nolan.
“I noticed.”
Something about the way he said it made Nolan's chest tighten.
---
Later that afternoon, Adrian sat alone in his office.
He should have been working.
Instead, he was staring at his phone.
Nolan's name wasn't on the screen.
There was no message.
Still, Adrian couldn't stop thinking about him.
He leaned back in his chair.
He's twenty-four.
The number sat heavily in his mind.
Sixteen years younger.
Adrian closed his eyes.
He had no right to think about Nolan the way he had been thinking about him.
Nolan was young.
Not a child.
An adult.
But still young enough to have an entire life ahead of him.
Adrian had already lived through marriage, fatherhood, loss, and years of responsibility.
What could Nolan possibly want from a man like him?
And more importantly, what could Adrian offer without taking something from Nolan?
He thought about Nolan's laugh.
The way he looked at Liam.
The way he made the house feel warmer simply by walking through the door.
Adrian smiled despite himself.
Then his smile faded.
This is dangerous.
Not because Nolan was wrong for him.
Because he might be too right.
Adrian had spent years protecting himself from wanting anything.
Now one young man had walked into his life and made him want things again.
Things he had stopped believing he deserved.
That evening, Nolan was closing the café when Adrian appeared.
“You're still here?”
Nolan looked up.
“I own the place. I'm allowed.”
Adrian smiled.
“I suppose you are.”
“Why are you here?”
“I wanted coffee.”
Nolan glanced at the clock.
“It's almost closing.”
“I know.”
Nolan stared at him.
“You came anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Adrian paused.
Then quietly said,
“I like your coffee.”
Nolan smiled.
“That's all?”
Adrian looked directly at him.
“For now.”
Nolan's heart skipped.
He turned toward the coffee machine before Adrian could see his reaction.
While the coffee brewed, neither spoke.
The silence wasn't uncomfortable.
It was worse.
It was intimate.
Nolan placed the cup in front of him.
Adrian didn't pick it up.
Instead, he looked at Nolan.
“You've been quiet today.”
“So have you.”
Adrian smiled slightly.
“Maybe we're both thinking too much.”
Nolan's fingers tightened around the edge of the counter.
“About what?”
Adrian's gaze held his.
“Things we probably shouldn't.”
Nolan's heartbeat grew louder.
He knew exactly what Adrian meant.
Or at least he thought he did.
Nolan looked away.
“Maybe you're right.”
Adrian finally picked up his coffee.
“I usually am.”
Nolan laughed softly.
The tension eased.
But the question remained between them.
How far could this go?
And should it?
Adrian left soon afterward.
Nolan watched him cross the street.
Then he whispered to himself,
“He's sixteen years older.”
But another voice inside him answered.
So what?
Nolan sighed.
He didn't have an answer.
And somewhere inside the house next door, Adrian was asking himself the same question.
For the first time, they weren't wondering whether they were attracted to each other.
They already knew.
They were wondering whether they should allow themselves to feel it.
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