Ewan’s palms were sweaty. He rubbed them together vigorously as if it would magically rid him of the nerves. It didn’t. Ever since he’d gotten the help from Leona, he’d thrown himself into the work. He’d done research, he’d spent nights painting, he’d learned how to use Pinterest and then followed Pinterest boards to achieve the look he’d been going for. Weeks, he’d spent getting it just right. It felt perfect and he felt ready. Cut to the exterior of the book shop and he could be found pacing, running said-sweaty hands down the front of his pants, glancing down the street every few seconds to see if she was coming. He was beginning to think maybe this was a bad idea. His thing had sort of become grand gestures going horribly, horribly wrong, so he wasn’t sure why he’d expected this might be any different. Pulling the phone out of his pocket in a sudden rush, he contemplated sending her a quick text to forget it. Just kidding! Let’s go get ice cream instead. She wasn’t even late yet, if he just opened his contacts, hers would be the name at the top. He could just---
He slipped the phone back in his pocket, a rush of nerves like a stampede of butterflies (which was stupid, butterflies didn’t stampede, but whatever) in his stomach as he looked up just in time to see her round the corner. No going back now. “Addie!” Ewan’s voice rang out down the sidewalk and he took a few long strides to meet her. The nerves manifested in a jabbering of sorts, an over-enthusiastic greeting as he led her towards the shop. “I want to show you something, but it’s a surprise. So you can’t look, okay?”
