“I think that would be necessary living with you.”
“I’m a right asshole at times,” Qylar said. “I know it.” He got up and crept to Kenji’s bedroom door, peeking in. The room was ridiculously small. There was a large bookcase chocked fullof books, anime, manga, and superhero memorabilia, a small bed barely big enough for Kenji to sleep alone, and a tiny desk with only a laptop sitting closed on top. The narrow dresser was inside the closet, which only left a tiny space for clothes to be hung up.
“How much stuff outside this room is yours?”
“None of it,” Kenji said as he carried a pile of clothes from the dresser to the bag. “My whole life is inside this room.
Qylar scanned it, shaking his head. He’d thought Alex’s old apartment was small. This place was utterly claustrophobic. He lived like a king by comparison with plenty of room to spare.
Room that technically wasn’t his, but Cryss had already offered it, hadn’t he?
“Seems pretty easy to clear out and go.”
Kenji stopped at the side of the bed and glared at him.
Qylar lifted both hands in surrender. “I know, I know… stop squeezing. But it’s kind of hard knowing you’re cramped in here, in a dangerous neighborhood, when there’s an empty bedroom upstairs you could use.”
Kenji’s glare faded some.
“Yeah, you might be trading one problem for another, but I hate the idea of you living in a dangerous place with an asshole for a roommate.”
Kenji didn’t move. He stared at Qylar.
“I did tell Tacoma I was looking for something else, which I’ve struggled to find,” he murmured. “And my lease is up soon. Either I get out, or I have to sign for another year.”
“It can be temporary,” Qylar said. “Until you find something better than this.”
“I don’t have any boxes.”
“Oh… I’ll find you boxes,” Qylar said, spinning for the door. “Be right back.”
Kenji carried his clothes hamper into the bedroom behind Qylar, who was carrying two heavy boxes of books with ease. He was an idiot for agreeing to Qylar’s offer, but the pros had outweighed the cons. Getting away from Tacoma had been the best part. Leaving a note, a key, and a check for the last two month’s rent—though it wiped outeverythingin his savings account—had been the best feeling in the world.
He wished he could be there to see the look on Tacoma’s face and contemplated sticking around for him to come home from work. But with the sun close to setting and Qylar’s truck full of his belongings—and open to theft—they’d decided to get the fuck out of there.
Qylar turned and laid the boxes against the wall. Without his massive body in the way, Kenji got his first look out of the balcony window. Almost the entire back wall of the bedroom was windows and outside it, the sunset over the Pacific. He could see the Golden Gate bridge, the ocean, and a bit of beach. “You never mentioned the view.”
Kenji dropped the clothes basket on the king-sized bed already in the room and crossed to the balcony. After opening up thesliding doors—which turned out to be the retractable wall kind—he walked outside and stared at the sunset.
“Pretty nice, hmm?” Qylar asked, sidling up behind him.
Kenji rested his head back on Qylar’s chest. “It’s stunning.”
They stood there in silence, watching the view. Peace spread through Kenji, a calm he rarely felt.
“Why don’t you live up here?”
“This was Cryss’s room before they bought the townhouse next door,” Qylar replied.
“You could’ve moved up here.”
“I was already pretty set downstairs.”
“In the basement,” Kenji said.
“It’snota basement.”
“Just because you can get out of the back doesn’t mean it’s not,” Kenji said. “When did Cryss and Alex move next door?”
