Dylan pauses, not speaking, like he’s waiting for me to freak out.
And I do. Sort of.
I want to freak out. I expect to.
But…
Part of me loves the idea of what Dylan’s suggesting too much to completely turn him down.
“I couldn’t afford one hundredth of the monthly mortgage,” I finally say in a weak attempt to present an argument. “Even in fantasy terms.”
“I paid for the house in cash,” he says. “Nobody’s paying a mortgage.”
Shit.
“Cash? You paid for that house in cash?” I keep calm as I take a right out of the alley and head toward the ocean.
“Yes.”
“Wow. You must have a very big salary.”
“You really never looked me up on the web, did you?” His voice is amused.
“Of course not. I didn’t want to learn about you on paper.”
“Well, you’re one of the few.” He puts his hand on my thigh and squeezes. “Which I appreciate. But yes, I signed a new contract two years ago, and it’s substantial.”
“Like eight figures substantial?”
“Try nine.”
Nine figures—
“Dylan, I can’t even wrap my head around that kind of money.”
“You will once you get your own business going.”
I glance over at him. “Right.”
“Your sculptures are worth a lot, and I’m not joking. Trust me on this, Jasalie—I’m an expert at picking out talent.”
“Dylan, that’s sweet. The thing is we’re not matched to live together.”
“What are we matched to do?” he asks me.
“To be in a fantasy land. A hotel, for example.”
“So we can’t live together outside of a hotel.” He says it like a flatline.
“I don’t know.” I sigh. “Hypothetically speaking of course, I’ve just always paid my own way is all. It would feel like too much.”
“What about if we shared utilities and groceries equally? I wouldn’t be writing checks for anything else anyway because the house is paid off. That way, you would be doing what you normally do at your apartment now. But we would live together.”
“How is that any different? You still paid for the house yourself. I’d feel like a guest.”
“But it is what it is right now. I mean we could rent an apartment together in the city, hypothetically, of course, but you know how much houses cost in L.A.”
“Yes, I do.” I pause. “I really do hate my apartment.”
