Page 18 of Only Lovers in the Building

“I stamp them,” she replied.

“Spank them? You’re into that?”

“Keep this up and I’ll spank you!”

In the back of her mind, Lily wondered, Is this banter? Good banter was the product of novels, plays, movies. In real life, men didn’t engage in repartee. They said things like Hey or What’s up? and the oh-so-popular So can I call you sometime? Other times, they sent random texts in the dead of night with an urgent question: U up??

Lily had started reading romance at the tender age of twelve over her parents’ objections. Her father was dismayed by her taste in books. Her mother worried the steamy novels might give her ideas. They did. Word play was just as good as foreplay. Now that it was happening, now that she’d found a sparring partner, Lily’s mind went blank. Or was she reading too much into this? It was a sunny day. They were by the pool, poking fun. Either way, she ought to know for sure.

In the real world, in New York, she wouldn’t have gone so long without asking a man some pertinent questions. Though Miami had revealed itself to be an alternate universe, this was no reason to go rogue.

“Are you single?” she asked.

Ben had already started with the prologue. He looked up from his book, startled by the question. If he hoped she’d take it back, she wouldn’t. She might have jumped to conclusions where Roxanna was concerned, but that didn’t mean Ben wasn’t hiding a girlfriend somewhere. Men these days were crafty.

“Technically, I am.”

Lily turned away abruptly and flipped open her book. However, there was no unseeing it, the huge red flag unfurling, flapping noisily in the morning breeze.

“You either are or you aren’t,” she said.

“Yes, but you forget the undefinable gray area,” he said.

She wanted to forget this conversation. “We should start reading.”

Lily had no interest in hearing what he had to say. It was always the same. His girlfriend was either away on an extended trip, or they were on an official break, or they were one of those on again–off again couples, running hot and cold.

He sat up and turned to her. “You’ve judged and sentenced me without a preliminary hearing. Is that how the judicial system works?”

“You’re not on trial! Being technically single is not a crime, last I checked.”

“I’d like to say a few words in my defense.”

“Fine.” She sat up to face him. “Go ahead. Just don’t perjure yourself.”

“I am single,” he said. “That’s the truth. A relationship ended, and it was painful. It’s only been a week.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. It’s been a wild week.”

In the back of her mind, Lily did the math. One week was nothing when it came to a breakup. You needed a month to see clearly again and six months to a year to feel like your old self.

Her phone rang. This time, she checked the caller ID before silencing it. It was her brother, Patrick. He’d called yesterday when she was at the pool with Noah. She couldn’t go too long without calling him back. Their parents were likely driving him crazy. Even so, she tucked the phone away.

He took in her furtive movements and asked, “What about you? Is someone waiting back home?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

Had she raised a red flag of her own? Dodging phone calls was shady behavior, for sure. In her defense, she wasn’t hiding a man, but her melodramatic family. “I’ve been single a while. I’ll stay single until I find what I want.”

“What do you want?” he asked.

“I have no clue.”

She knew what she didn’t want, which was to not repeat the same old mistakes. No way was she getting involved with a man fresh out of a relationship. Two weeks in and he’d ask for space, claiming that he couldn’t get too involved because he had inner work to do.