Page 38 of Only Lovers in the Building

They took their coffee to the couch and spent an hour laughing at comments and interacting with the hundreds of new followers they’d gained overnight.

Finally, Lily set her phone down. “This was so much fun.”

“The most fun I’d ever had on this app,” he said.

“Spring Fever is next. Yes?”

“Of course. We’re locked in now.”

She stood and stretched and drifted toward the door. “I’m meeting with Kylie in a bit. We’re going food shopping. I’ll stock up on coffee supplies.”

He followed. “You don’t have to.”

“I want to.”

They lingered at the doorway, each reluctant to move, until the ding of the elevator caught their attention. A moment later, a tall and lanky guy with shaggy brown hair headed down the hall, carrying a large canvas.

“Hey, Jeremy,” Ben said.

“Oh, hey,” he said, eyeing their appearance. With Ben in his boxers and the T-shirt he’d thrown on while she was in the bathroom, and Lily looking like she’d just rolled out of bed, there was only one conclusion, although false, to arrive at.

Jeremy rounded the corner. “Good seeing you.”

Only then did it click. That was Kylie’s Jeremy, the artist in need of legal advice. Knowing how this building operated, it wouldn’t take long for the rumors to fly.

“He’s going to tell everyone he saw us together,” Lily whispered. “They already think something is going on between us.”

“Something is going on between us,” Ben said. “We haven’t labeled it yet.”

“We’re friends,” she said. “I thought we agreed.”

“We didn’t agree on anything. If I remember right, when I brought it up you swam away.”

“Fair point,” she said. “Let’s settle this now. We’re the best of friends.”

He reached out and tucked an errant curl behind her ear, and like in the movies, she came undone.

“To be clear, we could be more than friends,” he said. “We’re choosing not to.”

“It’s the smart thing to do,” she whispered.

“And we’re smart people.”

“One of us is too smart for their own good.”

“It couldn’t be me,” he said softly. “I missed my chance that first night in the elevator. A part of me regrets it.”

Her thoughts slid to Darren. He’d held nothing back, pledging his love on their first date. As flighty as Ben was by comparison, a part of her was sure they could be so much more than friends. This thing between them was more than neighborly love. He liked her. It was obvious in the way he looked at her, scheduled time to be with her, and read the books she read. It was evident in the notes he left her and the coffee he insisted on making, always to her taste. For some, that might be the bare minimum. To her, it meant the world. Too bad it wasn’t enough. Nothing short of devotion would do. Ben could pocket his regrets. He had no business liking her if his heart and mind were otherwise occupied. Lily knew what she didn’t want. No more half-baked, halfhearted love affairs that would ultimately fizzle out. She’d drawn a line in Miami Beach’s famed white sands and would not cross it.

Chapter Eleven

Unemployment was no cure for the Sunday scaries. A week into her summer sabbatical, Lily was still overwhelmed with dread about all the things she wouldn’t be doing come Monday. No waking up with purpose, no commuting, no coffee on the go. It didn’t help that Ben had to spend the day grading papers and could not meet with her. By midmorning, her anxiety had reached its peak. She was grateful when Noah called to check in on her. On Sundays, he didn’t indulge in mental breakdowns. He had back-to-back appointments for all his maintenance work: hair, nails, brows. “Do you have a local spot?” he asked. “If not, I can take you to mine.”

“How would I have a spot?” she asked. “I just got here.”

“When I show up in a new city, I ask for the best day spas, wine bars, gay bars. I’m guessing you just ask for the nearest bookstore.”

“Good guess,” Lily said. “Where is the closest bookstore?”