Page 58 of Necessary Space

“Santa Monica,” he said, smashing his sandwich down so it would fit into his mouth. “I rent a little one bedroom in a triplex a handful of blocks from the beach.”

“What constitutes a handful here?”

“Thirteen.” He smirked and bit into his sandwich, letting out an indecent moan of enjoyment while he chewed and swallowed. “Have you thought about what parts of town you would be interested in moving to when you dump the rental?”

I had just bitten into my own sandwich, so I chewed slower, trying to give myself more time to formulate an answer. I hadn’t even thought about where I’d want to go. For as much as I knew I didn’t like Brentwood, in the months I’d been in California, I’d been at the house, at the office, and at the restaurant Miles took me to on our date. Exploring the city hadn’t appealed to me in any way, shape, or form, but Colin’s question made me realize it was something I had to do.

Sooner or later.

“No idea,” I said, instead of admitting the truth behind it.

“You like beaches?” Colin asked, swiping an errant piece of corned beef through a glob of mustard that had fallen onto his plate. “East coast beaches are different than here, though, right?”

“So I’m told. I’ve really not been to the beach.”

“You’re kidding.” He looked at me in disbelief. “You should have that neighbor of yours show you the sights.”

I shook my head in response to the first part of his statement, not the last. Even though Miles and I were technically dating, the idea of asking him to show me around LA felt very weird. “I haven’t gotten out as much as I should have. I went through a breakup right before I moved and I’ve just been trying to get settled.”

“Settled and dating that neighbor,” he teased, resuming work on his meal.

“I wasn’t planning on the latter.” I popped the last bite of the half-sandwich into my mouth and chased it down with a huge swallow of water. “He just happened.”

There wasn’t much else to be said about Miles than that. He hadn’t existed and then he’d been there, and then…

My phone vibrated in my pocket, like he knew I’d been thinking about him. I didn’t want to be rude to Colin, though, so I let it sit. There would be plenty of time after lunch to answer him.

“That’s how the best stories start.” Colin gave me a small smile, but his entire expression quickly shuttered. He cleared his throat and tossed his napkin in a ball onto the table. “Were you ready to head back?”

“Sure.” I stood and pulled my phone out of my pocket, finding a text from Miles and also one from my brother. I frowned at Wes’s comment and couldn’t stop the smile that blossomed when I read Miles’s.

Miles: Can I see you tonight? I want to take you out and then get you off.

Wesley: I think I’m ready for some California sun.

We paid and I turned my attention back to my phone.

“Is that the neighbor?” Colin asked as we set off back toward the office.

“And my little brother.”

I answered Miles with a yes and my brother with a reminder we’d settled on spring break.

Wesley: OR SOONER!

He was quick to reply, and I sighed, sliding my phone back into my pocket.

“I’m an only child,” Colin said. “What’s it like having siblings?”

“He’s either great or horrible. He’s over twenty years younger than me, so I think our relationship is different than most.”

“Oh, I see that,” he agreed.

“What’s it like being an only child? Or rather…” I pulled open the door to our building with a chuckle. “What’s it like being an only child until you reach college?”

“Lonely at the holidays,” he admitted, that familiar tension creeping back into his shoulders. “My parents and I don’t always see eye to eye on things, so I try to play nice because if I don’t have them…”

“You’re alone.”