Page 15 of Only Lovers in the Building

Lily leaped across the hall. Ben came to the door in his boxers, toothbrush in his mouth.

“Guess what?” she blurted.

He ignored the question. “Do you always look so adorable?”

“Always.” She looked like she always looked, faintly ridiculous in a demure nightie, pineapple hair gathered with a silk scrunchie,

and socks. And she hadn’t so much as rinsed with mouthwash.

He stepped aside. “Come in.”

She pointed to the toothbrush angling out of the corner of his mouth. “I’ll be back in a sec. I need to do that.”

He opened the door even wider. “I have an extra one.”

“You just happen to have an extra toothbrush lying around?”

She couldn’t sand the edge off that question quickly enough. Lily imagined a parade of women who, after spending the night,

were offered a cup of coffee and a toothbrush before they were sent on their way. If not a parade, then maybe just one special

person, Belle/Bella, not that it was any of Lily’s business.

“They’re sold in packs at the drugstore. You know this, right?”

She squirmed. “I’m aware.”

“Usually, there’s a pink one I can’t bring myself to use.”

“Does the pink toothbrush threaten your masculinity?”

“It did, when I was ten. Old habits die hard.”

With a bit of chitchat, Ben had lured her into his apartment and silently shut the door behind her. Damn! He’d figured out

that the way to get her to do anything was to distract her with inane conversation.

He led her to the bathroom and produced a bright pink toothbrush. “Here you go.”

She snatched it from him. “Boys will be boys.”

With a goofy, childlike grin, Ben pointed out the toothpaste and mouthwash. He reached for a fresh towel in a basket stored

under the sink and froze. “You have a bruise,” he said. “What happened?”

“A bruise? Where?”

He pointed to a minor scrape on her left knee.

“Oh, that,” she said. “Last night I banged into the nightstand. I don’t do well in new spaces.”

“Lily, I don’t like to see you hurt.”

“Don’t be silly,” she said. “I’m not hurt. I’m not even that bruised. It’s just a scratch.”

He moved some stuff around and tapped the vanity countertop. “Hop on,” he said. “I’ll take care of it.”

Lily did as she was told and watched as he tended to her scratch as if it were an open wound earned on a battlefield.

“Wait!” she said. “Will it hurt? Should I take a swig of whiskey?”

He glanced up. “Funny girl.”

Suddenly, the little bathroom steamed up. There was such a thing as too much kindness and attention. If he was going to do

all this, he should back it up with action. She wanted him to carryher to his unmade bed. Yes, she’d noticed the rumpled white

sheets earlier, and it was sexy as hell.

He applied a small Band-Aid and tapped her thigh. “I don’t think we have to amputate.”

“Oh, thank God!”

“If you need anything, holler.” He left her to brush her teeth in peace. She slid off the counter, turned on the tap, and

splashed cold water on her neck.

Ben had coffee going when she came out of the bathroom.

“What did you rush over to tell me?” he asked.

“Right!” she cried. “Have you seen the reaction to our post?”

“No. I mute alerts at night.”

“Well, unmute them! We’re a hit, and people have lots to say.”

“This I have to see.”

He went for his phone, swiped, scrolled, and found the post. “Fuck. They love us.”

“They love you ,” Lily said.

“There’s no me without you,” he said as he scrolled. “You bring out the best in me.”

Lily was grateful his eyes were glued to his screen because she was melting, turning into a puddle in his kitchen.

“Is the coffee ready?” she asked in a scratchy voice.

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.