Page 43 of Only Lovers in the Building

Lily covered her face with her hands while the others cheered, and the waitress dropped off a fresh bottle of prosecco at

the table.

Jeremy excused himself to go to the restroom. As soon as he disappeared through the barn doors at the back of the restaurant,

Kylie shared some news of her own with giddy delight. “Lily may not want to share details, but I will,” she said. “Jeremy

is exceptionally well-endowed. He’s hung like you wouldn’t believe.”

“I believe it,” Sierra said. “He’s got that energy. Quiet confidence.”

“You and Jeremy hooked up?” Lily asked, fully aware of the double standard she was peddling. She wanted every scrap of information

regarding her friends’ affairs, while keeping her own under lock and key.

“No!” Kylie exclaimed. “We’ve been hanging out a lot, though. The weather’s been shit lately, so we headed to Hotel Blake

to use the indoor pool. He came out of the water, and his tiny little suit left nothing to the imagination. It made me start

paying serious attention.”

“You really should,” Sierra said. “The poor guy follows you around everywhere like a puppy.”

“I’m not fool enough to think it would actually work,” Kylie insisted. “I wasn’t born yesterday.”

“We know!” Noah said, exasperated. “You were born exactly three decades ago. We don’t want to hear about it anymore.”

“I’m done playing around,” Kylie said. “I’m looking for something long-term, someone I can bring home to Minnesota.”

“I’ve known you a while,” Sierra said. “I’ve never once heard you talk of Minnesota. You’re just looking for excuses.”

“Minnesota is my home. I’d like to raise my kids there, someday. Besides, I miss snow.”

Lily wasn’t buying any of this. Kylie hadn’t applied the Minnesota standard to the Italian architect. Why limit it to Jeremy?

Besides, it was easy to miss snow in seventy-eight-degree weather.

“I’m never moving back to Tallahassee,” Sierra said. “Anyway, I don’t think I can. They’d chase me out. I’ve burned too many

bridges.”

“I never thought I’d leave New York or the tristate area,” Lily said. “But I’ve always lived a short train ride away from

my parents, and I’m kind of sick of it.”

Jeremy returned. The waffles and pancakes arrived, along with bacon, hash browns, toast, and sausage.

“I may be moving back to France.”

Noah made the announcement so quietly they might have missed it. It was instantly drowned out by the music, chatter, and the

orchestra of their forks and knives.

“What did you say?” Lily asked.

He set down his utensils and fixed them with his clear blue eyes. “I may be moving to France in the fall.”

“What?” Kylie cried. “You can’t do that!”

“But you can move back to Minnesota?” Noah fired back.

Jeremy swiveled in his chair and confronted Kylie. “You’re moving to Minnesota?”

“No,” she replied honestly. “It was just a thought. Anyway, this isn’t about me.”

“My sales figures have been solid lately,” Noah said. “Last week, we had a visit from headquarters. They took me to lunch

and made me an offer. It’s too good to pass up.”

So much had happened during the rainy season, Lily’s head was spinning. “What about Nicolas?”

He gave her a look that said it all.

“Is this why you insisted on brunch?” Kylie asked. “For you to drop this news on us?”

Chastised, Noah nodded, eyes cast down. This blew Lily’s mind. She’d never seen her bold friend so low.

“Am I the only one who sees this as a good thing?” Sierra asked. “He’s going to Paris! That’s the dream!”

“Saint-Tropez,” Noah corrected her. “I can’t live far from the water.”

“That’s an even better dream!” Sierra cried. “Make sure you have a guest room or a pullout couch.”

“I’m going to cry,” Kylie said.

“I’m going to cry, too,” Lily said. “You were my first Miami friend. I’ll miss you.”

Noah scoffed. “Lily, what do you have to be sad about? You’re leaving soon.”

“How soon?” Kylie asked.

“At the end of the month,” Noah tossed out casually, as if this weren’t loaded information.

“Before you all go, we should have a night out,” Sierra said. “We haven’t hit the clubs all summer.”

“Since when do we ever hit the clubs?” Noah asked.

“Fine. I’ll meet you in the middle. How about a pool party?” Sierra suggested. “Nothing but day drinking and dancing. I’ll

organize it.”

And while they all talked about day drinking, Lily sat with the realization that she was leaving at the end of the month.

Not at the end of summer or at the end of her lease, as she liked to vaguely think about it, but in a few short weeks.

I don’t have you for long.

“How are the waffles?” Kylie asked. “Do you like the Chantilly cream?”

“Love it.”

In truth, Lily could hardly taste a thing. Ben had made her promise things would end smoothly between them, which meant that

he’d accepted that things would end eventually. She did not want it to end at all.

After brunch, she and Kylie indulged in window-shopping before heading back to the building. Most of the boutiques were tourist

traps, offering bikinis, cover-ups, and T-shirts with catchy Miami slogans.

“What am I going to do about Jeremy?” Kylie asked when they reached the end of the block and were ready to circle back.

“You’re going to invite him to your place, pour him some wine, slip into something more comfortable, and seduce the boy, Mrs.

Robinson.”

“Very funny.”

“Did you talk to him? If he knows where you’re coming from, maybe he’ll understand.”

“What if it’s all in my head and there’s nothing to talk about?”

“Then it’s in my head, too. He’s clearly into you, Kylie. If nothing else, he’s taken your mind off the architect. That’s

a bonus.”

“Nothing is ever going to happen between Frederico and me,” Kylie said. “I’m not his type. He likes the glam girls. My fingertips

always smell like garlic.”

“Then he’s an idiot,” Lily said.

A group of local boys whizzed by on skateboards. Their beach towels were tied at their necks, flapping behind them like superhero

capes. That would have been Ben at twelve or thirteen, Lily thought fondly.

As though reading her mind, Kylie asked, “How are things really between you and Ben?”

“Perfect, which sucks because it’s over soon. Why can’t I have nice things?”

“I hate when that happens,” Kylie said. “Life dangles a good thing in front of your eyes and takes it away.”

“I’ve been in denial,” Lily admitted. “I’ve pushed it out of my mind, and now it’s all I can think about. I’m leaving soon.”

Kylie rummaged in her purse for lip balm. “What does Ben say?”

“I think he’s been counting down the days, preparing himself.”

“That’s smart,” Kylie said. “Maybe it’s time you do the same.”

When Lily got back, Ben was in the shower, his gym clothes tossed carelessly into the hamper in the corner of his bedroom.

She knocked on the bathroom door and heard the shower curtain draw back.

“Lily? Come in!”

She took that invitation at face value, stepped out of the proper linen matching set, and joined him in the shower. “I thought

you might need a hand.”

Ben was lathering shampoo in his hair and grinning at her. “Did you have fun without me?”

“Not as much fun as I’m going to have with you.”

She kissed him hungrily under the hot stream jet, shampoo suds making their bodies slick. He squeezed her breast under his

wet palm, making her gasp.

“Remember that time when you took my video call in the shower just to torture me?” he asked, kissing her neck. “That wasn’t

a dream, right?”

“No, but this is.”

Ben laughed a throaty laugh that died abruptly. “Wrap your legs around me.”

Even though she’d started this, Lily couldn’t bend so easily. “Under one condition.”

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Call me Liliana and I’ll do whatever you want me to.”

His dark eyes flashed. “Liliana, do what I tell you.”

He did not have to ask twice. She was determined to make the most of what little time they had left with no reservations.

Lily’s Notebook

Archetypes

The Italian architect is the catch. So is the French baker or the American lumberjack, the British rock star, the Canadian

hockey player, the biker, the cowboy, the race car driver, the self-made millionaire, the heir to the company who might as

well be the heir to the throne. Who am I missing? What do they have in common, aside from their height and their sun-kissed

skin? They are unattainable, inscrutable. They may not even exist. Writers create them from scratch, down to the dimple in

their cheeks and the twinkle in their eyes. Even so, these are the types we pine for, men who won’t spare us a second glance.

We’re not tall, pretty, rich, connected, or famous enough to hold their attention. Given a chance to get to know them better,

we may learn they don’t live up to the hype. However, we will never get that chance. The rejection stings. Only when we hit

the bottom of a bottomless-mimosa brunch can we admit to our friends that the pain is real. The truth is they are not worthy

of us. A real man defies archetypes. He’s everything you need him to be, and nothing less.

Pop Shop

A Pop Culture Podcast

Category: Arts

Rating: 4.9 stars

*RATED #1 Podcast in Arts & Culture*

August 16: Just Friends by Angelica Key

with Lily Lyon and Ben Romero

Ben: Let’s talk about instant chemistry.

Lily: Or more importantly, the lack thereof.

Ben: Is it real? Imagined? Let’s try to define it.

Lily: Women define chemistry as that flutter of butterflies in the stomach. You either feel it or you don’t. When you do, it’s

the most extraordinary feeling. You’ll chase it no matter where it takes you.

Ben: You’d chase a butterfly?

Lily: Not literally.

Ben: Butterflies don’t live that long. Some are lucky to last a week.

Lily: The same can be said for most relationships.

Ben: Basically, we’re talking about attraction. Sometimes it’s there from the start. Other times you have to scratch the surface

to find it.

Lily: We agree you shouldn’t have to dig a tunnel with a spoon to get at it, right?

Ben: Agreed. Want to introduce our book?

Lily: This week we’re discussing Just Friends by Angelica Key, a friends-to-lovers romance based on the principle of opposites attract. Jack is in tech, and Bobbi is an artist. However, as hard as we tried, we couldn’t pinpoint the area of attraction.

Ben: We gave up.

Lily: It’s a shame, too! These are my top tropes.

Ben: What do you like most? The friendship graduating to a relationship part?

Lily: Yes! That part! I love it!

Ben: If you mess up the relationship, which isn’t hard to do, you also lose a friend. How do you recover from that?

Lily: I can’t imagine, and I’m glad you brought that up. This is another fine example of how tropes can trip you up in real life.

Ben: Keep your friends close and your lovers closer. Just don’t mix the two.

Lily: Give me a second. I need to write that down.

Ben: Write this down, too. Opposites attract is bullshit. You’re either compatible or you’re not.

Lily: Too compatible and you fall in a rut. There should be some tension.

Ben: We’re compatible. Where does that leave us?

Lily: Just friends?

Ben: [Laughs] Okay. Maybe.

Lily: Bobbi should’ve left Jack in the friend zone. Sometimes it’s for the best. Have you ever been friend-zoned, Ben?

Ben: Absolutely. Several times.

Lily: I’m shocked. Who would put you on the bench?

Ben: You might find this hard to believe, but I was once a bookish nerdy kid with acne and unruly hair.

Lily: Did you ever ride a skateboard?

Ben: Yes. Why?

Lily: No reason. I want a complete mental image.

Ben: Add this to your image. I had no date for my junior high prom. I was either the third wheel or the designated driver through

high school until things picked up sophomore year.

Lily: In other words, you had a normal teenage experience.

Ben: Still hurts!

Lily: Oh God!

Ben: How about you? Did you serve any time in the friend-zone supermax prison?

Lily: As a matter of fact, I have. I’ll show you the mug shot later.

Ben: Tell me all about it.

Lily: He was a Wall Street type.

Ben: You and those finance bros...

Lily: For a while, they were my weakness!

Ben: Tell me what he did.

Lily: It’s more what he didn’t do. He never kissed me, never tried. When I asked, finally, what was up, he came clean. I wasn’t his type. He wanted to be

friends.

Ben: He should die a slow and painful death. You’re everybody’s type. If he can’t appreciate that, he’s a useless human being,

taking up oxygen for no good reason.

Lily: Wow!

Ben: I don’t mess around when it comes to you.

Lily: Thanks, buddy!

Ben: [Laughs] You’ll pay for that later. But we’re lost in the woods now. The topic is chemistry. What do you do when it’s not

there?

Lily: One of our book club members had a similar problem. What started out as a slow burn sort of fizzled out. I was rooting for them and hoping for that spark that would set them on fire.

Ben: My uncle took my cousins and me camping once. He couldn’t light a campfire to save his life. We gathered sticks, and he doused

them with lighter fluid. The s’mores we made later that night were toxic. I’m sure of it.

Lily: I don’t see where you’re going with this. Is there a moral to the story?

Ben: There’s only so much lighter fluid you can pour on any situation before it’s hazardous to your mental health.

Lily: Moving on from our mutual friend, we don’t like to tear books apart on the podcast. What are some of the things we loved

about this novel?

Ben: It was one of the funniest we’ve read.

Lily: That mini golf scene is hilarious. I cried!

Ben: I know you did. Adorable.

Lily: We were all over the place today! Maybe it’s because you’ve made us the number one podcast for arts and culture? What an

honor!

Ben: It went to our heads. We’ll do better next time.

Lily: Which is next week, for a bonus episode!

Ben: Fun stuff.

Lily: That’s all we have for now. My buddy Ben and I are off to play a round of mini golf. Thanks for joining us. Bye!

Comments:

@KharmaQueen: Screaming!!! The way that man went feral!

@ReadingAustenInBoston: I DON’T MESS AROUND WHEN IT COMES TO YOU!!!

@User8495uyt7t950404: The speculation is over. They’ve pretty much confirmed they’re dating!