Page 1 of The Year of Us: July

Cory

Three weeks in Los Angeles had spoiled me. It was more than the proximity to Reese, though that was a large part of it. It was the staying in one place. It was having someone to come home to. It was the fun I’d had with Morgan and yes, then there was Reese.

Reese was a gift I’d never expected to receive. I’d gone to LA greedy to know more about him. I wanted to know all his favorite places. Favorite people. I wanted to find every crevice in his life and embed myself there. I wanted to tangle my life up in his and bask in the California sun.

Coming back to New York was a bit of a rude awakening.

Like waking up from a lovely dream to find that reality still existed.

My apartment was colder and emptier than I remembered it being.

Even though it was familiar, it felt less like home than the rental in LA.

I had half a mind to put my place in New York up for sale and relocate to Los Angeles.

There was an entire country between Reese and me, and though we’d made it work in the short term, it wasn’t sustainable in the long run.

I wanted more than brief snatches of time.

More than stolen moments and weekends between locations.

I wanted to spend fewer nights taking red-eyes and more nights tangled up in Reese.

The first step to any of that was taking less work in New York and more in LA.

Which was easy as pie. I was more than happy to shoot off an email to Russell Lang and tell him that I wouldn’t be able to take on future projects with him.

It was no hardship on my end to walk away from that asshole.

The company I’d worked for in Los Angeles was a satellite company for a larger corporation based out of California and they had more work for me. If I wanted it.

I wanted it.

I wanted a different life than the one I’d been living.

My adult life was full of achievements. Accolades.

Endless work projects. A revolving door of men when I needed them and then no one in between.

Meeting Reese hadn’t changed me, but it had awakened me.

I didn’t even know how deep I’d been sleeping until Reese came along.

I usually met my friends at The Black Door, but I wasn’t in the mood to sit around in the club, so I had Kale meet me downstairs in a restaurant on the ground floor of the building.

He brought his prince with him and my heart clenched at the sight of them together.

Happy. Totally in love and obsessed with one another, gravitating toward the other like a planet and its moon.

“Cory, it’s good to see you.” Kale clapped me on the shoulder and sat down next to Christian. I watched him put his hand on Christian’s thigh under the table. “It’s strange to see you outside of the club.”

“That sounds like I probably need to broaden my horizons. Which, incidentally, is the reason I asked you to lunch.”

Kale smirked at me. “Cory, as much as I like you, if you’re angling for a threesome, you’re barking up the wrong tree.”

“Don’t traumatize the staff, Kale,” I shot back as the server approached to take our drink orders and give us menus.

“He lives for that kind of thing,” Christian said. Whenever he looked at Kale, his expression got sappier and the air between them turned to static, like they were constantly feeding off the other, ramping up the sexual tension between them.

It made me miss Reese even more.

“You have that friend in California, right?”

Kale’s expression changed, his eyes narrowed, highlighting how suspicious he was. “Yes.”

“Do you think you could ask him to recommend some good realtors? I know the internet is a wealth of information, but I’d prefer to get a recommendation.”

“That won’t be a problem.” Kale pulled his phone out and shot off a text message. “Don’t tell me you’re moving to California.” He put his phone face down on the table.

“Okay, then I won’t tell you.”

Kale stared at me silently for a long moment. Next to him, Christian smiled. “Who’s the guy?” he asked.

I didn’t know Christian well, and I only knew him through Kale, but I liked him. And everyone liked what being with him had done for Kale.

Kale looked at Christian, then back at me.

“There’s a guy?” Kale gaped at me. “Since when?”

“Since January.”

“The same one as before? I’m impressed. And you’re moving across the country for him? It’s that serious?”

Kale’s look of concern made me smile. He never would get over the urge to have thirty-seven opinions about what other people should be doing.

“I don’t think it was ever un-serious. And I’m not moving for him.”

Christian snorted and it looked like he might say something until Kale gave him a look. He closed his mouth, but I could see the hint of a smile there.

“I’m moving for myself. I’m not happy here, Kale. I don’t think I’ve ever been happy here. Maybe in certain moments, but not in a way that I can hold on to and say yes, I like it here.”

“And you found that on the other side of the country?” He sounded almost offended.

“I found it in Los Angeles. Even when I’m not with him, I feel different there. It’s like I can breathe. And he’s there. I’m not going to say that my decision isn’t influenced a lot by him, but I’m okay with that.”

“You’ll still come back for drinks, though. And you’ll have to bring your boyfriend.”

“Still as bossy as ever, I see.”

Kale shrugged. “Not sorry.”

“I’ll be back. It’s not like I was here a lot anyway.” Hearing that come out of my mouth made me realize how deeply unhappy I’d been here. Even now, it wasn’t like I was actively miserable, but the city felt like an ill-fitting coat.

“When are you headed back?” Kale asked.

“I wasn’t due back in California for a couple more weeks, but I offloaded a client and made some room in my schedule. I’m headed back right after we eat.”

“Well, I’m happy for you,” Kale said.

“Wow, that’s it? No sage advice. No Kale going off and telling me all the things I’m doing wrong? Christian has been good for you.”

Kale rolled his eyes. “Just for that, lunch is on you.”

“My pleasure.”