Lily laughed. She was doing it! Having a full-blown conversation with Fine as Hell Neighbor—wait, no, his name was Nick. And not only were they simply conversing, the conversation was flowing. She barely recognized herself.
“It’s my birthday, Octavius!” one little boy in the center of the birthday party group shouted. “I get to play on the PS5 first!”
“I’m still the oldest of the group, Waverly! Rules are rules!”
In a split second, a fight broke out among the kids. The birthday boy’s dad only sighed, weary with exhaustion. Nick’s arm shot out in front of Lily, protecting her from being hit by a scrawny, stray elbow. He gently but securely turned her away, shielding her with his body. She was enveloped by him and the scent of his heavenly cologne. It took all of her effort not to swoon. She could die right there, knowing that her last moments on earth were spent in Nick’s blissful embrace. Thank the Lord for angry eight-year-olds and their temper tantrums.
The elevator finally reached the fourteenth floor and Nick shouted, “Excuse us!” creating a temporary pause in the mayhem. Wordlessly, he took Lily’s hand and safely led her into the hallway. The elevator doors closed behind them, eliminating the noise of the arguing children. Lily glanced down in surprised pleasure at their intertwined fingers. Nick smiled at her, somewhat bashfully, and dropped her hand. She immediately missed his touch. It was startling how natural it felt to hold hands with him.
“Those kids were wild,” he said, scratching the back of his neck and glancing away. “Felt like we were stuck in an elevator cage match.”
Lily laughed, trying to shake off how warm she’d felt at their simple skin-to-skin contact. “I almost caught an elbow to the ribs. Thanks for saving me.”
He brought his eyes back to her face and smiled softly. “Anytime.”
The conversation was over. Neither of them had a reason to remain in the hallway. Yet neither moved.
“You know,” Nick said, “I’ve read The Obelisk Gate and The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin too. If you ever want to talk more about them, I’m always around.”
He was looking at her through his lashes with a direct gaze.
Holy shit. He was asking her out.
Maybe? It seemed like that’s what was happening. Lily’s heartbeat accelerated, and she tried to calm herself, because this was what she wanted. This brought her one step closer to asking Nick to be her date to Violet’s wedding.
Also, why would she ever turn him down, the attractive and gallant neighbor of her literal dreams, about books that he’d read?
“That would be nice,” she said, making herself look Nick in the eye.
He smiled again and looked almost relieved. Had he been afraid that she’d turn him down? In what universe?
“You free tonight?” he asked. “Or maybe tomorrow if tonight is too last minute.”
Lily hesitated and glanced at her bag, which held the manuscript that needed line editing.
“Tonight is perfect,” she said. Her deadline be damned. “I just have to feed my cat first.”
She thought she noticed him grimace at the mention of her cat, but his expression cleared so quickly she couldn’t be sure.
“That’s cool,” he said.
They walked down the hall to her and Violet’s apartment. Lily fished through her bag for her keys and was so excited she fumbled with them for a good minute before she managed to open the door.
“Do you want to come inside and wait?” she asked. Violet was in LA for the week, so they’d have privacy.
He nodded, flashing his polite smile, and her stomach somersaulted.
As soon as they stepped inside, Nick froze at the door. His eyes widened at what lay before him.
“Are you a big fan of Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat?” he asked.
Lily glanced at the large portraits of the female rappers that adorned Violet’s walls and smirked. “No, my sister is a stylist. Those are the magazine covers she worked on this year. This is her apartment, actually. I’m just staying here for a couple months until I find a new place.”
“Oh, cool.”
Some of the decor in Violet’s one-bedroom apartment was a little questionable. In addition to the blown-up portraits of celebrity photo shoots, there was also the dark wood coffee table in the middle of the living room that was carved into the silhouette of a naked woman. Violet had it custom made based on her own body, and that was the first thing she told people when they visited.
Lily’s grand New York City plans never involved sleeping on Violet’s pullout couch. She’d never had much luck with roommates, especially not her most recent roommate, Mora, whose dogs had chewed up Lily’s shoes and threatened Tomcat on multiple occasions. Lily desperately wanted her own space, but she didn’t make an own-space salary. So last month when Violet offered to let her move in so that she could pay less rent and save up for her own studio apartment, she’d jumped at the chance.
It wasn’t a bad setup, really. Violet’s apartment was spacious and there was plenty of room for Lily’s clothes in the hall closet. The pullout couch in the living room was comfy, and Violet was rarely there. She spent a lot of time working in LA and staying at Eddy’s. She planned to stay bicoastal until her lease was up in October, and after that, she’d move in with Eddy full-time. By October, Lily would have enough saved for her own place. Just her and Tomcat. No roommates. No more stress.
Nick stood by the kitchen island and waited as Lily put down her tote bag and looked for the stool that she used to get Tomcat’s food, stored high up on top of the cabinets. But of course the stool wasn’t by the fridge like it was supposed to be because Violet was always moving it to rearrange the clothes in her closet.
Lily stood on tiptoe, reaching for Tomcat’s bag of dry food to no avail. She was about to go search for the stool in Violet’s room, when Nick asked, “Need some help?”
“Thank you—” she began to say, and lost her train of thought as Nick reached past her, lightly brushing his chest against her back as he grabbed Tomcat’s food and placed it on the counter.
Lily turned around to find Nick right behind her. He backed away, resuming a polite distance, but the air suddenly felt thick with his nearness. Lily looked up into his eyes.
“You’re welcome,” he said, returning her gaze. He was looking at her closely, tilting his head slightly. He let out a soft laugh and shook his head, and the sound caused Lily’s stomach to seize.
“We haven’t met before, have we?” he asked.
He felt a connection too? It both relieved and excited Lily at the same time.
“I don’t think so,” she said. But I feel like we have, she wanted to add. She didn’t, though, because she was worried her eagerness might scare him off. So it didn’t make much sense when she then said, “I had a dream about you.”
Nick’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. He stepped closer, almost imperceptibly. “What happened in the dream?”
“I asked you for sugar.”
Was she really admitting this to him? His closeness was clouding her ability to think straight.