"Knox is never going to live downThe Duke's Reluctant Bride."
"He shouldn't. That book is a masterpiece."
"You've read it?"
"Twice. Don't tell Toby. We'll never stop talking about it."
We're on Madison now. Haven House is a block ahead. The walk is becoming a rhythm, him bringing me here, me going inside, the doorway between his world and mine.
"So," he says. "Next Saturday. Same thing?"
"Library, work, and dinner?"
"And maybe a real date after? There's another Italian place Jason recommended. He says the carbonara is transcendent."
"Define transcendent."
"Jason's exact words were 'it made me angry how good it was.'"
"Then yes. Definitely yes."
He kisses me at the corner, soft, quick, the kind of kiss that says this is becoming normal and I like it. I kiss him back, equally soft, equally quick, with the unspoken addition of me too.
"Goodnight, Dev."
"Goodnight."
He watches me walk to the door. I punch in the code, wave from inside. He waves back, gets on his bike, rides away.
Upstairs, Tyler is lying on his bed, scrolling his phone. He looks up when I come in.
"You have leftovers," he says, spotting the container. "Fancy leftovers."
"Jason's pasta."
"His pride made you food?" Tyler sits up. "Dev. That's family stuff. That's 'we're claiming you' stuff."
"It's just pasta."
"Dude, that is never just pasta." He eyes the container. "Can I have some?"
I split the leftovers with Tyler. We eat Jason's pasta on our narrow beds in our small room on the third floor of a youthshelter, and it's the best meal I've had since last night, which was the best meal I'd had since the night before, and somewhere in the accumulation of good meals and library mornings and vending machine coffee and smiley-face notes, I realize that I'm building a life.
Not the life I planned, the apartment, the solitude, the careful self-sufficiency of a person who learned early that depending on anyone was a risk. A different life. One with people in it. A boss who feeds me, a roommate who throws pillows at me, a quiet man who reads fantasy novels and brings me coffee and introduced me to his family.
The math hasn't changed. But the context has.
My phone buzzes.
Silas:Toby wants to know about The Goblin Emperor.
Tell him it's my favorite book.
Silas:He says you have excellent taste and he wants to start a two-person book club.
Tell him yes.
Silas:He's already texting you. He got your number from Robin.