Page 168 of Two Guys, a Girl, and a Tripod

“Really?” Miles nearly jumps out of his seat. “You do?” He grabs my hand excitedly. Brody beams and then looks over at my roommate.

“Is it really so bad?” I ask her.

“Fine, go to the dark side.” She rolls her eyes, fighting a smile.

“I’ll call a realtor,” says Brody.

“A realtor?” I frown.

“Yeah, you and Miles need studios, right?” he asks, then looks across the table at Miles. “We don’t have the space at the current place.”

“So, what, you’re just tobuy a new house?” I ask, sarcastically. Brody’s expression doesn’t change when he meets my gaze and my lips part in shock. “You’re just going tobuy a new house?”

“This asshole could buy three new houses before the end of the week,” Miles laughs. “Don’t underestimate his bank account.”

“Fuck,” I breathe. What do I even say to that?

“I’m calling a realtor tomorrow,” says Brody, ignoring the discussion of his finances.

“Tomorrow?” Natalie asks dejectedly.

“It’s going to take time to find a place,” Brody assures her. “You won’t lose your roommate for a while.”

“Something tells me I already have.”

A thought occurs to me and I groan, throwing my head back.

“What?” Miles’ tone is full of concern and I quickly lift my head to meet his gaze. “Second thoughts?” I swear I can see the bucket of ice water hit him.

“No,” I’m quick to say. “No, I just hate packing.”

“We’ll cover it,” says Brody with a shrug.

“What does that mean?”

“We’re not making you pack and unpack all your stuff after what you’ve been through,” he explains as if I should know that.

“So you’re going to pack for me?” I ask skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

“I’mpayingsomeone to do it for you.”

Apparently, I hit the jackpot.

I spend my first day at home editing and attempting to get a handle on everything I missed. The group chat is a constant source of delight, keeping me from going insane.

The next couple of nights without Miles or Brody beside me are rough, to say the least. I’ve come to expect that I’ll have them to reach out for when I wake up terrified. Without their comforting presence, it takes longer for my breathing to return to normal andmy pulse to slow.

We spend our days looking at homes all over the valley and further west. Every single one is obscenely expensive. Miles doesn’t seem to have a problem letting Brody do all the financial lifting. I, on the other hand, am having a tough time wrapping my head around the idea.

After one particularly long day of house hunting, the guys bring me back to their place for dinner.

“So!” Brody shouts, heading for the kitchen as Miles closes the door behind us. “I have it all planned out.” He waves his hands at the kitchen as a whole. “Miles has everything for nachos, we added a couple more subscription packages to the Roku so that we can watch anything you want, and I meananything. There’s beer and wine in the fridge and-”

“Brody,” Miles interrupts with a laugh. “Let her breathe, man.”

Brody mutters an apology, but I make my way over to him and wrap my arms around his neck. His hands fall to my waist as he lowers his lips to mine. I don’t let him deepen the kiss and to my surprise, he doesn’t argue when I pull away.

“Before we do that,” I look over at Miles, “I want to know what you two have been up to.”

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