“What do you think of this place?” my oldest friend, Moira asks, gesturing around the open floor plan. She’s helping me apartment hunt. I cannot live in the same house as my parents any longer. After four years of being in California on the other side of the country, doing whatever I pleased, I can’t be in a position where I should have to answer to anyone.

“It’s gorgeous, but it looks like a lot of money to me. What’s it going to cost me to live here?” I ask, already knowing this place is way beyond my price point.

She pulls out her iPad, scrolling through her spread sheet. This one’s two thousand a month.” She grimaces anticipating my reaction.

“What the hell, Moira? Are you trying to kill me? I’ll have a roof over my head, but I won’t be able to afford to eat.” My dad pays me a decent salary, but not enough to pay that much for rent.

“Sorry,” she says looking contrite. I don’t know how this one got mixed in with the others I plan to show you.” Her finger quickly moves over the iPad screen, scrolling through options. “I’m a new agent. Bear with me. I’ll find you the perfect place, no worries.” She smiles and it’s impossible to stay angry at her.

Cocking my head to the side, I say, “I’m going to hold you to that.”

“Let me take you out to breakfast and we can look over some of the options. You can narrow them down to your top three and then we can go check them out.”

I nod my head. “That sounds like a good plan. I’m starving.” I didn’t eat dinner last night. By the time I’d closed the gym and gone home, it was almost ten o’clock. Add to that the interaction I had with Noah and any appetite I had quickly disappeared.

* * *

My mouth goes dry when I notice where Moira has chosen to bring me for lunch. She’s pulled into the parking lot adjacent to the F1 go-kart racing track where Noah took me for our second date.

“What are we doing here?” I ask, confused. There’s a small, white painted brick building that’s been converted into a cafe. The green shutters and flower boxes that are overflowing with red and yellow blossoms on the front windows lend a welcoming feel.

“This place just recently opened and they have the most delicious omelets you’ve ever eaten. The bagels are mouth wateringly fresh and the bacon is the perfect amount of greasy. Mm. They also have milkshakes so thick you can’t suck them through the straw. Well, I can, but you might not be able to.” She snorts.

Rolling my eyes, I’m not as amused by her joke as I normally would be. I’m not feeling too upbeat in general right now. This is the last place I want to be. Especially after Noah is already working his way inside my head. Seeing where we went when we were falling in love isn’t my idea of fun. Remembering the good times with him only makes how things ended between us that much worse.

Walking beside her, I focus on the present. I’m here with Moira, not Noah. It’s not like we’re hanging out at the F1 track. We’re only next door. I’ll avoid looking in the direction of the track and forget it’s there. Maybe this will prove to be a therapeutic experience for me.

We place our order and then sit down to wait. Moira drums her nails on the table. The tap, tap, tap, of them against the wood is wearing on my last nerve. Placing my hand over hers, I glare at her. “Please stop.”

“Wow, what’s wrong with you today? You’re so high strung.”

“I’m not high strung,” I say with a huff, crossing my arms.

Moira rolls her eyes. “Sure, you’re not. Look at how relaxed you are right now.” She smirks.

“What?”

“You look so tightly wound. I’m afraid you might snap at any moment. Literally.” She exaggeratingly widens her eyes and acts out the motion with her hands.

“Dramatic much?” I say, shaking my head

“I think you need to find one of those hot fighters at the gym and have them give you a good, hard shag.”

“Shag? Have you been watching Austin Powers again?”

“Yeah, baby,” she jokes. “Seriously though, when was the last time you had sex?”

“It wasn’t that long ago,” I say, defensively.

“It’s the middle of June. If it wasn’t in this calendar year then it’s been a long time.” She knowingly raises an eyebrow.

I squirm in my seat. “Fine. It’s been a while.”

“So, are there any good prospects at the gym?” She takes a sip of her coke the waitress placed down in front of her, waiting for me to answer.

“There are a lot of hot guys there. I don’t know too many of them. The core guys who were there four years ago still are.”

“Is that a roundabout way for you to tell me that Noah is still training there?”

Licking my suddenly dry lips, I nod my head.

“Holy crap,” she squeals.

I shoot her a warning look.

“What?” she questions. “I liked the two of you together.” She shrugs.

“I did too, until he ripped my heart out.”

She leans forward, elbows on the table. “How does he look? Is he hot as ever?”

Looking at her excited expression has me answering honestly. “You have no idea. He’s incredibly hot. Way more than when we were together.”

“I knew it. You could even tell back then, he would be like fine wine, improving with age.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m keeping my distance. Fool me once shame on you - fool me twice shame on my dumb ass. Fortunately, I’m no longer a fool when it comes to Noah Nolan.”

* * *

“Well that was a bust,” I say, blowing out a large sigh. “When can we check out some more options?” I stare out the passenger side window, watching the city landscape pass by.

“Let me look at this week’s schedule and get back to you. I’ll line up more appointments for some morning this week. Does that work for you?” Moira questions as she navigates us along with both hands clasped on the steering wheel.

I nod. “Sure. I’ll make it work. Just get me out of my parent’s house as soon as possible. I can’t take living there much longer.”

“You have such cool parents though,” she says, her eyes jumping up to the rear-view mirror before she changes lanes.

“I’m not saying they’re not, but being around my dad at home and the gym every day is way too much time to spend together. I need some separation between when I’m on the clock and when I’m not.”

“I get that. No one wants to live with their parents after years away. Talk about an adjustment.”

“Exactly. I can’t blow my nose without explaining why. Hey, can you drop me off at the gym instead of taking me back to the house?”

“Sure, but what about later when you need to get home?”

“I’ll catch a ride with my dad or one of the guys.”

“Ooh, one of the guys. You can ‘get a ride,’ she makes air quotes, “with one of the guys. That idea is one hundred percent Moira approved.”

“Sure, I’m going to just bring him back to mom and dad’s so I can get some.”

Moira scrunches her nose. “That does present a problem. Even more reason for me to get you out of that house asap. Project get Reagan out has officially begun.”

I snort at her ridiculous words. “There’s more of a chance that I’ll be able to pay two thousand dollars monthly rent than there is of me getting laid.”