“You got comfortable fast.” Sarah sounds surprised. She leans over Alex’s desk, depositing a green folder on top of the stack in his tray. She’s in charge of a million things Alex can’t keep track of, including handing out assignments. The editors generally get along with her; she’s pleasant and brief.

“I guess so,” Alex says, looking around his desk. Mug of writing tools, sticky notes, an assortment of notebooks, a picture from his brother’s graduation, and some souvenirs from Ireland. “I don’t need much to make myself at home.”

“I’ll bet. You sure traveled a long way just to come here.” Sarah laughs.

She’s half right. He has traveled a long way, but it wasn’t just for the editor job, no matter how much Alex really values his job. Alex had come for his brother, really. Reid seems to be moving quickly with his partner, Benjamin, and Alex had figured it was time for him to come back home—if only until the impending wedding. Alex is good at picking up cues from his brother; they’ve been each other’s only family for so long, they’d become used to being alone together. Alex knows that Reid is opening up with Benjamin—his social media accounts are proof—and he also knows that he won’t wait too long. Not with something this good. Alex shouldn’t feel left behind; Reid gave up his prime years to make sure Alex was looked after and safe. Still, knowing his brother has gone so far without him makes Alex uneasy. He can’t help wondering; if his introverted brother has managed to find love and stability, where does that leave him? Alex has always been the one to go after what he wants; Reid is used to putting himself second. Now that Reid has a life away from his brother, Alex feels like he has no one to turn to. No one who can give him attention.

Of course, they’re selfish thoughts, but he can’t help them.

“What are you doing for lunch?” One of the editors asks him when he steps away from his desk, stretching.

“Meeting someone.” A very important someone. It’s nice to be meeting someone. He’d almost forgotten that he had moved all the way across an ocean the other day; he had picked up his phone, ready to ask Moira or Dominic out for lunch. It wasn’t until he opened his messaging center that he had realized his mistake.

Meeting Ezra had been a mistake. Being set up by Katy had been a mistake. After three weeks settling in, Alex had spent every other day going out with Marissa and her friends—including Katy. It had been good to socialize; Alex likes being around other people. Despite their friendliness, though, he’d still felt like an outsider. Everyone was one of Marissa’s friends and Alex couldn’t help but feel like an intruder. Katy had decided to set him up with Ezra after mentioning how they might get along; he was one of her workers, and she’d talked to Marissa about it.

Ezra wasn’t exactly what Alex had expected. He hadn’t been as cheeky or charismatic as Katy had made him out to be, even if the attraction had been obvious. It’s just too bad his brother called. Alex had almost been desperate to get Ezra alone; maybe it was because of Alex’s brother’s relationship, his moodiness, or something else. In any case, he feels like he’s making steps. With Ezra, things had started well; they’d had some good conversation and they’d almost kissed before the untimely phone call. Maybe we’ll get past that today.

As if on cue, Alex’s phone pings. The message from Ezra is short—on my way, bringing Mocha—and Alex frowns a little. He has no clue if the message is for him—he’s not sure what, or who, Mocha is. He considers it might be coffee, but that doesn’t make sense. It can’t be his brother. Alex shrugs it off, finishing his work before pulling a jacket on and leaving the office. He’s excited to meet up again. It had taken a lot to get Ezra to go out again; Alex had promised an afternoon date, which Ezra had insisted on for some strange reason. It seems like a step backward, but Alex doesn’t mind the chase. That might even be the point, based on Katy’s description of him. Whatever Ezra’s reason, Alex is just glad to be going out again. And maybe this time, I can get more out of him than conversation.

* * *

“Oh. Is—this is Mocha?” There’s a large poodle happily panting, nosing his hand. Alex immediately falls in love. I didn’t realize how much I missed dogs, he thinks. Ezra is smiling patiently, giving Mocha enough leash to investigate Alex. The sun is bearing down on the patio seating of the sushi restaurant, barely blocked by umbrellas. Mocha doesn’t seem to mind the heat.

“Yup. He’s a looker, that’s for sure. He gets all the attention when we go out.”

“Oh, I don’t believe that. You can’t fool me. Katy told me too much.” Alex laughs. “Did you order?”

“Yup,” Ezra says lightly, although he seems peeved by Alex’s teasing. I thought he wasn’t shy about his dating tendencies, Alex thinks. “Go ahead, Mocha will be here when you get back.”

Alex orders and returns to the patio table, smiling when Mocha sniffs around his shoes for a few minutes. Ezra is drinking something—lemonade, he thinks—and he seems a lot less pressured than when they had first met. It’s as if he’s a different person, somehow closer to the Ezra that Katy had described. I guess he was just a little worried about his brother.

“You work around here, right?” Ezra finally asks, poking at a berry floating in his glass with his straw.

“I do. There’s an office building a few blocks down—third floor. Editors’ jungle.”

“Jungle?”

“You have to wade through boxes of incoming mail and office supplies to get to our cubicles. There’s not a lot of room,” Alex says, snorting. “I wish we could get a bigger space, but apparently, the boss at the top likes keeping things ‘economical.’”

“Ah, bosses,” Ezra says, smiling sympathetically. “I work at a pet store. My boss rarely ever emerges from his office, except to sweet-talk old ladies with purse dogs out of harassing employees.”

“I’m sure that’s a lot of fun,” Alex says. “But I thought you worked with Katy?”

“That’s—my brother does,” Ezra says, laughing a little. He seems nervous. Oh, Alex thinks. He must get that a lot. People confusing him and his brother. So, either I remembered wrong or Katy messed up. Alex switches tracks, trying to guide things back to where they were. He’s really hoping to get back to where they were on the street the other night. That moment has completely eclipsed everything else Alex has experienced in the past month.

“Do you like working at the pet shop?”

“I love dogs.”

“That’s not an answer,” Alex replies, stifling a grin. Ezra shrugs lazily, tipping his glass to capture a blueberry.

“It’s fine. I do like dogs. I just... don’t really enjoy my coworkers,” Ezra confesses, almost muttering his explanation to his drink.

Weird, again. Alex is starting to question Katy’s decision to talk Ezra up as some sort of social butterfly. Sure, he seems confident now, but Alex can’t quite picture him as the star in a crowd of people. Alex wonders if maybe Katy just desperately wanted the date to go well. I guess it doesn’t matter, now. We already know there’s an attraction. Even if it’s just temporary, I’d like to find out where it goes.

“You know, Katy’s been taking me everywhere with her friends,” Alex says. “It gets kind of weird, being the only new person in the group. If you’d be okay with it, I wouldn’t mind having you around.”

Ezra looks at him for a second, some swirl of emotions in his eyes. His voice is hesitant, but he’s leaning a little closer over the table. Hopeful. There’s something else in his expression, too, but Alex can’t quite place it.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

Ezra grins and Alex wants to lean over the table and kiss him. He almost does, but their orders show up at the same time, and they eat lunch while Mocha lounges under the table, occasionally peeking out to look at passing dogs. Foiled again, Alex thinks with some amusement. It shouldn’t be this hard to get to a simple kiss, but Alex kind of enjoys it. If things were too straightforward, they’d get to the end and have nothing to look forward to. Maybe they’re constantly interrupted, but it’s just giving Alex more to look forward to.

Besides his attraction, Alex has missed this. Even if Marissa has been trying to include him in bar outings and group dinners, it feels nice to be in a small setting with only one other person. It’s good not to be navigating around inside jokes he doesn’t understand or conversations about people he doesn’t know. No matter how hard Marissa’s friends try to include him, there’s always some kind of wall between them. With Ezra, he’s starting fresh. He’s making a connection, even if it’s more about desire and uncertainty. They don’t have to be best friends, of course, but something tells Alex that they might be. Even if this doesn’t work out long-term, I wouldn’t mind being around him.

“Jasper.” The name is spoken with surprise, from someone nearby. Alex and Ezra both look up, startled.

It’s the man from the airport, Alex notices. What was his name? The man recognizes Alex then, too, his eyebrows hiking up another few inches.

Alex glances at Ezra, who is almost the same color as his rice. Besides his sudden paleness, he’s also very interested in what the tabletop looks like. Alex looks between the two, trying to gauge whether there’s any bad blood. There doesn’t seem to be, but he’s not sure. He wonders if maybe it’s just a mistake. It must suck to constantly get confused for someone else.

“Dean. Hi. Um, what—what are you doing here?”

“Lunch break,” Dean answers. His smile is suave, completely devoid of any annoyance or irritation at Ezra’s answer or the way he talks. Ezra doesn’t correct him and Alex follows his cue, watching the way they interact. I wish I knew who this guy was. There’s a story there, he can tell, but he doesn’t know if it’s with Ezra or his brother, Jasper.

“We met the other day,” Alex supplies, directing the words at Ezra. “Dean and I actually shared a taxi from the airport.”

“Small world,” Ezra says faintly. Dean laughs and echoes the sentiment. Ezra doesn’t look as pale anymore, Alex notices; there’s a blush growing on his cheeks.

Oh, Alex realizes. Things click into place with an almost audible snap; he can clearly see what’s going on. After all, he’s had his share of crushes. It suddenly makes sense—Ezra’s shock and initial dismay, his blush—Dean is a friend, and Ezra likes him more than Dean probably knows.

His first thought is, damn it. As much physical attraction and flirting as there had been on their date, it seems like Ezra is far more into Dean. However strong the pull Alex feels, it must not be quite the same for Ezra. It’s a little disheartening to think about, but it doesn’t dissuade Alex. After all, Ezra hadn’t moved away when Alex almost kissed him. He’d seemed interested, too. Alex hadn’t been looking for a short-term partner, but he’s too intrigued by Ezra to pass up the chance to be with him, even if it’s only for a little while. It might not be his ideal situation, but Alex won’t complain.

“I didn’t realize you knew each other,” Dean muses, bending down to pet Mocha, who seems comfortable around him. Alex can’t tell if it’s comfortable enough to suggest Dean spends a lot of time around him or not. He feels like a detective spying on someone for clues.

“We don’t really,” Ezra says. “I mean, we met through Katy just recently.”

“I needed friends,” Alex offers, trying to stress friends. He’s not about to reveal anything when he still doesn’t know the history between Ezra and Dean.

“Well, it was good running into you both. We’ll have to go out sometime. I’ll see you later, Jasper.”

“Right. Yes—bye,” Ezra stumbles, waving as Dean continues down the sidewalk.

Ezra is quiet for a long pause after Dean leaves, staring blankly down at the sushi on his plate. Alex wants to laugh but he holds it back, letting Ezra regain his footing. Alex wants to ask a million questions—how long Dean and the twins have known each other, when Ezra realized he liked Dean, why Ezra hasn’t made a move yet—but he holds them back. They’re not close enough yet for Alex to expect Ezra to spill everything, and he knows it would be intrusive to press for answers. Even if he is burning with curiosity.

“He’s one of E—Jasper’s friends,” Ezra says suddenly. “That’s—I mean, I don’t know him too well, but we’ve kind of been around each other in group settings.”

So that’s it, Alex thinks. He hasn’t had time alone with him. Alex knows the mystique of someone so close at hand but so far away romantically. He’d been interested in another professor when he was in Ireland, someone from another department he’d only met at staff meetings and campus-wide events. He had certainly experienced the attraction of absence, everything seemingly more significant because of the few times he’d been able to interact with the other man.

“You know, if you’re interested,” Alex says, an idea striking him, “I don’t mind. Not that it’s my place. I understand.”

“Wait—what?” Ezra asks, blinking. His eyebrows are bunched together over his gray eyes, as uneven as his voice. He must really like Dean, to be so unsettled after such a brief encounter.

“Well, I’m usually not this forward, but—I figure, if you’ve been pining after him for a while, I can’t expect to change that. If you’re all right with short-term dating, I’m fine with it, too. It’s not in my personality to compete with men I don’t know.”

“I...I mean, yeah, that’s fair,” Ezra says faintly. He looks at his lemonade as if it has the answer to whatever it is he’s asking in his mind. “I’m not…I’m really not into him. Dean. Like I said, I don’t really know him.”

It’s a lie. That much, Alex can tell. The uneasiness is back in Ezra’s posture, like his confidence has been sapped. Nothing like love to take it out of a man. As much as Alex wants to begrudge Dean his hold over Ezra, he really can’t be angry. Alex is lucky he’s had the one and a half dates with Ezra so far. The attraction is still there between them, and Alex wants to pursue it to the very end, even if it ends too soon. If there’s one thing he’s learned from traveling, it’s that jumping in and going for it are the two approaches to life that make him feel most alive. Alex has never been one to do things halfway. He’s not about to start now.

“Great. I just wanted to make that clear. I know you’re probably looking for the long-term, and I’m fine with short-term. It’ll be good while it lasts.”

“Yeah. While it lasts.”

“One month,” Alex decides, thoughtfully stirring his tea. “I think that’ll be good. What about you?”

“Sure. Sounds good.”