Page 414 of A Matter of Time

I pulled the key out of my pocket and showed it to him. “I gotta find out what this goes to.”

He squinted down then took the key out of my hand. “I can tell you what that goes to—it’s for an apartment building on Drake.” He flipped it over and showed me a stamp on the back. “See the three letters, DGA, engraved there?”

“Yeah.”

“Drake Garden Apartments. I have some friends that live over there.”

My eyes flicked to his. “Dude, you’re seriously the best. You just saved me, like, a day of work.”

He smiled at me. “Oh yeah? I helped you out?”

“Totally.”

“You said dude.”

“That’s because I’m the least cool person you’re ever gonna meet in your life.”

“I somehow doubt that.”

“Wait,” I assured him. “You’ll see.”

“Here comes Ty,” someone announced.

“Who?” I asked.

“Tyler Lydell,” Gwen answered me.

And the way Casey turned, the breath he took, the way he sat up, I understood why it had been five years of no sex for Gwen.

All six feet two inches of Tyler Lydell came around the table and put his hand on Casey’s shoulder. The smile he gave Gwen’s boyfriend was huge, and then he looked at everyone else.

“What’s goin’ on, people?”

Everyone spoke at once. It was obvious that the gorgeous blond-haired, blue-eyed man was the center of the group. He was the one everyone liked, wanted to be with, or simply wanted to be. There wasn’t room at the table for him, though.

“Here.” Casey laughed. “Sit on my lap.”

Tyler arched an eyebrow, and everyone dissolved into peals of laughter except me. They should have just saved a lot of time and heartbreak and come flying out of the closet. Tell all their friends that “roommate” was a gentle euphemism for lover, and that they had, I was guessing, been sleeping together since freshman year.

“You can have my spot,” I said, getting up. “I’ve gotta go anyway. No time to eat.”

“No, Jory.” Gwen stood up. “Stay. We can grab another chair from⁠—”

“No, it’s okay,” I told her, leaning forward across the table to kiss her cheek. “I’ll call ya before I go, okay? Maybe we can have dinner.”

“Okay.” She sighed, looking at me. “I’m holding you to that.”

I patted her cheek, but before I could turn to leave, Tyler suddenly stepped in front of me.

“I just got here and you’re leaving. Why is that?”

I smiled at him.

“Can I give you a ride somewhere?”

“No, it’s okay. I have to go look for an apartment.”

“You’re house hunting?”