Free The Other Side of Someday by T. K. Leigh Page B

bloody nose one morning.”
      I thought he was interested and that’s why he wanted to spend time getting to know me. Maybe he was just friendly. Maybe I had been out of the dating world for so long, I had no idea what flirting looked like these days. Hell, I wondered if I even knew what flirting was to begin with.
    “But men and women can’t just be friends!” I exclaimed, losing my patience. “It’s impossible!”
    “Says who?”
    “Me! There will always be that thing between them.” I gestured between our bodies, growing more and more exasperated with the entire situation.
    Narrowing his gaze, an awkward silence surrounded us. Then his lips curved into that smile I had grown accustomed to seeing nearly every morning. “Really, Dixie? Did you hear what you just said?”
    I pinched my lips together, my nostrils flaring. I was pretty sure I looked like a dragon who was about to set fire to her attacker, but as Sebby stared at me, that smile plastered on his face, I couldn’t stay mad at him. It all seemed so absurd. Hindsight was always twenty-twenty.
    Now that the truth was out, could we really just be friends? I had never had a guy friend before. Sure, I had grown close to Marcel over the past few weeks, but he had absolutely zero interest in dating me. At some point, things were certain to get complicated between Sebby and me, especially considering I had been attracted to him since the moment I laid eyes on his blood-covered face. Was that a good enough reason for me to toss out our “friendship”? One thing was certain… I hated the thought of waking up tomorrow morning and not being able to meet him at our park bench for coffee and a question.
    Sighing, I softened my expression. “So you really are my neighbor?”
    “It appears so.” He shoved his hands into the plaid shorts he wore underneath the robe.
    Studying the complete ensemble, an epiphany washed over me. While he was missing the full mustache and beard, he had the rest of the look down perfectly. Dark sunglasses, robe, white t-shirt, dingy plaid shorts, beat-up loafers. “You’re the Big Lebowski!”
    He flipped the sunglasses over his eyes and took a small carton of milk from the pocket of his robe. “I’m not Lebowski. I’m the Dude.”
    “Your costume isn’t complete,” I added. “You’re missing a rug.”
    Laughing, he placed his hand on the middle of my back and led me toward Sophia’s condo. “It really did tie the room together,” he joked.
    Why did this man have to be so damn perfect?

C HAPTER S EVEN

    M Y ALARM WENT OFF the following morning, just as it had every other morning over the previous few weeks, but something was different. The knowledge that Sebby was my elusive neighbor still weighed on my mind. One minute, I was giving myself a pep talk that men and women became friends all the time. The next, I was convinced it was impossible. How could it work when I was attracted to him? Sure, I told myself I had no desire to get into any sort of relationship, being just weeks out of a ten-year marriage, but was that really how I felt? Maybe the connection I had to Sebby sparked something I wasn’t anticipating. Maybe I wanted to feel beautiful, something Will never did. And maybe, for these past few weeks, Sebby did make me feel that way.
    Sport jumped onto my massive bed and nudged me with his wet nose. Dogs are creatures of habit, and mine was no different. He had grown so accustomed to going for a walk at the same time every morning that being thirty minutes past the time we usually left, it was throwing his routine off.
    I looked at his eager eyes and wagging tail. I couldn’t deprive him of his morning exercise just because I was unsure about whether or not I wanted to face Sebby now that the cloud of alcohol from last night had dissipated. Truthfully, I wasn’t even sure he would be at our morning meeting spot now that I knew who he was.
    I threw on a pair of yoga pants and a light jacket, then put Sport’s