Chapter One
It was never pleasant to lie on the wet spot.
And even less so when you were alone.
A creaking sound awakened Sean Lovett, and when he opened his eyes, he screamed. The sky was falling, and his life flashed before his eyes.
“What the fu—oh, my God.” Stark naked, Sean jumped up, narrowly escaping the torrent of water pouring from a huge hole over his bed. Booming thunder and lightning shook the over-one-hundred-year-old, five-story building he lived in, while rain and hail pelted the windows. The howl of the wind from the opening in the roof made it hard to concentrate, but from the amount of water spilling into the small studio he’d lived in for the past three years, Sean knew he had only a few minutes to grab whatever he could shove into his backpack and a slightly damp overnight bag. He pulled on a T-shirt and stepped into boxers and jeans.
God, everything he owned was in this small space, but he remembered to save the most important thing—the picture of himself and his sister. That and his laptop were all he was able to manage. The rest was a wash.
Literally.
Alarms blared, and Sean heard people yelling from downstairs, “Fire! There’s a fire in the basement. Get out!” After shoving his feet into mismatched flip-flops, he ran out the door, closing it just as the entire building swayed on its crippled frame.
“Well, I’m sure as hell not coming home anytime soon.”
* * *
Three days later, Sean sat in his sister’s bright-yellow kitchen, sipping coffee, trying to figure out how to escape from hell. Now, he loved Charlotte, make no mistake. She and her husband, Ray, were nice enough to take him in like the stray he was after his building had collapsed like a wet deck of cards the night of the worst storm to hit the East Coast in ten years.
He’d arrived on their doorstep in the early dawn, shivering and soaked through. The Red Cross had offered shelter to everyone, but after a hasty text to one of his friends who didn’t answer, he’d called Charlotte to tell her what happened. Of course, she’d insisted he come stay with them. Ray was some hotshot executive for an international bank and traveled extensively. At the moment, he was on a business trip to London, and when Sean showed up, Charlotte was grateful for his company. They had a big house on Long Island with plenty of room.
Plenty of room was relative because Charlotte and Ray had a little boy, Carlo, who was six, and twin girls, Julia and Fiona, who were turning three soon.
In other words, a zoo.
Charlotte’s reassurance that he’d barely notice the kids had been destroyed that first day, when the twins contracted a stomach virus and Carlo began sneezing violently. Since then, Sean had stepped on enough Legos to give him permanent marks on the bottoms of his feet, and he’d witnessed several meltdowns over bedtime and a food fight between Carlo and the twins that rivaled anything in the movie Animal House.
Hence the reason he was up early that Sunday morning, anxiously searching the listings for apartments he could afford, which were frighteningly scarce. Cheap real estate in the city was always next to impossible to find, and the fact that he was out on the Island and couldn’t just hop into a cab or the subway to rush to a potentially perfect apartment was frustrating. Decent places moved quickly, and sometimes you could arrive at an open house only to be told it was no longer available, mere hours after the listing went up. It was looking more and more like he might have to live out here in the suburbs longer than anticipated.
He loved his sister, he really did, but had no desire to live with her and her noisy brood. Plus, his job at Dough Ray Me, the kitschy theme restaurant in Times Square, was on thin ice. Bruno, the manager, made his life miserable, but until he could find something else or win the lottery, he’d have to put up with Bruno’s leering and sexual innuendos. He could tolerate the occasional squeeze of his ass, because the tips were awesome and it was his place to shine. As a singing waiter, he took requests, but he also got to call on his own repertoire of songs from his high school musical days. Singing was one of the joys in his life that belonged only to him, and knowing he had customers who came regularly to hear him perform gave him the strength to ignore Bruno’s nasty comments about how easily replaceable he was.
Except now he not only had no place to live, but he might not have that job soon either, which scared him more than not having a roof over his head. He was sure he’d find a friend willing to put him up if need be, but a job wasn’t so easy to find. Bruno’s only concern was Sean showing up for work, and he’d begrudged Sean the few days he’d needed to recover from almost having a roof cave in on him and losing everything he owned. The sooner he found a place to crash, the quicker he could be back in the city and working. Sean had no desire to make the almost hour-long commute from Charlotte’s house on the North Shore to the city.
He picked up his phone to start calling. One of his friends should be able to give him a couch to sleep on for a little while. After all, he’d always helped them out whenever they needed something. There was Lenny, whom he’d always had to spot at least a twenty whenever they’d get together, and Patrick, whom he’d let stay with him for a few months after his boyfriend dumped him. After neither answered his text or call, he scrolled to the next number on his list.
“Yo, Chris, my man. Whasup?”
“Nada, dude. What’s happening? Haven’t heard from you in forever.”
“Yeah, I guess it’s been a while. Still working at the restaurant.”
“Damn, you weren’t kidding when you said you hate change. I got my paralegal license. Found a job at a firm down on Wall Street. Next stop, law school.”
The pride in his voice was evident, and Sean could confess to a little bit of jealousy. Chris had a plan and was following through. All Sean had left was his laptop and some T-shirts, plus the ability to remember song lyrics.
“Cool, cool. Listen, I got a favor to ask. Remember that storm the other night? It hit my building, and my apartment got flooded. Can I come crash with you until I find a new place to stay? It shouldn’t be too long.”
He and Chris had been tight when they worked together, and though they hadn’t seen each other in almost a year, Sean had always thought of him as a friend. Time just got away from him.
“No can do, bud, sorry. Me and Alyssa are moving in together, and there isn’t room.”
“Alyssa? Wait a second. What happened to Travis? You were really into him.”
“I was. I thought he was the one, you know? Turns out, he was into other people…literally. I caught him cheating on me with his spin instructor. We broke up like nine months ago, and I met Alyssa at the gym. We’ve been together six months, and she’s perfect. Sorry, bro. Hope you find something soon. Gotta run. She’s waiting for me downstairs in the car.”
“Sure.” Huffing out his annoyance, Sean hit Brian, the next name on the list. “Brian. How’s it going?”
“Sean, it’s been a minute. What’s up?”
“Listen, I was wondering if you could spot me a space on your couch for a while, until I find a place of my own. Shouldn’t be more than a few weeks. My apartment got flooded, and I need a place to crash.”
“I wish I could, but Manny’s brother is staying with us, and he’s sleeping there.”