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“Yeah,” he agrees. But he can’t help but think how similar it is to his own life—at least before Skyler came back into it. And while it can be nice at times, it can also be boring and lonely.

“How about omelets?” Skyler asks in the kitchen as he starts pulling ingredients out of the fridge.

“Perfect.”

“Do you want to make coffee?”

Trevor nods and moves to start the French press that’s sitting on the counter. He only knows how to use it because Skyler insisted on getting one for their old house years ago.

He fixes a cup with a tiny bit of cream and too much sugar and hands it to Skyler, then waits nervously for him to take a sip. When he hums in approval, Trevor’s perhaps a bit too pleased with himself. It’s only coffee. It’s not like one of the delicious meals Skyler’s cooked for him. But he’s proud of remembering how Skyler likes it.

Skyler remembers what he likes too, obviously. He doesn’t even ask before loading up the omelets with sausage and veggies.

It’s not until they’re leaning over the island eating their breakfasts and the caffeine starts to reach Trevor’s brain that he remembers the line they’ve crossed. While he wouldn’t exactly call what they did last night cuddling, it wassomething. Something more than friendly.

Or maybe it wasn’t. Skyler’s always been an extremely tactile person, always craving touch. Maybe it doesn’t have to mean anything life-altering.

After they eat, Skyler suggests taking Stella for a walk. “The air looks okay today.”

Trevor checks his phone to be sure since the wind yesterday sent the smoke from the wildfires their way, and it was pretty bad. But today the air quality is relatively safe, so he agrees. The fires are coming closer, and it might be the only nice day for a while.

They get Stella on her leash and start walking casually down the driveway, letting the dog sniff her way along the grass.

Trevor asks Skyler if he’s finished putting together his acoustic set for the radio station.

“Not yet. I started to, but I’ve been working a little bit on some new material.”

“Really?”

Skyler smiles at him. “Yeah, I guess I got inspired.”

“That’s great!”

“It is.”

He wants to ask more. Ask what the songs are about. Ask to hear them. But if Skyler wanted to share, Trevor’s sure he’d do it without prompting, so he lets it go. For now.

When they get all the way down by his security guards’ apartments, Skyler says, “Hey, do you want to meet Mike? You’ve already met Hal, so I feel like you should. And Mike loves dogs. Plus he makes amazing coffee, and I could go for another cup. I don’t know how he does it, but sometimes I come down here to hang out with him just so I can get some coffee.”

“What kind of fancy machine does he use?”

“Oh, he only has a regular cheap coffee maker. But he’s got a magic touch, I swear.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Trevor stops walking so he can give Skyler a scandalized look. “Are you telling me you prefer coffee from a regular coffee maker than from your precious French press?”

Skyler’s cheeks tinge pink. “Leave me alone. It’s just the way he makes it!”

He laughs. “All right, let’s go get you some of this magic coffee then.”

Skyler doesn’t even text to give his security guard a heads up that they’re coming before they walk up to the small structure and knock on the door. Mike answers right away, grinning when he sees them, which would definitely not be Trevor’s reaction to people knocking unexpectedly on his door in the morning.

It quickly becomes clear that even though Mike works for Skyler, the two of them are friends. He invites them all inside his space, which is set up like a studio, and then goes to start the coffee. While it’s brewing, he fawns over Stella.

They end up sitting outside in Adirondack chairs drinking their coffees. As Trevor sips his, he doesn’t quite get the fuss Skyler made. It’s good, for sure, but he wouldn’t call it magical. From the excited way Skyler talks to Mike about how the Dodgers are doing though—when Trevor knows Skyler couldn’t give a crap about sports—Trevor suspects he simply enjoys hanging out with Mike. Maybe he feels like he needs the coffee as an excuse.

Mike engages Trevor in conversation too. And he doesn’t try to act like he doesn’t know who Trevor is, but he also doesn’t act like it’s at all weird for him to be here with Skyler at this time of day. He keeps the conversation simple, and Trevor can see why Skyler likes him. He’s more interested in talking about sports and a new Italian restaurant that opened recently than anything having to do with Skyler’s career. Skyler must appreciate that.

“Does she know any tricks?” Mike asks, looking down at Stella who’s off her leash and flopped out in the grass with her belly in the air.