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In the darkness, I couldn't see Magic, but I could feel his warm body against my back. Rolling over, I grabbed onto him. The last thing I wanted was for him to jump down from the bed and run around my apartment where something could fall off a wall or bookshelf.
My dad had told me repeatedly to stay in bed if an earthquake hit. I reached for a pillow and squashed it over my head, still holding onto Magic with my other hand.
Oh, my God. It was never-ending. Holy fucking shit.
The shaking went on and on and on for what seemed like minutes, my heart racing in my chest, my mouth bone dry, my lungs struggling for air.
And finally, fucking finally, it stopped. My God. What was that? Like a six? Maybe a seven?
You'd think after living my whole life in LA, I'd be used to it. But earthquakes were something I could never get used to. It felt like the very earth you were depending on to keep you upright would crumble beneath you.
There was pounding on the wall behind me. "You okay?" Josh shouted.
"Yeah," I called back. But really no.
How the hell was a person supposed to just go back to sleep after that?
Growing up, my dad always made me feel better—every single time—telling me all the things he'd done in the house to keep us safe. After all, he was in construction and was well aware of retro-fitting and following building codes for maximum earthquake protection.
"I'm coming over," Josh said, his voice muffled.
"You don't need to," I called.
But I knew it was too late and there'd be no stopping him. And before I could even get out of bed, there was a knock on the balcony's sliding glass door. Wow, he must have just jumped over in his hurry.
Magic beside me, I rushed to the door to let him in.
His hair standing up, only wearing boxers, Josh stood there, staring at me, his face serious. "You okay?"
"Yeah. We're fine." Something about seeing Josh made me feel much better. "You?"
"I'm good. Just a typical LA day, right? Dodgers game and an earthquake. Woohoo. I love LA," he said, making me laugh as his mouth curved up into a slow smile.
Magic pushed into his side, wanting some pets, and Josh crouched down so they were face to face. "You hate earthquakes, don't you, boy?"
"He does?"
Josh's eyes met mine from below. "Usually. How'd he do?"
"Honestly, fine, I guess. I was worried he'd jump down from the bed, so I held onto him."
Beaming at me, Josh rose up to his full height, towering over me as usual. "You did?"
I nodded. "Even though I'm still kinda drunk, I guess I did something right."
He chuckled, leaning over to pet Magic some more. "You did. You definitely did."
For a moment, we stood there in silence, both of us minimally clothed, the air charged between us, and I searched for something to say.
"Hey," I finally breathed out. "You wanna come in and watch the news? Maybe make a bet on the magnitude?"
Josh's eyebrows shot up. "You want to make a bet on the number?"
"Absolutely." I was usually pretty good at guessing and realized my earlier thoughts were probably off. During the moment, seconds seemed to stretch to minutes. In reality, though, they usually weren't that long.
His grin lit up his face. "You're on."
I stepped aside to let him in and followed him to the couch where I grabbed a blanket to cover myself. "So what do you think? What was it?"
