I nod, giving him a lopsided smile. "It is," I say. "That's why I picked it." I was never going to be a city person. I think even if I hadn't grown up in the middle of nowhere, I'd still have ended up here, gravitating toward the edges, where it's quieter. Seclusion feels safer. I don't know how to deal with crowds. I don't know how to make small talk, for that matter, but he doesn't seem to mind too much.

"You want a drink or something?"