The doorbell rang, and I met Mikey and Guy on the other side, already holding my couch.
“Where do you want it?” Guy asked with a smile. I felt fortunate to have friends with such great fiancés and husbands. In fairness, I think Guy was glad to get me out of his house. He’d never said so much and never would, but I knew I was in the way. I was relieved to no longer be their third wheel, and though we loved each other dearly, I didn’t need to keep sharing a space with the newlyweds.
I indicated a spot in the living room for my couch and got back to cleaning. As I was bent over the bathtub, cleaning out some ground-in grime, a familiar voice came from behind me.
“This box says ‘bathroom.’”
I startled, hitting my head on the soap shelf and hissing. The box clanked on the floor, sounding like all my nail polish bottles. A hand met the top of my head, rubbing the sore spot.
“I’m sorry.”
Just like that, an arm wrapped around my shoulders and I was against a tall, somewhat sweaty, and very temperature hot chest. I met his eyes in the bathroom mirror: cat green and contrite. My whole body flashed with heat.
“Nick, what are you doing here?”
“Stelle and Mikey said they were coming over to help, so I tagged along.”
My brow furrowed. “You shouldn’t be here. You’re my client.”
He shrugged. “It’s Sunday. I’m your client Monday to Friday.”
I crossed my arms under my breasts. “I’m serious, Nick. What if someone at work found out? I can’t afford to get fired.”
He held both of my shoulders, his thumb moving gently along my skin. “You worry too much, angel. No one’s going to show up here and find us out.”
I clenched my jaw. “I don’t need you to help me move. I don’t want to owe you anything. Especially not a roll in the hay.”
Nick looked to the ceiling, exasperated. “This isn’t about that. I just wanted something to do. Stelle said you promised pizza and beer.” He did a double-take of the vent fan on the ceiling. “Ew, gross.” He grabbed a wad of toilet paper and swiped at the fan, something easy for him at his height. “Guess they didn’t bother to clean before you moved in.”
I sighed and flourished the scrub brush in my hand. “Yeah, that’s why I’m doing this and not getting boxes out of the truck.”
He gave me a weak smile. “I’ll get back to it so you can, too.”
The boys made quick work of getting my boxes and furniture out of the truck. I finished my cleaning and walked through to make sure I didn’t want them to move anything else before the pizza arrived.
I found Nick in the bedroom, sliding my box spring into my bedframe. He hadn’t noticed me yet and grabbed at his throat, massaging the lymph nodes under his chin.
“Throat hurt?” I asked.
Nick turned his head and swallowed hard. “Yeah, pretty bad all of a sudden. Might just be the dust.”
I approached him, extending my hand to his head. “You felt hot when you hugged me earlier. I thought it was just from moving.”
The backs of my knuckles met the searing heat on his forehead. “Nick, holy cow. You’re burning up. Let me get you some water.”
He shrugged. “It’s probably just the dust and moving stuff.”
“Here, help me put the mattress on top and I’ll get you a drink. I’ll dig out some tea.”
His smile was weak, his eyes soft. “Thanks, Annie.”
We moved the mattress and he followed me to the kitchen. I rummaged through a box for my tea kettle and unearthed a box of herbal tea. “Cinnamon good for you?”
“You really don’t have to go to the trouble, Annie. It’s fine. I’ll just have some water.”
I gave him a skeptical eye but obeyed. He winced as he swallowed the water. Mikey and Guy walked in at that moment with pizza boxes on their arms, catching his pained expression.
“What’s the matter with you?” Mikey asked him.
