Two days later, Mac moved into his new apartment. He didn’t have any furniture, so Gideon let him borrow his friend’s air mattress. Mac enlisted his best friend Delia to help him lug up boxes on what turned out to be the last gasp of a brutal summer.
“I am sweating everywhere. In every crevice and fold and—”
“I get the picture.” Mac also saw the picture, with the sweaty tips of her thick brown hair.
He pushed open the door with his butt. He instructed her to put all of his stuff in his bedroom. Gideon had picked up some freestanding room dividers from Ikea and cordoned off Mac’s bedroom. It looked wonky, but it worked.
Delia stopped in the middle of the living room to marvel at the fireplace and the fine touches.
“Unpack first. Ogle later.”
They went three more rounds with lugging boxes and bags up the stairs and into Mac’s room. Soon, his room was packed tighter than a basement closet.
“You have a lot of crap,” Delia said. Mac couldn’t take two steps in his new bedroom thanks to it. He didn’t know where it all came from, but he didn’t want to throw any of it out.
“Is there anything in here that belongs to Davis? I’ll happily throw that out, or set it on fire.”
Mac wasn’t going to show her the crate with the last remnants of his relationship. They’d been together for almost two years. He couldn’t completely block out that period of time.
“Let’s move some stuff into the sun porch.”
“I moved it into the apartment. That’s where my friendly duties end.” Delia lay on the couch and scrolled through her phone.
Mac carried crates and bags to the sun porch and stacked them against one wall. Sweat made his shirt cling to his chest. The pile wobbled, but Mac wouldn’t have to touch it until he got some furniture.
He went into the kitchen and poured them glasses of water. He joined Delia on the couch and rested his head on her lap. They met at a Rainbow Club introductory meeting freshman year. Right off the bat, Delia told him she was straight but a strong ally for LGBT students. In her hometown of Needham, Massachusetts, they had LGBT equality and protections for all minority groups. So there was nothing for her to do. “Can you imagine what it’s like living in a town where the establishment is already on your side?” Mac kept his opinion to himself, that she should be so lucky. He was grateful to have anyone fighting for his rights. After the meeting, he chuckled to himself that the one friend he made was a straight girl.
“If Gideon gives you any crap about hitting on him, I’ll come over and just hit him.”
“You’re too sweet, D. I think it will be fine.”
Gideon came home a little bit later, after they had passed out on the couch, shoes and all.
“Hi. You must be Gideon.” Delia sat up and shook his head.
Gideon dropped his backpack and beelined to the sun porch. “What’s this?”
“What?” Mac craned his neck.
“The sun porch is not a storage closet.”
“I’m working on getting more furniture, like a dresser and stuff. It’ll be gone before you even know it’s there,” Mac said.
Gideon kept staring at the pile. “I already know it’s there.”
“It’ll be gone soon.”
“It better be. I’m not living with something like this in my apartment.”
“Ourapartment.”
“No.Myapartment.” Gideon stood above him. For a second, Mac thought Gideon eyes shifted to check out his chest. But that had to be wishful thinking.
“I don’t like messes. I prefer to live in a clean living space. So please, keep this in mind.” Gideon removed the empty water glasses from the coffee table and brought them into the kitchen.
Delia laughed nervously, as if they were just reprimanded by a teacher. “Yeah, if you ever need someone to hit him, just let me know.”
CHAPTER FOUR
