“I’m not letting you leave behind something you obviously love.” Sean gave me a squeeze before releasing me. He shifted to the side to grab one of the boxes Jack had returned with, dropping it on the floor. Then he pulled out the drawer withNeil’s underwear and undershirts, tipping it over the box. “You can fill these empty drawers with your clothes from the closet,” he said, handing it to Jack in place of the second box. He started pulling the next drawer out, this one full of Neil’s T-shirts. “Why don’t you start taping together more of those boxes Jack brought? We’ll get started in here.”
I only glanced back once before leaving the room.
Packing up my life took both more and less time than I was expecting. It was a weird sensation, leaving empty spots behind throughout the house. No wonder Neil had agreed to stay away.
The bedroom had nothing but the mattress on the floor, boxes of Neil’s clothes, and a couple of naked pillows, the ones that Neil had always used.
Sean finished settling the ramp back inside its nook and pulled down the rolling door while Jack carried the last of the three cases of records to the open passenger side of his truck, setting it carefully inside.
I’d already set my key and my remote to the garage inside on the kitchen counter. I looked back at the house one more time, feeling both tension and relief. Walking over to the control panel for the garage, I pushed the down button, watching it lower. Sean moved to my side, his head tilting to rest against mine.
“Ready to go?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said, and it was true. I was ready. I didn’t look back again when I climbed into the passenger side of the moving truck.
Chapter 19
Moving Day
Sean and Jack didn’t just haul all my things into the apartment; they stayed to help me unpack, too. The last thing that needed to be taken care of was putting the washed sheets on my new European pillowtop mattress I’d splurged on, but they were still tumbling in the dryer.
“You guys have gone above and beyond today,” I told them. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“Typically, gratitude for helping someone move comes with pizza,” Sean said, flopping onto my new gray couch. It had reminded me of the one in Jack’s apartment, and I couldn’t resist buying it. Sleeping on it the night before hadn’t been nearly as comfortable as the night I’d stayed at Jack’s, but I had a feeling that was because Jack wasn’t there.
“You’re hungry?” I asked, eyes widening. “Of course, you’re hungry. We’ve been at this all day.” I pulled out my phone to search for nearby delivery options.
“Are you sure you want us sticking around?” Jack asked. “Sean never needs alone time, but if you need some time to decompress, I’ll haul him out of here.”
I looked up from my phone. “I don’t want you to go.” I glanced at the blanket folded on the back of the couch. “Truth is, I didn’t sleep well last night. I never do the first few nights in a new place.”
“Did you have trouble when you stayed the night with Jack?” Sean asked.
“Oh, no.” I had trouble looking at Jack and focused on the delivery options instead. “I fell asleep quickly that night.”
“That wasn’t a surprise.” Jack perched on the edge of the matching gray armchair. “You were exhausted. A lot had happened that night.”
Neil’s name popped up on my phone, replacing all the search results. My ringtone went off, giving it away. I hit the red decline button, swallowing.
“He still trying to talk?” Sean asked.
“Yeah,” I admitted. I still wasn’t ready for it and had declined multiple calls that afternoon. I hadn’t listened to the voicemails yet. “What do you all like on your pizza?”
“Meat,” Sean said. “But that sicko has a thing for pineapple.” He pointed toward Jack, who shrugged, unoffended.
“It’s not for everyone.”
“I like fruit,” I admitted, sharing a smile with Jack.
I added a Hawaiian to the order, as well as a plain cheese and the meat lovers for Sean. When I also ordered cheesy bread and extra dipping sauce, I realized I hadn’t eaten much the past few days. Well, for the better part of a week, actually. Sustaining on vending machine snacks at the hotel hadn’t been very healthy, but I’d taken the week off of work to wallow. It’d been a while since I’d taken any days off, so I had plenty of accrued vacation and had needed the time to process.
“All ordered,” I told them. “Should be about thirty minutes.”
Sean patted the couch cushion next to him. “Take a load off, honey.”
I followed his urging, sinking down close to him and leaning against his shoulder. “You did all the hard work. I’m not sure why I’m so tired.”
“Moving takes a lot out of you emotionally, not just physically,” Sean said. “Want to watch something while we wait?”
