Love In Between(5)

“Luke, you’re just in time; hold this box,” Sam said as he handed it to him.

“What are you doing?” Luke asked. “I woke up, and you were gone. By the way, there’s no coffee left.”

“Yeah, I know; I just picked some up at Brewsters. I have the bag in my truck. By the way, this is Lily; she’s our new next-door neighbor.”

Luke looked at me. “Hey,” he said as he quickly looked away.

“Hey,” I replied back.

I couldn’t help but stare at him. He stood in the doorway—all six feet of him—in ripped jeans and a gray muscle shirt. He was barefoot, and his short, brown hair was messy. He was definitely one of the hottest men that I’d ever seen. You could tell he worked out by the muscle and definition in his arms and shoulders. He had a Celtic cross tattooed on his left bicep, with wings behind it. Thank God he was gay. I felt rather uncomfortable because Luke didn’t seem as friendly as Sam did.

“Lily, go unlock your apartment door so that we can get these boxes in there,” Sam said.

I walked past Luke and caught him staring at me. The minute I looked at him, he turned away. As I unlocked the door and opened it, I stepped outside and held the building door open so that Luke could set the box down in my apartment. He did just that and then went inside his apartment and shut the door behind him without saying a word.

“What’s his problem?” I asked Sam.

“Just ignore him. He’s not much of a morning person, that’s all.”

I couldn’t shake the feeling that he seemed familiar to me, but I knew it wasn’t possible. Just as Sam and I were bringing in the last of the boxes, Giselle and Gretchen pulled up. I haven’t seen them in over three months, so I put down my box and ran over to them as they got out of the car. I hugged Gretchen first and then Giselle.

“I’m so happy you moved to Santa Monica,” Giselle said as she hugged me tight.

“Me too,” I said as my eyes began to swell with tears.

“Who’s the hot guy that’s walking towards us?” Gretchen smiled as she pushed her hair back behind her ear.

“Hello, ladies.” Sam smiled.

“Sam, this is Giselle, and this is Gretchen; they’re my two best friends.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet the both of you,” Sam said as he held out his hand to each of them.

“Sam lives next door, and he’s been helping me bring the boxes in,” I said.

“We also went out for coffee this morning,” he blurted out.

Giselle looked at me and smiled. “Did you hear that, Gretchen? Lily went out for coffee with a guy.”

“I sure did, sis!” Gretchen smiled at me.

I turned and looked at Sam. “Don’t listen to them. Thank you for your help; I appreciate it.”

“No problem. If you need anything, just knock on my door or wall.” He smiled.

I grabbed Gretchen and Giselle’s hands and led them into my new apartment.





2

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“So, Lily, tell us about Sam from next door, and what’s going on between the two of you?” Gretchen smirked as she ran her hand along my new couch.

“Nothing’s going on between us!” I exclaimed. “He helped me bring in my boxes; that’s all.”

“But you went out for coffee with him,” Giselle said.

“Correction, we went and grabbed a coffee to go. Besides, he’s gay anyway.”

“Shut up! He can’t be,” Gretchen moaned.

“Yes, he is, and Luke is his boyfriend,” I said as I started unpacking the box for the kitchen.

“What a shame,” Giselle said. “He seems like a nice guy, and he’d be perfect for you.”

“First of all, I’m not on the market. I’m done with men, remember? And second of all, you’ve known him all of ten seconds. How do you know that he’d be perfect for me?”

“We can tell,” Giselle and Gretchen spoke at the same time.

I rolled my eyes. “Come on, help me arrange this furniture.” I smiled.

We moved the living room furniture around until it was perfectly placed. My bedroom furniture had been delivered, and most of my boxes were unpacked.

“What’s this?” Giselle asked as she held the box labeled: SCRAPBOOK.

“Those are just some photos I took when I left Seattle. I was going to make a scrapbook dedicated to the start of my new life. But since I ended up staying in Portland, there isn’t much in there. Just put it in my closet, and I’ll go through it someday.”

“Oh, ok,” she said as she headed to the bedroom. She came back out a few minutes later, holding my guitar. “Aren’t you going to keep this out?”

I looked at her and then at the guitar. “Yeah, I almost forgot about that. I put it in the closet so that it didn’t get damaged while I was unpacking and moving things around. Thanks, Giselle; just find a corner in the bedroom and set it there.”

“I’m starving!” Gretchen blurted out.

“Me too,” followed Giselle.

I looked at the clock, and it was already 6:00 p.m., and I realized I hadn’t eaten a thing all day. “Let’s order a pizza and a salad,” I said.