Chapter 33

Andrew

S omeone was pounding on the door.

Shit.

I shot up in bed and looked over at Brandon, who was curled up on the other side with a pillow over his head. When the knocking came again, he only curled up more. Since he wasn’t moving, that left me to get up to answer it. It was fine. This was still my place for a few more days.

The floor was cold beneath my feet as I crossed the room and checked the peephole. Nathan and Chase were there, dressed like they were ready to work. I closed my eyes for a moment and then checked the time on the microwave.

Of course, it was almost eleven. We’d stayed up way too late last night and drank too much. It had been worth it to let loose a bit. Now we’d have to pay the consequences and try to move while hungover.

“Open up assholes.”

Fucking Chase.

I opened the door just as Brandon finally crawled out from under the pillow.

“Were you guys still sleeping?”

Brandon didn’t answer, just flopped back on the bed and threw the pillow back over his head.

Nathan laughed, pushing inside the apartment and setting a six-pack of beer on the counter. He was always looking to party, even when work was involved.

“Still hungover,” I answered.

“You were having a good time without us?” Nathan asked as he went over to the stack of boxes that we stacked haphazardly in the corner. They hadn’t fallen over, but someone had stacked them precariously. We’d obviously tried to do that after the tequila had come into the picture.

Brandon sat up in bed again, throwing the pillow at Nathan. He hit the boxes, causing them to tumble. Thankfully, it appeared that they were empty boxes we’d preassembled.

“We don’t always have to invite you.” A frown marred his face as he slid from the bed and found his t-shirt that must have come off at some point last night. He yanked it over his head and walked to the kitchen. He opened a cupboard to grab a glass and then groaned when he realized we’d packed them all the day before. “I need something to drink. My head is killing me. ”

Nathan motioned to the six-pack on the counter, and I shoved him. “Not more alcohol, you dick. Brandon, just go unpack a couple of the cups and we’ll leave them out until the last minute.”

Brandon nodded and went to the boxes, cursing again. “I didn’t label anything.”

Chase laughed this time. We were quite the pair this morning, though I seemed to be faring better than Brandon was.

Instead of letting my boyfriend continue to suffer, I helped him open a few of the boxes until we found one with cups. He pulled out four and took them back to the kitchen. Once he had a glass of water, he filled it and chugged it back quickly. A little dribble of water trailed down his chin and neck, soaking into the collar of his shirt. I couldn’t take my eyes off the trail of liquid, and my body heated as I longed to trace it with my tongue. Maybe not with our friends present.

“Since we sort of crashed your morning, do you guys need a little more time before we get started?” Chase asked.

Brandon’s stomach grumbling was the only response.

I opened the fridge, thankful to find we hadn’t devoured the entire pizza last night. There were four slices left, and I was okay with having leftovers. I held up the box for Brandon to see and he gave me a thumbs up. I took out the slices, placed them on a paper towel in the microwave, and zapped them for a minute.

Brandon took his warmed food and dug in. He looked a little more alert with each bite he took .

“You feeling better yet?” I asked as he finished his last bite.

“Much.” His grin made me want to lean in and kiss him, but I was more than aware that Nathan and Chase were watching us. We hadn’t talked more about telling our friends since the blow-up about Rebecca and now didn’t seem like the right time.

It wasn’t much longer after that when Daniel showed up with Shawn not too far behind him. The two stood on opposite sides of the room, but we got right to work. The only people we were missing were Aiden and Joe. Aiden said he had a project for a class he needed to work on and Joe was being mysterious as fuck. It wasn’t like him to dip out on things like this.

Daniel had driven the moving van, and we loaded all the boxes inside, saving the bed for last to hold everything in. Thanks to Brandon helping me the day before, even with the delayed start we had everything loaded up to take to his place by early evening.

We all stood outside as I handed the keys over to the landlord. The wind blew some leaves along the ground and it smelled like rain. I felt like I’d always remember this moment. This apartment had been my first home away from home and now I was moving onto bigger and better things. Moving on to being with Brandon in a more permanent capacity.

“Come on! Let’s get moving. I’m freezing my ass off.”

Daniel shoved Shawn, shooting him a glare before hopping in the front seat of the van. The engine roared to life, and it hit me then that I was really leaving this place behind. There would be no more late study nights. No more shoving all my friends into the tiny space for good pizza and a movie.

“An end to an era...”

Brandon threaded his fingers with mine as we stood there and stared at the building. Our friends argued behind us, but I drowned them out. All I cared about was standing here with the man I loved and the future we were about to embark on.

“ Y ou can take the bed into the other room. That’s fine.” Brandon led Shawn down the halls, helping him carry the other end of the mattress.

My arms were full of a heavy box with what I assumed was stuff for the kitchen. We really should have labeled what went into them, but it would be fun figuring it all out later. The box clanged loudly as I set it on the counter, only furthering my suspicions that it held something like pots and pans.

Our friends came in carrying a few other odds and ends, and that feeling of rightness settled in again.

“You look like a lovesick fool.”

Nathan made me jump as I turned to face him.

“What do you mean? ”

“I mean, look at you guys, becoming all domesticated and shit. I get it. Moving in with Chase was scary as fuck, but I couldn’t imagine being without him.”

I rubbed at the back of my neck as I looked around the apartment, while Daniel and Chase made another trip out to the van, stacking more boxes in a corner.

“I don’t know, man. It’s not like I didn’t practically live here to begin with.”

Nathan grinned, patting my shoulder. “Whatever you say, man.” He turned and walked back out the front door to grab more boxes.

It hadn’t felt like a lot of stuff when we packed it all up, but combining it all into Brandon’s apartment made it feel like more.

Brandon and Shawn came back out of the room, and Brandon lifted the bottom hem of his shirt to wipe the sweat from his forehead. It was getting late, and we had the van for another day. The guys had all offered to help us again tomorrow, so there was no hurry to finish this all tonight.

“Why don’t we take a break?”

Brandon grinned, walking over and collapsing on the couch. “I think that sounds like an amazing idea.” He kicked his feet up onto the coffee table and tipped his head against the back cushions. His eyes were closed, and I suppressed my need to laugh at how easily he threw in the towel .

When Daniel, Chase, and Nathan came back up, they dropped their boxes. I told them what the plan was and Daniel hurried down to lock up the van for the night. When he got back, we ordered Chinese food from down the street.

The apartment filled with laughter as everyone dug into the food. Having our friends here on such an important day meant something to me, even if they didn’t know what all was going on. At the rate everything was going, nothing could bring my mood down.

“So when are you going to tell us that Andrew isn’t really staying in the other room?” Shawn asked around a bite of cashew chicken.

Brandon froze. He looked at everyone before looking at me. My ears rang and my heart pounded hard enough to burst free from my chest. This was the perfect moment for us to tell them.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Brandon went back to eating and my lungs seized. Why couldn’t I breathe?

I thought nothing could ruin the day. Except for maybe that.