Saving Savannah

But now, seeing her here. Seeing her again…

I wanted to draw her, too.

“C’mon man,” said Erik. “Let’s get this done.”

He handed me one of our yellow lifting straps, and I bent to the task. A minute later we had the armoire in the air — all four legs off the ground. It cost us some grunts and groans, and I knew my back would be sore tomorrow. But we lifted it. Just enough for her to slide the dollies we’d brought along under the damned thing.

“Okay!” Savannah called out from beneath us. “Set her down. Slowly.”

Inch by quarter-inch, we lowered the beast until it was resting on our two best dollies. Even then, they were strained. The wheels looked like they could blast right off the boards at any second.

“Roll it with me,” I said. “Let’s go.”

Slowly, carefully, we moved the thing from one side of the shop to the other. When it was in place — and after Savannah had stepped back to make sure it was exactly where she wanted it — we lifted it once more, and finally set it down.

“Fuck…” Erik breathed when it was all over. “That was probably the biggest thing we’ve ever moved.”

“And it’s not moving again,” I laughed. “Not during our lifetimes, anyway. Let it sit in that spot for another three hundred years, or however long this place has been here.”

She thanked us, hugged us, then thanked us again. Just feeling her body, even for that brief moment, set every one of my senses alive.

“You guys still wanna eat?” she asked. “Dinner’s on me.”

Erik laughed. “No way. We invited you, remember?”

“Yes, but you did me a favor,” she said. “And a big one, too. I appreciate you coming here.”

“But—”

“No buts. I pay or we’re not going anywhere.”

I looked at Erik, who only smirked back at me. He fell backwards into a cool-looking chair, sinking into the cushions.

“Maybe we should stay here,” he said. “Order in. You could show us around. Or you could—”

“Screw that,” Savannah smirked. “I’ve been in this place all day. I want out. And I want food.”

She extended two hands, and Erik took them. He allowed her to pull him from the chair and in the direction of the door.

“You’re pretty persuasive,” I laughed. “When you want to be.”

“It’s a big part of my job description,” Savannah smiled, waving an arm around the room. She shrugged a shoulder. “Or maybe I’m just a girl who knows what she wants.”

“I like that in a girl.”

“Then you’re in luck,” she said, looping an arm through each of ours.

Touching her again was electric, as my body remembered hers. I wanted to bury my face in her hair. Feel the softness of her skin against mine. Belly to belly. Chest to chest…

She pulled us through the shop’s entrance, then locked the door behind her. She did it deftly, too. Like she’d practiced it all her life.

“Now take me somewhere good but not touristy,” said Savannah. “I’ve had enough of crowds for one day.”

Eighteen

SAVANNAH

“So I hear only one of you college hunks is actually in college…”