Quadruple Duty

“A real nice place,” Jason added. “I’ve seen it.”

“You picked it out!” Ryan said, hitting him with the back of one hand.

“Only on the computer,” Jason shrugged.

The night air filled with the sounds of grunting and groaning as the two strange men were already moving the heaviest pieces up the retractable ramp. They had handtrucks. Something I should’ve thought of.

“Let’s get going,” said both my boyfriends at once. “None of this stuff is going to move itself.”

We got to work... all five of us. And the whole time, I kept thinking about Jason and Ryan.

It was sweet. Beyond sweet. They’d not only taken care of me, they’d done it with a swift, vindictive efficiency. They’d taken care of everything, even the warehouse! And as scary as it was, going into the whole thing blind? Somehow I knew I could handle the lease.

Especially with the business all to myself. And all of Dawn’s pieces too…

It took less than an hour, which was astonishing considering how much there was. Then we were back in our box trucks — me nestled snugly between Jason and Ryan — after having given my own truck’s key to one of the other men.

In the end we didn’t take everything. In the middle of one storage unit I’d left Dawn a message: one very ugly, very hideous painted table. It was the very first thing we’d ever bought together. She’d loved it, I’d hated it, and somehow she’d overruled me.

In retrospect, I should’ve seen the writing on the wall.

“You really didn’t want that table?” Ryan asked.

“No,” I laughed. “Not even a little bit.”

“But she liked it?”

“Yes.”

“We could’ve smashed it,” Jason offered. “You know, add insult to injury.”

“Nah,” I smiled. “Let her have something to start rebuilding on.”

“Well that’s pretty much all she has,” Jason said, pressing something into my hand. I opened my palm. It was a thumb drive. “There’s your client list,” he said. “Hers too.”

“Hers too?”

“Yeah,” he laughed. “Oh, and the old website redirects to your new website now, too.”

The hits just kept coming. “I—I have a new website?”

“Yes and no,” he said, glancing at his watch. “But by this time tomorrow you will. Got someone else working on that right now.”

It was all too much, too incredible. I was so giddy I was practically delirious. I kissed Jason, then turned Ryan’s head away from the road and kissed him too. I kissed him so long we almost crashed, if Jason hadn’t laughingly taken the wheel.

“You guys are the best boyfriends on the planet!” I screamed into the cab of the truck. Reaching down, I squeezed them each on the thigh.

“Planet?” Ryan grinned. “More like universe!”

Fifty-Four

RYAN

The restaurant was busy. Bustling. Every table was full, and it smelled absolutely amazing.

But not nearly as amazing as she looked.

“So I have a confession to make,” said Sammara. “In bringing you here, I have a few,” she paused adorably, “ulterior motives…”