My Best Friend's Boyfriend

I chuckled and shook my head as I took another sip of my coffee.

“What should we do about all my furniture?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, your condo has a very nice scheme to it, and none of my furniture fits into that scheme. It’s all sort of mismatched and old.”

“Why don’t we put it in storage?”

“We could donate it.”

“If you don’t want to keep it, sure. But if you do, we’ll put it in storage and I’ll pay the monthly cost until you figure out what you want to do with it.”

“I think it might be time to get rid of it. Maybe not my bookcase, but the couches? Definitely.”

“We can figure all that out today. How does that sound? We’ll leave the packing for Monday or Tuesday, and today we’ll simply assess what you want to keep and what you want to donate,” I said.

“Sounds like a plan,” she said.

I leaned over and captured her lips, holding her there for a long, sweet, tender-loving kiss.

“But first, a shower,” I said, grinning. I stood up, tossed her over my shoulder, and hauled her into the bathroom so I could wash down her every sloping curve.

Ava

Two Weeks Later

“I guess it’s a good thing I threw out most of my stuff,” I said.

“That still doesn’t excuse you having forty boxes of stuff to haul,” Logan said.

“Hey, I like my books. I kept the bookcase so I could add to your library.”

“I’m not complaining. Just—” Logan dropped the box of books on the middle of his living room floor before letting out a groan.

“Just what?” I asked breathlessly.

“I guess this move did one thing for us.”

“What’s that?”

“It helped us find a way to work through our arguments.”

I giggled and shook my head as I sat down the other box of books. We had taken our time over the past two weeks when it came to moving me in. We went on a few more dates and spent our free time packing me up. In the process, we had torn through our fair share of arguments over things I found myself sentimentally attached to without any real reason to take it with me, furniture that was too big to get out my front door, or my car breaking down in the middle of picking up our third round of boxes. We’d gotten to know the angry side of one another over the course of the past two weeks, and we still found a way to work through things and come to conclusions that benefitted both parties.

That was the mark of a strong couple in my opinion, and we had it.

“How many more are down in your car?” I asked.

“Uh, I’d say ten? Then there’s one more haul from your apartment,” Logan said.

“Great. Okay. And what time is it?”

“Two in the afternoon.”

“Fuck me. Okay.”

“I mean, if that’s what you want.”

I picked up a pillow and chucked it at Logan before I fell apart in giggles.

“Save the funny man stuff for later. We’ve got work to do,” I said.

As the two of us unloaded his car and started back to my apartment one last time, he laced his fingers with mine. Things had been fantastic over the past couple weeks, despite the tension of the move. I stroked my thumb along his skin and watched Manhattan pass us by, readying myself for one last bulk trip to my apartment.

“What are you thinking about?” Logan asked.

He pulled up to the curb, and I gazed up at the place I had called home for nearly four years.

“Just this next phase,” I said.

“Something wrong?”

My eyes moved to his, and I saw panic cross his features.

“Nothing’s wrong. In fact, everything is very right,” I said, smiling.

“Then why do you look so contemplative?”

“There are a lot of memories in this building. This was the first place I applied to after college. I moved in three weeks after starting my job as Project Manager. It was my first taste of adulthood after being sheltered by college. I blossomed a lot in that apartment up there.”

“What’s your favorite memory from the place?” Logan asked.

I looked over at him as a smile crossed my cheeks.

“Honestly? The day before I first met you in that hotel room.”

“Really. Why’s that?” he asked.

“Because it was the first time I felt myself living in that place.”

“I don’t follow.”

“For a lawyer, you don’t follow a lot of the time,” I said, grinning.

“Hey, I’ve hauled thirty boxes up and down steps all day.”

“You haven’t hauled all of them. I’ve helped with just as many.”

“Yeah, well, taking them out of one apartment and putting them in another makes one box feel like two.”

“How about we hire people to help us next time?” I asked.

“Sounds like a plan. Can we hire them now?”

I leaned back and laughed as I shook my head, then got serious again.