Page 23 of Always Been You

On Saturday, Josh leaves in the afternoon to run errands and then heads straight to poker with the guys. The girls show up at 4 p.m. with grocery bags of snacks and booze. I answer the door and guide them in, and we head into the kitchen. The girls look around wide-eyed at the apartment. We have all lived in decent one-bedroom apartments in the city, but nothing as nice as Josh’s place.

“So how about a tour?” Hannah asks after I finish putting the drinks in the fridge. I chuckle at the obvious excitementin her voice. “Sure.”

I head down the hall toward my new room, and they follow behind me. My bedroom here is about the size of my living room at my old place. I open the door and the girls shuffle behind me.

“This is nice,” Zoey says as she wanders into my closet.

“That looks like a great tub,” Liz calls from the ensuite washroom.

We head back down the hall, and I point out the in-home gym that Josh told me about, and then we walk out to the balcony. Despite it being late June, there is a cool breeze coming through. I wrap my arms around myself as we all take in the view. After a few minutes, we make our way back inside, and after pouring ourselves drinks, we make it to the living room and settle onto Josh’s huge sectional couch.

“So…” Zoey takes a sip of her drink and looks around the room before her gaze settles back on me. “How is living with Josh?”

It has felt so natural and normal. It’s been nice having someone to share a meal and conversation with at the end of the day, but I don’t tell them that. “It’s been good,” I say as nonchalantly as possible.

I can feel the gaze of all three of my friends on me intently for a few seconds. I take a big sip of my drink as the three pairs of eyes stare at me. “Just good, that’s all you’re going to give us?” Hannah asks.

“Yeah, it’s been a few weeks. I make dinner on the nights that he’s home and doesn’t have hockey. He cleans and does the dishes after, and then we watch Netflix together. He’s had plans the last few weekends, so he hasn’t been around.”

“How domestic,” Zoey says with humour in her voice.

“He’s letting me live here rent-free. The least I can do is cook him dinner when he’s home.”

“You know, if I were you, I would be trying to climb him like a tree by now. He is single, isn’t he?” Hannah asks. I shoot her a glare across the couch. “He’s a friend, and he’s my brother’s best friend. Not happening besides, I just got out of a long-term relationship and Josh doesn’t see me that way,” I say.

“You keep telling yourself that, girl,” Zoey says, shaking her head.

“Have you not seen the way that man watches you?” Liz asks.

I pause my drink on its way to my mouth for a second. Liz is probably the most observant of the group. She notices what’s going on around her. I take a sip before asking, “What do you mean, watches me?”

“Girl, at your birthday party, it was like he couldn’t take his eyes off you. Then there was that weekend at your place. I swore he was going to beat the shit out of Drew when he started calling you names, and before that, his hands were in tight fists when he heard the story,” Eliza says.

I don’t remember him watching me at my party. Since I moved in, I have caught small smiles on his face when he doesn’t think I am looking, when I finish cooking us dinner or when we curl up on opposite ends of the couch and watch TV together.

“He’s just a good friend,” I say.

“You sure, babe? He moved you into his apartment and is giving you completely free rein in it, letting you have us over and everything.”

“He did it as a favour to Matt,” I say. He told me that Matt came and visited him at his office the day Josh came to my place and made the offer.

Zoey looks at Hannah and Eliza before looking back at me. She puts her hand on my knee. “Liv, Matt didn’t askJosh. He offered it, unprompted. Matt had been calling me for updates on you because he was worried and didn’t want to constantly call you. He called me that day and told me that when he stopped by Josh’s office, he had offered the spare room.”

I stare at her, trying to figure out what this all means. Matt must have mentioned that he was worried about me and that I needed a place to stay. That’s all this was.

“Josh is just being a good friend,” I say. “So, what are we ordering for dinner?” I ask in an attempt to change the topic. The girls get that I am done with this conversation, and we decide on pizza, so I place an order through my phone for two large pizzas and garlic sticks and we decide to watch The Princess Diaries tonight, it’s a nostalgic movie for us.

The pizza is delivered, and we curl up with drinks and pizza and settle in for the night. After watching the second movie, we decided to all move into my room and crash for the night. I brought my air mattress with me from my old place and stored it in my closet, so I pull it out and blow it up. Zoey and I will crash in my bed, and Hannah and Liz will take the air mattress. Grabbing the extra bedding out of my closet, we all get ready for bed.

I slowly openmy eyes to light coming in through the opening of the curtains in my bedroom. Rolling over, I notice that the bed is empty, Zoey isn’t in it with me. I check the air mattress and it’s empty, too. I check my phone and notice it’s only 9 a.m. and it looks like the girls’ bags are still in my bedroom.

I throw my legs over the edge of the bed, grab my robe and secure it around my waist before venturing out into theliving room, I stop dead in my tracks as soon as I get into view of the kitchen. Josh is standing in the kitchen, wearing a thin black t-shirt that clings to every inch of him and a pair of gym shorts; with his back to me in front of the stove, and my friends gathered at the dining table. They each have empty plates in front of them and each has either a glass of orange juice or a mug of coffee.

“Good morning sleepy head,” Hannah chimes from her spot at the table when she notices me. I close my mouth, which seems to have dropped to the ground at what I am seeing.

Looking over to her I rub at my eyes, “Morning.” I croak out. “What’s going on?” I ask, looking around the room.

“Josh is making us breakfast,” Zoey says with a wicked grin spreading over her face.

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