Page 72 of Strawberry Kisses

Chapter Thirty-Two

Connor

As I stared at the mountains of boxes in my half-empty bedroom, I was suddenly wondering whether there was such a thing as owning too many clothes and shoes. I’d done a bit of clear out and had filled up the local charity shops, but maybe I should have gotten rid of more. Oh well. I could always have a good sort out of things when I unpacked at Patrick’s house. Which was about to be our house as soon as I got my butt in gear and got the rest of my stuff loaded into the van we’d hired.

We’d debated trying to put everything into our cars at first, but that was never going to work, considering I had furniture. Some of my stuff was being donated to charity and so was some of Patrick’s. We were going for a true blend of furniture and style. My bed was going into Patrick’s tiny spare room since his bed was more comfortable, but we were adding my armchair and sofa to fill out the living room a little more. It was going to be a bit of a squish, and maybe at some point we’d look at getting a bigger place, but for now, it would be perfect.

Maybe our next house would be one we bought rather than rented.

I heard footsteps on the landing and a couple of voices laughing. Levi had roped Ben in to help as soon as he found out we were moving, and Patrick had magically gotten both Aaron and Josh to volunteer as well. I’d been expecting fireworks, and not the good kind, from the two chefs as soon as they’d arrived, but they seemed to be avoiding each other instead.

“How’re you going in here?” Aaron asked, sticking his head around the door. “You all packed up?”

“Just about.” I grabbed a roll of tape and finished sealing the last of the boxes. “I think I have too much stuff.”

“Nah, this is nothing.” Aaron grabbed an enormous box of shoes and hefted it as if it was made of paper. “You shoulda seen the amount of stuff I had when I last moved house.”

“Oh?” I grinned. “A big fashion fan?”

“Nah, cookbooks. And they’re a lot fucking heavier than this.” That didn’t surprise me since Patrick also had shelves and shelves of recipe books and files he’d collected over the years. It was as much a part of being a chef as my shoes were to my dancing. It came with the territory.

I grabbed another box and followed Aaron out onto the landing, squeezing past Levi and Ben who were bickering about something I couldn’t catch while picking up the last few boxes that had been stacked on the landing. We passed Patrick on the stairs, and he leant in to give me a quick kiss. Fuck, I loved him so much. We’d only been “officially” together for two months, but it felt like it had been longer… like years. Which made sense if you thought about how long we’d been friends. Except I wasn’t sure that our friendship had ever been just a friendship.

The more I thought about it, the less convinced I was. I mean, Levi and I were great friends, but I wouldn’t have done half the stuff I’d done with Patrick with him. Taylor was my best friend in the world, second only to Patrick, but I wouldn’t have snuggled up under a blanket with him to watch films with my head on his chest, and I wouldn’t have made him dinner most nights or spent more time at his house than my own. It was clear to me now that Patrick and I had let our love for each other bleed into our friendship, no matter how hard we’d tried to pretend it wasn’t. We’d basically been dating for three years without realising it.

Hindsight was a wonderful thing, but it was a total pain in the ass.

We hadn’t told Patrick’s family that we’d only just started dating because we’d both felt that was probably something we should either never tell them or should do in person. I was personally in the “let’s take this secret to our graves and bribe-slash-blackmail all our friends into keeping quiet” camp, but I had a feeling Patrick would rather come clean one day. We had told them we were moving in together though, and we’d already had several long phone calls with Aoife offering to send us things ranging from furniture to cake. I didn’t know if cake would post, which sucked. I’d also reiterated my promise to drag Patrick away from The Pear Tree at Christmas for a couple of days, and Aoife had already extended the invitation to my mum too, just as Cara had said she would. The way they’d just opened up their hearts and their home for me was something I never thought I’d experience. Their love for me was incredible, and I knew I’d have to make sure my mascara was stuck like glue for when I inevitably bawled my eyes out again.

My mum’s reaction had been equally loving, although I’d had to come clean to her about the whole thing because she’d been hearing about my pining over Patrick for years. She’d never told me to move on or to give up, and instead she’d always said it would work itself out. Somehow, I had to wonder if she’d known what Patrick and I had been unable to see. I wouldn’t have been surprised. When I’d confessed the whole thing to her and then mentioned in the same breath that we were looking to move in together, the smile in her voice was evident. I couldn’t wait for her to come stay again so I could formally introduce her to Patrick. My boyfriend.

Which in my opinion were the two best words in the world.

When Aaron and I got down to the van in the car park, Josh stood in the cargo bed waiting for us. His face tightened when he saw Aaron, but he took the box without complaint, stacking it on top of some others. I watched the pair of them with interest—the way Aaron looked like he wanted to say something but wasn’t going to out of sheer stubbornness, and the way Josh was blatantly refusing to speak to him. There was definitely something going on there, but I was not getting involved. I would tell Patrick, then he could find out why the idiots were acting so strangely. My immediate money was on sex, but maybe Josh had finally had enough and quit. Although I was sure Patrick would’ve mentioned something if that were the case.

“How much more have we got?” Josh asked as he took the box I was holding. “We’ve still got a bit of room in here.”

“Not much. A few more boxes I think.”

“I knew wasting my youth playing Tetris would come in handy someday.” Josh grinned, but it looked slightly forced. He slotted the box into a space then turned back to look at me, pointedly ignoring Aaron. Whatever. I really wasn’t getting involved. They could sort this shit out themselves.

I walked back up to the flat and found Patrick in the kitchen, doing a last-minute wipe down. I’d already paid for a cleaning service to come in tomorrow to deep clean the place before I gave my keys back so the letting agency wouldn’t charge me an extortionate fee for cleaning. I was going to give them the receipt and everything. I’d been burnt before, and it was not happening again. I wanted my deposit back so I could put it towards a holiday for Patrick and me because I thought we deserved a break. I’d already found a nice Airbnb in Rome and a website for a walking food tour. It would be the perfect Autumn getaway.

“You don’t have to do that you know,” I said, putting my arms around his waist and kissing between his shoulder blades. “They’re coming to clean it tomorrow.”

“I know, but I can’t help it. Messy kitchens are my weakness.”

“It wasn’t that bad!” I laughed with a note of mock offence in my tone.

“When was the last time you cleaned under the cooker hood?”

“Babe, I don’t even think the last tenants cleaned under the cooker hood.”

“I think you’re right.” Patrick turned in my arms, and I rested my head against his chest. “Sorry, I might be going a bit overboard. I should probably help the guys load the rest of the stuff.”

“Eh, leave them. Levi and Ben are bickering about something, and Josh and Aaron are being hella fucking weird.” I rolled my eyes, and Patrick pursed his lips, suddenly looking pensive.

“It’s not just me then? You think they’re being weird too?”

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