Page 29 of Love.V2
“Ezra. Look at my windows!” Tess gushed, stepping back to let him in.
“Niiice,” he agreed, setting the boxes down and holding out his hand to me. “Ezra. Nice digs, congrats on the move, man.”
“Um, Dylan. Hi.” I blinked, nonplussed. A long whistle at the door made me turn to see another man walk in, single-handedly carrying my box spring.
“Damn, look at those windows!”
“Iknow.”Tess grinned at this guy, too, like he was supposed to be here, carrying our stuff.
“This is Nelly. He and Ezra own a moving business,” Tess explained, correctly reading the confusion on my face.
“Your girl came up to us bold as brass at the gas station around the block and asked if we knew how to maneuver your truck. Got it out far enough to unload, by the way. Should be able to move it nice and easy tonight,” Ezra called on his way out the door, presumably to go get more of our stuff.
“Tess, we can’t pay them,” I muttered, gripping her elbow, still trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Where had she been and how had she found these guys so quickly?
“Don’t worry about that, bro! We were about to grab tacos for our lunch break. Y’all don’t have much in there. It’ll take us twenty minutes, tops.”
“I told them I’d buy lunch if they could move the truck, but they insisted on helping unload.”
“You sprang for the drinks, too! Only fair.” Nelly patted the box of hard lemonade on his way out the door.
“I’m sorry I left. I was frustrated and needed a minute,” Tess said, pulling me into her arms again. She hadn’t grown up in a stable home. I hated when we fought, because we were usually so in sync, but also because I knew how much it ate her up, spiking her anxiety.
“I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have yelled,” I admitted while she melted against me. My fingers massaged the back of her neck. “I was mostly worried about you being in a strange city without your phone or your wallet.”
She shrugged. “I only went down the street. And I had some cash in my pocket. Besides, I checked off items number two and seven on the Nashville list.”
“Twoandseven?” I didn’t like how flippantly she approached running off in a new city, but we could talk about it later. I sometimes forgot about my girlfriend’s secret spine of steel. She was so soft and gentle, most people underestimated her. I tried to remember often why I’d fallen in love with the Beer Angel. “Make friends in the neighborhood and find the best place to eat within walking distance of the apartment.”
“Fuck yeah! The Quick-n-Stop has the best tacos in the city. You won’t be disappointed. Your girl got enough to feed the whole building.” Ezra was back with more boxes.
I lowered my head as he disappeared down the hallway to drop them in the bedroom. “I fucking love you.” My lips met hers for a kiss that was too short before I pulled away to help the guys unload.
Chapter 8
Dylan
"No, Tess. I don’t want to leave.”
In all the months Tess had been gone, it had occurred to me, of course, that there might be someone else. I spent days and nights tormented by the thought of her with another man, one who would be home by five, and notice when she started withering away before his eyes.
A better man than me.
If that were the case, I told myself I’d deal with it. I could step aside and just be happy she was happy. Back in Nashville, when I’d had nothing to lose and my only plan was a lot of groveling and hoping she gave me half a chance, it all sounded so simple.
But there were variables I hadn’t considered. Like how now, even though she hadn’t been with anyone else, a glance at the box of condoms on the bed was enough to flatten me.
No, she hadn’t been with anyone else, but she could have. Any single thing could have gone differently in the last six months, and I’d have lost her forever.
It was the adrenaline shock of almost rear-ending someone. The shaky, baffled breath after a near-death experience.
“Maybe it’s for the best,” Tess ventured, killing me. “This is a lot. Maybe we should take some time.”
She was huddled in a little ball, pulling the sheet over herself. Looking at her cut me open. How did she see everything and still not understand how she could end me with a single look?
“Fuck, no.”
Tess’s head reared back, and I cleared my throat, as surprised as she was at my outburst. Aside from that first ambush in her office, I’d been so careful not to spook her.
