6. Stone
“Tilly! Tilly! Stop! It’s slipping!”
I paused my chewing and tipped my head toward my front door. The sound of Emerson’s voice cut through to where I was standing in my kitchen. I set my bowl of cereal down and walked around the peninsula. I pulled open the door and peered out only to be greeted by a queen-size mattress that was flopped haphazardly on the landing between Emerson’s apartment and mine.
I glanced up to see Emerson’s bright red face as she stared at me. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun on the top of her head, and I was trying hard to ignore the way her long legs looked in her cutoff shorts. She fanned her neck, which drew my attention to her orange tank top.
“It’s not funny, Tilly,” Emerson said as she shot her friend an annoyed look. Tilly was doubled over and laughing so hard that no noise was coming out.
Tilly straightened and worked to relax her face. “It was hilarious.”
I leaned against my doorframe and folded my arms. I glanced between the two of them and then raised an eyebrow. “Do you need some help?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
I glanced between them and widened my eyes.
“I think we’ve got this,” Emerson hurried to say, shooting her friend a look before giving me a quick smile.
I took my time glancing down at the mattress before meeting her gaze once more. “Uh huh.”
“She’s being modest. We definitely need your help,” Tilly said as she tapped the mattress with the toe of her tennis shoe. “We got it stuck, and we can’t lift it high enough to unstick it.” She blew out her breath. “Why are mattresses so unwieldy?”
I glanced over at Emerson, who seemed to be content looking everywhere but in my direction. I took a moment to study her and could tell by the way she was twitching she didn’t want me here. I didn’t blame her, but I also thought it was a tad ridiculous that she was this uncomfortable taking help from me. After all, we were neighbors now.
My phone vibrated, so I shifted my weight and pulled it from my back pocket. It was a text from George.
George: A group of us are coming to get you. Get your shoes on and don’t ask any questions.
I frowned and contemplated texting back that I wasn’t interested but decided against it. George wasn’t known for listening, and if he kept to his MO, he was most likely only a few minutes away.
“Well, good news. Some of my football buddies are on their way. We can help you unload the rest of your stuff.”
“That’s great,” Tilly exclaimed as she shot Emerson an over-exaggerated smile. “Isn’t that awesome?”
They traded a series of facial expressions before Emerson forced her frown flat and glanced in my direction. “That’s great. We appreciate the help.”
I nodded and then I grabbed a hold of the door before swinging it shut. I had every intention of helping them, but the guys weren’t here yet, and I wasn’t going to torture myself by standing out on the landing while we waited.
I finished my bowl of cereal and was rinsing it out in the sink when I heard the guys’ voices immediately followed by three solid knocks on the door. I wiped my hands on the dish towel that Gran had embroidered and moved to open the door.
George, Isaac, Jayden, and Colt were all standing in different spots on the landing to avoid the mattress in the center. George was nearest to the door, and he shot me a confused look.
“What’s going on out here?” he asked.
I sighed. “New neighbor. I told her that we’d help.”
George’s eyebrows instantly went up. “Her?”
I glared at him. “Don’t get any ideas.”
He held up his hands. “I didn’t say anything.” But then he leaned in. “Is she young?”
I punched his shoulder, and he winced before bringing his hand up to massage his shoulder. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
“Knock on her door,” I said, motioning to Jayden. He obeyed, and we waited for a few seconds before the door was pulled open.
Emerson was standing there. She moved her gaze to everyone else but me. Me, she skipped right over.
George let out a low whistle, and I punched him in the shoulder once more. “Guys, this is Emerson. Emerson, meet some of the guys from the team.”
I could feel George’s gaze on me. There was a familiarity in my tone that he seemed to pick up on. His expression asked me how I knew this girl, but that wasn’t a question I wanted to answer. Instead, I moved toward the mattress and instructed Jayden, Isaac, and Colt to each pick up a corner.
I kept hidden behind the mattress as Emerson instructed Jayden where she wanted it to go. I’d been in Poppy’s apartment before. She’d invited me over a few times for drinks until I realized what she wanted from me and I put an end to that. We were friends, but nothing more.
After we set the mattress down on the box spring, we moved out of Emerson’s bedroom and into the living room, where Tilly was waiting for us. She instructed us to follow her downstairs to unload the rest of Emerson’s things.
I snuck a look at Emerson, but she was focused on Tilly. Feeling like an idiot, I dropped my gaze and focused on Tilly as well. We followed behind her as she jogged down the stairs to the moving truck that was parked in the loading zone.
As everything does between us guys, the number of boxes we could carry became a competition, and we were loading each other up with an insane number of boxes. I carried the most at ten boxes, and by the time I got to Emerson’s apartment, my body felt as if it were on fire. Thankfully, Tilly and Emerson were there to unload me as quickly as they could.
Emerson’s hand brushed mine, and electricity shot up my arm. I almost dropped the remaining boxes, but I caught myself before I made a giant fool of myself.
It only took about a half hour before we had their truck unloaded, and her apartment was bursting at the seams. Emerson was moving boxes to different rooms while we lingered in the living room.
Colt asked her if we could help, but she was quick to brush him off, telling him that she had it under control. Tilly was watching her and glancing over at us like she wanted to say something but wasn’t sure how Emerson would take it. She had to know the history between me and Emerson. At least, that was implied last night at Night Spirits.
Not wanting to overstay our welcome, I started to usher my friends to the front door. “Well, we’ll get out of your hair,” I called over my shoulder while I silently prayed that they wouldn’t say anything before we got out to the landing.
“Wha—what are you doing?” George asked as I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and led him out the door.
“We’re letting my new neighbor unpack,” I said.
Just as we stepped out onto the landing, Tilly’s voice stopped us. “Wait.”
We turned to see her following after us. She glanced hastily back into the apartment before turning her attention to us. “Do you guys have plans for the day? We’d like to take you to lunch for helping us move.”
“We would?” Emerson asked as she suddenly appeared next to Tilly.
“Free food and cute girls?” Isaac asked as he clapped Colt on the shoulder. “I could never say no to that.”
I shot Isaac a death stare before glancing over at Emerson, who looked like she was struggling with what to say. Tilly, on the other hand, was loving it, nodding and smiling at Isaac.
“I think we’re okay. After all, George had something planned,” I said, offering Emerson an out if she wanted one. “I mean, you’ve got things to do.”
She glanced up at me before she looked at the guys and then over at Tilly, who was staring at her a bit too hard.
Emerson pulled back just a bit before she sighed and glanced back at us. “We’d be happy to take you out for some lunch.”
The guys whooped and high-fived like we’d just won another Super Bowl. I studied Emerson, who looked uneasy as she smiled at us. Why was she doing this if she didn’t want to? Or maybe she did want to…
I felt so confused.
“Let me get changed out of my scrubby clothes. Meet on the landing in 15?” Emerson began to step back into her apartment.
The guys all mumbled in agreement before they turned to head into my apartment. I followed after them, but just before I cleared the door, I paused and glanced over toward Emerson’s apartment. I hated that I felt excited that we were going to spend the day together. I hated that I wanted her to be excited about it, not pressured into it by Isaac and Tilly. Would she ever be excited to spend the day with me? I doubted it.
I sighed as I shut my door and glanced at the guys, who had circled around me, each with a huge grin on his face. I glared at them as I folded my arms. “What?”
“Dude!” George said as he leaned back and clapped his hands, lifting his face toward the sky and howling. “Thank God, finally!”
I grabbed onto him, praying that Emerson couldn’t hear what he was saying. “Will you knock it off?” I asked.
He grinned at me, the excitement in his gaze telling me he had no intention of stopping.
“She’s hot,” Isaac said. I could feel my hands curl into fists. He stepped back and raised his hands in surrender.
“She is,” George said. He knew me well enough to know I wasn’t going to fight him. Instead, he punched me on the shoulder and wiggled his eyebrows.
“She’s off limits.”
Colt shrugged. “We’re thinking for you.”
His words were like a knife to my gut. I glared at them as I stalked over to the fridge to grab a soda. My body was hot, and I needed something to cool it down. All the guys followed me, gathering around the opening to my kitchen to watch me down the can.
When it was empty, I tossed it into the recycling and glanced over at them.
George looked hopeful as he waved toward my front door. “Dude, you have to do something about that. She’s into you. We could tell by the way she looked at you. You can’t pass this up.”
I was clenching my jaw muscles so hard that they hurt. I shook my head before scrubbing my face and pushing my hand through my hair. “She’s off limits,” I said again.
George looked frustrated. “We know. She’s off limits to us, but we aren’t thinking about us. We all think you should make a move.”
Frustration boiled up in my gut as I moved to walk away. I needed a moment to cool down, or I was going to fight someone. Just as I stepped in front of my friends, I paused to look over at George. He looked so hopeful that he’d finally found the perfect girl for his perpetually single friend.
I sighed as I shrugged. “I wasn’t saying she’s off limits to you guys.” I blew out my breath. “She’s off limits to me.”