TV, I think, goes silent, and he clears his throat. “Is something the matter?”
“Well, I’m really tight,” I stutter.
Oh. Whoops. That’s not how I meant for that to come out.
“Um…excuse me?”
“Tight spot! I’m in a tight spot.” Jesus. What is it about this man that makes me lose my words? We’ve done a great job of keeping our friendship this term strictly on the friend level, notwithstanding the evening in the dugout where we came this close to kissing. “I made a mistake and I’m not sure what to do.”
“Who do I need to beat up?” he says, sounding serious.
I laugh. “Nothing like that. I just miscalculated the end of my apartment lease by a day, and my landlord is threatening to take away my deposit.”
“I can beat him up. Where does he live?” Grant says, and I can hear him smiling on the other side of the phone.
“No, no. Can you…” my heart tumbles.
“Spit it out!”
“Can I crash at your place for a night?”
“Of course.”
“And…can you help me move my stuff out of here?”
“Ah. A moving favor. Well, that’s a bigger deal.”
“I’ll owe you a big one. I’m really desperate here.”
“Desperate, eh?” he laughs. “I’ll be over in ten.”
“Seriously?”
“You think I would joke about this?”
“Look, Maya, if you can’t be out of here, just tell me and I’ll leave. I’m not going to wait around like some—"
Right then, Grant miraculously shows up at that very moment with several of the other Alpha Z’s riding in his truck.
Xavier, who has been giving me dirty looks ever since I left him standing in the hallway sees them. “Where did you find a moving crew on such short notice?”
I laugh. “Not a moving crew. Just my friends.”
Grant appears at the top of the stairs a minute later with his friends Nelson, Finn, and Chris behind him. Spotting Xavier, he shakes his hand. “You must be the landlord.”
“That’s me.
“I’m Grant Taylor. Fellas, start with the big stuff.” Grant points to the boxes I’ve wrapped up.
He smiles at me. “Hey there, blondie.” The other three guys wave hello to me as well, but I don’t have as much of a connection with them as I do Grant.
While the other three start bringing boxes down the stairs and into his truck, I can’t resist the excuse to hug Grant. “You’re totally bailing me out. Thanks so much.”
“What are friends for?” he says when we release the hug.
“Absolutely. Friends…” I trail off. Looking into his gray eyes, I’m brought back to the moment on the baseball field when our lips were a hair’s width from a kiss. “I’ve got to strip my sheets and throw my toiletries in a bag. Can you guys handle these big boxes?”
Finn and Nelson appear at the top of the stairs again, and each grab a bag of my clothes.
“I think we’ve got it covered.”
In a shockingly quick amount of time, all of my things are loaded into Grant’s covered pickup truck and ready to go.
“Deposit check?” I ask Xavier, after he does a quick inspection inside. I didn’t know if he would put up a fight and try to screw me out of it. Technically, I am a little over an hour late moving out. But the place is clearly in flawless condition. Clean, too.
He takes my deposit check and hands it back to me.
“You’ve got some good friends,” he says. “Lucky girl.”
We drop off the other guys at the Alpha Z house on the way back to the yellow apartments, and then pull up in the parking lot at Grant’s place.
I grab two small bags full of the essentials that I’ll need tonight. Toothbrush, clothes, shoes, etc.
I follow behind Grant and head into his place.
To my surprise, he leads me to his room.
“You’ll sleep in my room tonight.
“Uh…your room?”
He gives me a confused look. “I’m not going to let a guest sleep on the couch. What kind of host would I be? My mom would kill me if she found out I made a woman sleep on a couch. So, you’ll sleep here, and I’ll sleep on my couch. My brother is out of town traveling for business right now, so he’s getting in late, and I don’t mind it out there, anyway. That okay?”
“Yeah. It’s…fine,” I say hesitantly.
“Why are you acting so weird?”
“I’m not.”
“Seems like it.”
“So, if I need a cuddle partner can I call you in here?”
“At your service.” He chuckles.
“So, what do you want to get up to tonight?”
“I had practice this morning, so I have