The Funny Thing about Love: Feel Good Sweet Romance stories

by Laura Burton

  Kayson charged after her. “Excuse me, but I don’t—” The apartment door shut before he could finish his sentence.

  He turned to take in the mess she’d left him. He couldn’t leave it this way. Was someone supposed to come clean it up? He might not be liable if he left it here, but he lived under this apartment. The longer the suds and water sat, the more compromised his living situation became.

  Letting out a sigh, Kayson rolled up his pant legs. He needed to be studying for his certification test. He wasn’t nearly prepared enough. If he didn’t pass, he wouldn’t be eligible for the promotion he’d been working toward for the past six months.

  Kayson kicked off his flipflops in the living room and tip-toed into the kitchen, grimacing as the slippery suds squeezed between his toes. He’d call the landlord the moment he was done and demand his rent be credited.

  He hunted around the kitchen for any means to scoop up the bubbles. Most of the dishes were either in the sink or the dishwasher. From what he could tell, this girl didn’t have roommates, and yet she had enough dirty dishes to split among four people. He wrinkled his nose and picked up a moldy container with his thumb and forefinger. How old were some of these dishes? Girls were so much worse than boys at keeping a clean place. This was proof.

  His gaze lit on a dustpan connected to a broom. That would work. He hurried across the floor to retrieve it. The slimy bubbles under his bare feet offered no traction. That was when his bad day turned terrible.

  He flailed his arms to grasp the table he was walking past, but he missed. His feet arced from the floor to the air, and he landed hard on his back. Foam exploded around him, filling the air with bits of cottony snow. Kayson didn’t move as the flakes fell around him. This was nuts. He’d fallen right into a slapstick comedy.

  He blew at the bubbles that drifted toward his face. Groaning, he pushed himself up on his elbows. Maybe he was the crazy one for not being able to walk away from this. Carefully, he stood and put one slow foot in front of the other. He reached the sink, ran the water, and emptied out the dishes. Then he grabbed the dust pan, scooped up a pile of bubbles, and rinsed them down with the flowing water.

  Yep, he was definitely the crazy one.

  Chapter 2

  Olive laughed. “And then the poor guy tried to chase me down and tell me he wasn’t supposed to be there. At least that’s what I assume he was going to say.”

  “Olive! You’re terrible. I can’t believe you did that. What if he doesn’t clean it up?” The smile didn’t leave Averie’s face.

  Olive shrugged. “I cleaned up most of the real damage. If he doesn’t do anything, it’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before. I just wanted to see if he would. He’s so uptight. Grams tells me every time he makes a complaint. Last week, it was how loud I was playing my music.”

  Averie sipped her lemonade. “Well, when you live in an apartment, you have to be okay with noises you don’t like. Complaining about stuff like that seems a little overkill to me.”

  Olive scrunched up her nose. “To be fair, I was blasting it around one in the morning.”

  Averie gasped, shook her head, and chuckled. “Olive, you’re awful.”

  “I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to clean. And you know me, I can’t clean without loud music.” Olive giggled. “I guess I should be a little more neighborly. I’m sure he absolutely hates me.”

  “I’m just glad we don’t live together anymore. You live in a pigsty, Olive. I don’t know how you stand it.”

  Olive clutched her chest. “Ouch!” She laughed. “I know. My brother says the same thing. He’s always been the clean one, and I’ve always been… well… creative.”

  “How is Hunter?”

  “He’s moving to Idaho, the traitor.”

  Averie’s brows rose. “Really? He’s finally settling down? Why Idaho?”

  “The owner of that Securitech company offered him a job he couldn’t refuse. Or something like that.” Olive rolled her eyes. “I didn’t think he’d ever settle down, but if he did, I hoped it would be close.”

  Averie offered her a small smile. “Maybe this means you should move to Idaho too.”

  “Maybe.” Olive fiddled with her fork. Hunter had always moved around with his job, but now he’d picked a place to settle down, maybe they could get close again. Except she didn’t want to leave California.

  Olive glanced up at her friend. “If I move, I’d lose my best friend and give up having the beach within walking distance.”

  Averie smiled again. “That’s sweet, but you need your big brother. We would have to work harder at staying in touch is all. Really, Olive, I think you should consider relocating.” She took another sip of her drink. “Now, tell me what you’re going to do when you see this neighbor of yours again.”

  Olive leaned forward conspiratorially. “I’m going to apologize,” she whispered.

  Averie laughed and whacked Olive on the arm. “You’re no fun anymore. The Olive Greene I knew would keep this thing going.”

  Olive scoffed. “Keep this thing going? Weren’t you saying I was being awful to the poor guy?”

  Her friend lifted a shoulder. “I live vicariously though you, Olive. You know that.” She winked.

  Olive smiled. “Unfortunately, those days are behind me. You might be right about moving closer to Hunter. Forest is doing his residency, and I think he’s got a pretty serious relationship with some girl. Mom and Dad are downsizing and might be moving to Florida. I’m the only one who seems to be stuck where I’ve always been. It’s time for me to stop messing around.”

  Averie’s features softened, and she patted Olive’s hand. “You’re doing fine. You have a great job at a PR firm, a nice apartment, and me.” Her cheeks dimpled as her smile deepened. “You don’t need to rush to be something else.”

  “You’re only saying that because you’re still going to school and have no idea what you want to do.”

  Averie made a face. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. We’ll figure it out. You’ll see.” She pushed back her chair and got to her feet. “I have a few errands to run before my lunch break is over. I’ll chat with you later.”

  Olive nodded. “I’ll call you when I decide what I’m doing.”

  She stirred her drink with a straw and glanced around the sandwich shop. Couples and families filled almost every table. It was fall break, which meant kids weren’t in school, and her typical lunch spots were busier than normal.

  Two tables away, a young mother tore pieces of bread from her sandwich and put them in front of a toddler. The little boy grabbed a fistful and promptly dropped it on the floor, eliciting a sigh from the woman. She scooped up the bread and sat it on a tray on the other side of the table. Olive smiled as the mother tore up pieces of turkey and offered them with the same result.

  Olive turned her attention to a couple on the other side of the restaurant. The girl leaned on the table with her elbows, her face bright and energetic. The man across from her laughed when she said something. Olive’s heart constricted. She’d always thought she’d have someone by now. She was nearing her thirties, and all her childhood friends had a boyfriend, a fiancé, or a family. Besides Averie, she was the only one stuck in limbo. Granted, she didn’t want to marry yet. But she did long to have someone she could call hers.

  She leaned back in her chair. Moving to Idaho seemed like the best option. She could stay with Hunter until she found a job and a place to stay. Then she would buckle down and be an adult. No more shenanigans. Well, at least not as many.

  Olive collected her trash on the lunch tray and dumped it in the garbage can. All this thinking had brought her down. She needed something to brighten her day.

  Pulling out her phone, she dialed Hunter’s number. He picked up on the first ring. “Hey Olive, I’m kinda busy right now. Can this wait?”

  Olive sighed. “I guess.”

  A brief silence came from the other end. “I’m sorry, what do you need? I’ve always got a few minutes for my favorite
little sister.”

  “I’m your only sister.” She smiled at their inside joke. “I was calling to see if what Mom and Dad said is true. They told me you’re officially moving to Idaho.”

  “Yeah, I got roped into a permanent position. The pay is great, plus the job has other perks. Why did you want to know?”

  Olive hesitated. “What would you think if I moved there with you?”

  More silence. “Really? You want to move to Boise? But you love your apartment.”

  “I know. But I feel like I’m in a stalemate with myself. Something is missing. I figured if I moved out to be near you, maybe your togetherness would rub off on me.”

  Hunter chuckled. “I’m the furthest thing from being together, and you know it. Look, if you want to move out here, I’m all for it. We can find a place to stay together, and I can see if Securitech needs a hotshot PR rep. They’re going through some crazy stuff right now and could use your expertise. When were you thinking of moving?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I can ask Grams if she needs notice before I move out. I don’t think she’ll have a hard time finding a new tenant. Maybe I can come out there after the holidays—maybe sooner.” Olive’s insides fluttered. Things were already falling into place. This had to be the right course.

  “Let me know when you’re ready, and I’ll put in a good word for you. I’m sure Gavin would love to have another Greene working for his company. Sorry, Bean, I have to go. I’ll talk with you soon, okay?”

  “Okay.” Olive hung up the phone and put it in her purse. She gripped the straps and continued her walk back to her firm. When she’d gotten up that morning, the last thing she thought she’d be doing was planning a move. But that was how her life usually turned out. Things happened out of the blue, and she went with them.

  For the next couple of hours, Olive managed to focus on her job. She had plenty to do after work, namely cleaning up the mess at her apartment and buying a peace offering for the guy who lived downstairs. If she could get her work done early, maybe she’d even have time to grab snacks for the book club.

  By the time her phone read four-thirty, Olive had completed her work, grabbed some finger foods from the local Whole Foods Market, and called in a favor with the owner of the San Francisco 49ers. All guys liked football, right? She hoped the guy downstairs would be excited about getting great seats to the upcoming game.

  Instead of heading to the third floor, she got off the elevator on level two and made her way to apartment 209. He probably didn’t stick around to clean up the mess. She wouldn’t have. But the fact was she’d been an awful upstairs neighbor. Not every complaint was her fault, but she could have avoided a lot of them. He deserved something for everything he had put up with. Even Grams thought so.

  Chapter 3

  Kayson sat on his couch and stared at a textbook, his eyes glazed. Who was he kidding? He couldn’t study right now. All he could think about was that crazy girl and the mess she’d dumped on him. He should have left it. Her mess wasn’t his responsibility. But good grief, what kind of person would he be if he didn’t clean it up? He’d gotten done around lunch, and ever since, he’d been trying to focus on the medical jargon littering his floor.

  No noise had come from upstairs all day. She really must have gone to work. What kind of human could go to work knowing they had left so much damage behind? The thought made his skin crawl. When she did get back, he couldn’t decide whether he ought to go up there and give her a piece of his mind—maybe demand some compensation for his time—or leave things alone.

  If he ignored her, this kind of stuff would continue to happen. He liked his apartment. The location was perfect for his job at the hospital. Moving would stink. But he didn’t see any good outcomes from having a neighbor like her.

  A knock sounded at the door. Kayson jumped. He wasn’t expecting anyone. He slid the open textbook off his lap and rose from the couch. He stepped over a stack of books, avoiding the cause of his still-sore toe.

  The face through the peephole brought him up short. It was her! What was she doing here? He looked through the hole again. She was more beautiful than he remembered. His mouth filled with cotton, and he considered what would happen if he ignored her.

  “I can see you, you know,” she called through the door. “Your shadow is blocking the light in the peephole.”

  Kayson jumped out of the way and leaned against the door. What did she want?

  She knocked again. “I’m not going to hurt you. I have something for you.”

  Kayson opened the door, trying not to appear too sheepish. He folded his arms across his chest and narrowed his eyes. “The last time I saw you, you left me with a mess.”

  The girl’s wide smile threw him off balance. It was not the reaction he’d anticipated. Did she have no shame?

  “Hi,” she chirped. “So I know we got off on the wrong foot…”

  “Wrong foot?” He raised an eyebrow. “You have got to be the worst neighbor I have ever had. And I used to live next to an aspiring drummer.”

  The girl giggled. “That sounds fun.”

  A smile stole over his expression. Her laugh was as beautiful as she was. Wiping the smirk off his face, he scowled again. “I spent the better part of my morning cleaning up your mess instead of studying for a very important medical certification test I have to take this weekend. I didn’t have time for that.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t sure you’d stick around.” She whistled. “That was unexpected.”

  “You practically forced me to.”

  Her hazel eyes popped open wide like a deer’s. “What? No, I didn’t.”

  Kayson pointed at her. “Yes, you did. You even told me to lock up when I was done.”

  She scrunched her little pixie nose and narrowed her eyes, a half-smile on her lips. “Do you always do what strangers tell you?”

  His mouth dropped open, his finger still poised. Not sure what to say, he closed his mouth. He pinched his brows together and broke eye contact with her. She was right. Why had he stuck around to clean a mess that wasn’t his? Had his compulsive need to fix things gotten in the way again? Or had he been avoiding the inevitability of studying for this exam?

  The girl grabbed his finger and lowered it, the infuriating grin still on her face. “For what it’s worth, I didn’t expect you to actually do anything. I had to leave, you were there… I thought it was funny.”

  “What if I had stolen something?” he sputtered.

  She shrugged. “I don’t have much worth stealing. Besides, I know where you live, and someone who complains about their neighbors as much as you do doesn’t seem like a likely thief.” She adjusted the strap of the bag on her shoulder. “I wanted to apologize for everything I’ve done over the last couple of months.”

  “Years.”

  She smiled and shook her head. “All right, years. Most of the time it’s accidental.”

  “Like when you took up clogging about a year ago, and the only time you practiced was during dinner.”

  She grimaced. “Yeah, sorry about that one.”

  “And that time you started pet sitting. Pretty sure I still hear echoes of that yippy dog you watched for over a month.” Kayson cocked his head to the side. “Oh, and the time—”

  Olive waved her hand through the air. “Okay, I get it.” She opened the bag hanging from her shoulder and dug through it. “Like I said, I wanted to apologize. I know it doesn’t make up for everything I’ve done, but I thought it would be a start.” She held out a plain envelope. “Here, I hope you like football. I have a book club tonight, but I’ll try to keep them as quiet as I can.”

  Kayson grabbed the envelope, and she walked away. He poked his head out the door to watch her retreat to the stairs and then went back into his apartment. Football? He leaned against the door to shut it and tapped the envelope on his palm.

  When he ran his fingers through the slit, the envelope tore in a jagged line. He pulled out a printed sheet of paper detailin
g information for a game at Levi Stadium. Kayson skimmed the document until his gaze landed on the words Luxury Trophy Suite.

  Kayson’s mouth dropped open. “What in the Sam Hill…?” He enjoyed football as much as the next guy, and he even considered himself a 49ers fan. But attending a game in one of the infamous luxury suites at Levi Stadium? He’d never dreamed he’d have the opportunity.

  He shoved the paper back into the envelope and wrenched open his door. Storming up to the third floor, he pounded on the crazy girl’s door. She opened it immediately, causing him to take a step back. He held up the envelope.

  “What is this?”

  She looked from him to the envelope and back again. “Football tickets?”

  “I know what they are. I mean why did you give these to me?”

  She rolled her eyes and retreated into her apartment, leaving the door open. He stood in her doorway, unsure if she wanted him to follow her.

  “I told you, it’s a peace offering.”

  Kayson took a step inside. He must look ridiculous standing in the hall in front of an empty doorway. Closing the door behind him, he shuffled his feet and craned his neck to see where she’d gone. “In what world is a million-dollar gift a peace offering?” he called.

  Clinking noises pulled him from the safety of the apartment entrance. He made his way into the kitchen where the girl was putting away dishes. “In what world does a stranger clean a mess that wasn’t his to begin with?”

  She didn’t turn around.

  “On that same note, why would that stranger then finish the dishes she left in the sink?” The girl turned and pointed to the empty sink. She folded her arms and leaned against the counter. “I got you those tickets before I knew what you’d done, and by my count, I probably owe you more.”

  Kayson strode toward her, holding out the envelope. “I can’t accept this. It’s too much. I don’t know where you got the money for tickets like these when you’re living in a rundown place like this.” He gestured around the kitchen. “Maybe you should sell these.”