Match Me Up

by Parker, Weston

  “It’s going to be fine,” she assured me. “When do you go?”

  My head was still spinning. “They took their sweet time in getting me the damn letter,” I muttered. “I guess a month? That’ll give me time to get settled and hopefully find a job before classes start. I cannot believe they waited this long.”

  “It’s fine. You’ve got time. I’ll call around and see if we can get a moving truck. I think one of those little ones will be enough.”

  It was all becoming very real. I was moving to Austin. I was getting into grad school. I wished I could call my dad and tell him. Technically, I could call him, but he wouldn’t give a shit. The only thing he cared about was his beer. I tried to have sympathy and understanding, but it was annoying. I didn’t want to deal with his bullshit. If he wanted to drink himself into a stupor to hide from the pain of losing my mom three years ago, that was his choice. I hoped one day he would come around, but I had a feeling he was going to drink himself into an early grave.

  “I have to pack,” I said. “I need to put in my notice at the flower shop. I have to give notice to my landlord.”

  “Relax,” she said and pushed my margarita toward me. “Drink that and we’ll deal with the rest later.”

  4

  Thomas

  “Today’s the day, right?” Chris asked.

  I glanced up from the document on one screen in my home office to look at his image on the Skype screen on the other monitor. “Yep,” I said. I hoped I sounded casual. Inside, I was anything but casual.

  “Tell me more about this woman,” he said.

  I could hear him tapping away on his keyboard and knew he was working. We both were, even though it was a Saturday afternoon. “There’s not much to say,” I said. “She’s my sister’s best friend. We kind of grew up together.”

  “There’s got to be more to the story,” he said. “There’s no way you would just let someone move in with you. Were you guys a thing back then?”

  I chuckled and put my eyes back on the screen. “No. Not even close. She and my sister took great pride in giving me hell every chance they could.”

  “Probably because she liked you,” he teased.

  “I wasn’t the handsome guy I am now.” I laughed. “I had pimples, braces and zero percent body fat. No muscle either.”

  That had him laughing hard. “I can’t believe that.”

  “I’m not going to try and prove it to you,” I told him. “All of those pictures have been destroyed.”

  “Liar. Show me. I want to see.”

  “No,” I said. “That was me then, not now.”

  “Now you’re all musclebound,” he said with a small laugh.

  “I wouldn’t go that far, but I don’t have to worry about a strong wind whisking me out to sea,” I joked.

  “That’d be a sight.” He smirked.

  “I need to go,” I said. “I’ll call you once I get her settled. I want to go over this latest revision.”

  “Or we could take the day off like normal people,” he offered.

  “We’re not at the office,” I retorted. “We’re not actually working.”

  “Tell that to my wife,” he said with a sigh. “She’s going to kick my ass if I stay in here working all day.”

  “Fine, send me what you have, and I’ll work on it tonight,” I told him. I didn’t want to get him in trouble with his family. Overworking the few employees I had was not going to help me be successful. It would only end with me being alone trying to run a company.

  I checked the time. They were going to be here any minute. I couldn’t believe Lily was going to be moving in with me. I was probably making a huge mistake. This could only end badly. I was likely going to annoy the hell out of her. I remembered the high school years and how much I annoyed Tamlyn. We used to argue over the dumbest things. We shared a bathroom and she accused me of leaving the lid off the toothpaste. She was convinced I used her shampoo and about a million other stupid things.

  Thankfully, Lily would have her own bathroom. She couldn’t accuse me of using her girly stuff. Then there was the kitchen. And the TV. Were we expected to like the same TV shows? Were we supposed to eat together? I didn’t do the roommate thing in college. I didn’t feel like I was compatible with anyone.

  I walked around the living room and adjusted the blue throw pillow on the couch. The apartment was impeccable. I was a neat person. And I had a housekeeper. There was fresh fruit in a bowl on the sleek kitchen bar that served as an eating area and a surface prep area. The whole apartment was very modern and sleek.

  It certainly didn’t look like the typical Texas home. Not like my parents’ house with cow skulls and the usual southwestern décor. I wondered what kind of décor she liked. I had been to her parents’ house once. It wasn’t Texan but it wasn’t the cool grays and whites I had in my place.

  “You’re an idiot,” I mumbled. I was worrying about décor. Like she gave a shit. She was getting to stay rent-free in my place. According to Tamlyn, she wasn’t exactly flush with cash. I got to be the hero. This was what I had always wanted. I used to have fantasies about sweeping in and saving the day for her. It never happened then, but this was my chance.

  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t kind of excited to flaunt my success. Back when I was thirteen, maybe fourteen and Tamlyn brought her home for the first time, I was immediately smitten. I used to try and get her attention and she wouldn’t even look my way. I was such a nerd. She had been this blonde, bubbly girl who laughed a lot.

  As time went on, my crush for her increased. She got older and filled out in all the best ways. I got older and started thinking naughty thoughts. So naughty. Then we all graduated, and I left for school. I saw her a couple of times the first year after we graduated. The last few times I’d gone home to visit, she wasn’t around. I heard about her mom passing away and had tried to reach out. I sent her a text message but never heard back.

  That wasn’t surprising. A text wasn’t exactly appropriate. It was in the past. This was now. We were adults and this was temporary. I was doing my sister a favor. I doubted that old crush was still alive. I was still crushing on the girl from high school, but that was not the same girl. I was not the same stupid kid. Granted, I was only twenty-two, but four years felt like a lifetime ago.

  I had changed a lot. I imagined she had as well. Living with someone who was essentially a stranger was going to be awkward. I hoped we got along. If she called me a nerd, things were not going to be okay. That was her and Tamlyn’s favorite insult to call me back in school. I didn’t necessarily mind, but it seemed a little disrespectful to insult the guy who was opening his home to someone.

  My phone beeped. I snatched it off the counter and opened the text from Tamlyn. They were here.

  “Here goes nothing,” I said and took one last look around the place. I smoothed my shirt down. I was wearing khaki shorts and a T-shirt with my favorite Nikes. I offered to help carry her shit into my place. They promised me there wasn’t much stuff. She was coming empty-handed.

  I paced the living room while I waited for Tamlyn to bring her up. I was on the sixth floor, which I loved. I loved the view. I loved looking over the city. I wasn’t on the top floor, but one day I was going to be the dude up in the penthouse. I was going to be driving the Porsche and walking into any restaurant I wanted and getting a table without a reservation.

  “Open up,” I heard Tamlyn shout as she beat on the door.

  I groaned and quickly walked to open the door. This was why I couldn’t take her anywhere. She was a wildcard. I pulled open the door. “You’re not in a frat house,” I growled. “Get in here before you get me evicted from the building.”

  She laughed and threw her arms around me. “You know you missed me!”

  I was looking over her shoulder at the woman who had always lingered in the back of my mind. Lily looked different and yet the same. Her bright blue eyes were watching me. Her hair looked a lighter shade of blonde than I remembered. It was p
ulled back in a ponytail. Her high cheekbones and full lips were just as I remembered.

  Tamlyn pulled away from me. “Tommy, you remember Lily.”

  We were still staring at each other. “Hi,” she said with a small wave.

  “Come in,” I said.

  “Thank you so much for this,” she murmured.

  “Sure,” I said and closed the door behind them. “How was the drive?”

  “It was fun,” Tamlyn said with a laugh. “Just a little piece of advice, never let me drive your moving truck.”

  I groaned. “What did you do?”

  “No one died.”

  “Did you drive your car?” I asked Lily.

  “No, I, uh, I sold it,” she said.

  “You sold it?”

  “I figured being in the city I wouldn’t really need it,” she said with a shrug. “And I wasn’t sure about parking. I didn’t want to pay a hundred dollars a month to park it. If I need a car, I’ll get one.”

  “I can run you around if I’m not working,” I offered.

  “Thanks. For everything. This is such a huge help. I really appreciate you doing this for me.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said. “It’s a big place. I’ve got plenty of room.”

  “Don’t brag,” Tamlyn complained and shoved my arm. “The truck is parked in a short-term parking spot. We have to get it unloaded.”

  “Would you like to see the apartment or your room at least?” I asked Lily and ignored my sister. “If the drill sergeant will allow us three minutes.”

  “I would like to see it, please,” she said in a soft voice.

  I had to force myself to look away from her. The years had been good to her. She was still curvy but in a womanly way. She had the body of a petite Sofia Vergara. The short cutoffs with fringes and the light pink tank she was wearing teased me.

  I cleared my throat and reminded myself this was not a live-in hookup. This was my sister’s best friend who needed a place to stay. I spread my arms. “This is the living room, kitchen and dining room,” I said as if it wasn’t obvious.

  “It’s gorgeous,” Lily said. “It’s so open and airy.”

  “Thank you,” I said and pushed open a door to what was supposed to be a study, but it was too small for me. “You’re welcome to use this space to study or whatever. I don’t use it.”

  “It’s cute,” she commented.

  “This is your room down here,” I said and pushed open the door to the empty room I had the housekeeper clean and dust. “You have your own bathroom through there.”

  Tamlyn walked to the window and opened the blinds. “Oh, nice view,” she cooed.

  “This is much bigger than I expected,” Lily said. “It’s beautiful.”

  “My office is across the hall,” I said before leading her back to the main living space. “My room is through there.”

  “This is a really nice place,” she said. “Are you sure you don’t want me to pay some rent? I doubt I can afford half, but I should pay something.”

  “It really is fine,” I told her.

  “I told you,” Tamlyn said. “Now come on. We need to get that truck unloaded.”

  “Damn, are you in a hurry or what?”

  “We have to get the truck back by five or it costs another full day rental,” she snapped. “Not all of us live in fancy apartments.”

  Lily looked embarrassed. “It is kind of important,” she said.

  I understood. “Can I grab a drink first?” I asked Tamlyn. “I’ll guzzle it down. It’s humid and I’m not interested in getting dehydrated.”

  “Since when did you become such a wimp?” Tamlyn scoffed.

  I ignored her and grabbed three waters from the fridge. “Drink,” I said and thrust a bottle at her.

  I gently handed one to Lily.

  “Thank you,” she said with a smile.

  She wouldn’t look me in the eyes. For the first time in all the years I had known her, she seemed intimidated by me. I had spent the better part of my teenage years feeling awkward and ridiculous around her. Now, she was the one who seemed awkward and out of place.

  We all slammed the water before heading downstairs to the moving truck. Tamlyn jumped up to push open the door. I was relieved to see the small truck wasn’t all that packed.

  5

  Lily

  I looked over at Tamlyn, who was staring down at her nails. She could have warned me her brother did the whole butterfly thing. He was not the same scrawny, nerdy dork I remembered from high school. He’d left town as the boy I remembered and had stepped into some makeover portal. He was handsome. No, he was hot. He was sexy.

  The man had put on some weight in the best way. He wasn’t bulky, but he was toned. I wondered where in the world all the manliness had come from. It was like ten years had passed instead of just four. He was a different man, except the glasses. He still wore glasses, but they weren’t like the ones from high school. They were sexy. They made him look like a movie star. They were thick, black-rimmed and perfectly fit to his face.

  Tamlyn was in the truck and pushing boxes toward us. “Tommy, this one is heavy,” she grunted. “You take it.”

  I saw him flinch when she called him by his nickname. It was pretty clear he had not only outgrown his scrawny body but his nickname as well. He took the box and lifted it out of the truck like it weighed nothing. I couldn’t help but gawk at the biceps bulging under his shirt. He headed back inside, snapping me out of my daydream. I grabbed the next box and raced after Thomas.

  I wasn’t ashamed to admit I was staring at his ass the whole time. Where was scrawny Tommy? I wanted to go through the same time warp. I wanted to come out on the other side tall and skinny with perfect skin. He held the elevator for me. Then, we were alone. I shouldn’t have rushed after him.

  “So, grad school?” he asked.

  I nodded and hoped he didn’t notice the trickle of sweat sliding down the side of my face. “Yep,” I said slightly out of breath.

  “That’s ambitious.”

  “I knew I wanted to go all the way,” I replied. It was a question I got a lot. I was used to the skeptics. Someone saw me, a fresh-faced twenty-two-year-old, and wondered why I was going so hard. “I also knew that I wasn’t the type to get out of school and then go back in a few years. I have to do it while I have the motivation.”

  He nodded like he understood, but it was hard to know if anyone understood what my goals were. “That’s impressive.”

  I smirked. “Not as impressive as starting my own company at the ripe age of twenty,” I said.

  “It wasn’t exactly a company,” he said with a nervous smile.

  “You’re successful. Don’t be ashamed of that.”

  “I’m not,” he said. “I don’t want to brag.”

  “Shout it from the rooftops.” I laughed. “I would. I mean, look at your apartment. That’s impressive.”

  The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. We each picked up our boxes and headed down the hall to his apartment. We passed a middle-aged woman that looked like she was in a hurry. She had a cellphone to her ear and a briefcase in her hand. Despite her obviously busy life, I noticed her pause long enough to check out Thomas. I didn’t know where it came from, but I shot her a dirty look. She smirked and walked on by.

  Thomas seemed oblivious to the woman. He opened the door and carried the box to my bedroom. “Thank you,” I said after dropping my own box. “I’m sorry you’re being dragged into helping me carry stuff in. I did try and hire a couple of movers, but I couldn’t get anyone.”

  “It’s not a big deal,” he said and used the hem of his shirt to wipe his forehead. It gave me a glimpse of his flat abdomen.

  I sucked in a quiet breath. Damn. He grew up. I regretted the teasing I put him through. I cleared my throat. “We should get back down there. Tamlyn is very serious about this unloading business.”

  “It’s her nature,” he said as we walked back toward the elevator. “This is why she’s an athlet
e. Or this is why she’s a good athlete. She has no off button. She loves to go full speed ahead.”

  “If only everyone was as capable as she was.”

  When we made it back to the truck, Tamlyn was holding court. She was a beautiful woman and attracted attention wherever she went. “Excuse me,” Thomas growled and stepped in front of one of the three guys that were flirting with Tamlyn.

  “You’re the brother?” one of the guys said.

  “I’m not her father,” Thomas shot back.

  “We’ll help you get the bed and dresser up,” another one said.

  I looked up at Tamlyn, who was beaming. Her mischief knew no bounds. I could see Thomas bristle. I suspected he was about to turn down the offer. I decided it was in our best interest to take all the help we could get.

  “Thank you,” I said. “That would be amazing!”

  The four guys divvied up the workload. My dresser and bed were the only heavy things I had. I grabbed another box and followed them up while Tamlyn stayed with the truck. I could only imagine how many more men she would attract in her little shorts and belly-baring shirt.

  “Thank you, guys,” I said as we all headed back down to the truck.

  “Why don’t you give me a call when you’re settled?” one of the guys said to me. “I’d love to show you around town.”

  I could feel my cheeks reddening. “That’d be nice, thank you.”

  “Got your phone?” he asked in a Texas drawl.

  I pulled it from my back pocket and entered his number into my phone. “Thanks,” I said. “I’ll give you a call.”

  “I’m looking forward to it,” he said with a bright smile.

  Austin was turning out to be very good. I caught Tamlyn grinning at me. “You’re welcome,” she said.

  “Are you two done?” Thomas snapped. “If you want to go clubbing, let me know. I’ve got plenty of shit to do. I don’t need this.”

  “Rawr,” she growled at him. “Relax, big guy. A little flirting never hurt anyone. You should try it.”