Page 40 of The Other Room

Just friends.

With a deep breath, I tried to get my feelings for him to stop their Olympic gymnastics tryouts in my stomach. With the realization that kiss existed only in my mind... or only my lips had been moving in for the kill, I felt their antics subside.

“I can’t thank you enough, Matt. Seriously. This is the greatest gift ever.”

“You’re welcome, Jo.” His smile softened before spreading back out into a goofy grin. “Wait! If you think this is cool, just hold on.”

With that he trotted back down the stairs and disappeared around the side of the cabin. A minute later he reemerged, this time with a brown leather loveseat balancing on his back.

The sight of his muscles flexing beneath the weight of the loveseat sent the gymnastics team in my stomach hopping back into their floor routine. But after a second of soaking in the sight of him, I realized standing around staring while he schlepped a heavy piece of furniture solo was just poor manners. Even if I enjoyed the sight of it... a little too much.

“Oh my God, Matt!” I said, hopping into action. “Let me help!”

I ran down the stairs, but he just smiled and kept on walking, that couch looking like it gave him no more trouble than the Superman backpack he’d sported every day of elementary school.

“I got it, Jo. Just grab the door.”

Racing up the stairs ahead of him, I pushed open the screen door. When he got to the doorway, the couch bumped into the doorframe.

“Shit. It’s too wide. Gonna take some finagling. Can I get a hand?”

“Yep. Of course.”

I stepped out onto the porch and watched his eyes narrow in thoughtful contemplation while his creative mind went to work.

“Okay. I got it. You take that end, we’ll flip it on its side, spin it around, then slide it in.”

Despite the innocence of the comment, my mind plunged into the gutter when I thought about the ways I wouldn’t mind him flipping me on my side, spinning me around, and sliding it in.

Ugh! Just friends!

Pushing the incredibly pleasant visual from my mind, I nodded and took ahold of my end of the couch. “I’ll follow your lead.”

We worked together to squeeze the big piece of furniture into the living room, both panting while we scooted it into place.

“Eh?” He smiled, stretching his arms out to showcase the new loveseat. “Not bad, huh?”

He hopped in the air and landed on it with a bounce, then patted the seat beside him. “Sit. Try it. It’s awesome.”

I slid onto the couch beside him and he leaned back, stretching his arms out along the distressed brown leather behind our heads.

“It’s great, Matt. Again. Thank you.”

“Sit back. Really get in there.”

Choking on my groan, I leaned back into the comfortable couch. His forearm brushed against the back of my head, and I tried not to close my eyes and inhale his salty, masculine scent. But when he threw his arm around my shoulder and gave me a squeeze, it was impossible to keep it from invading my nostrils.

He smelled like pure man.

So sexy.

“Whaddya think, Roomster? Not too shabby, right? We’ll be having Family Guy marathons without needing a walker to get around after.”

“It’s awesome.”

Petunia slunk around the corner, her tail puffed up like a raccoon while she examined the new addition to her cabin.

“Hey, evil cat.” They eyed each other up as she slunk away, hissing at him before she disappeared. “And the best part? It’s springy, so when she attacks me, I can leap to safety.”