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It did not escape her notice that he wasn’t askingifhe could come, and that he was basically bulldozing his way into her life after being out of it for so long, but it wasn’t a turn off. If anything, it made her curious how far he’d go if she let him. Which maybe wasn’t the most responsible decision, but she fully believed that if she called him on his behavior, he’d back off.
This felt like him trying to prove that he wasn’t going to ghost her again, and she would take that all day long. So let him be bossy. Especially since he was bossing himself right into manual labor for her. She gave him the address and the time she’d planned to be there and then hung up before turning around to face Brooke.
“Okay. He’s coming. Now what the hell do I wear?”
Brooke’s eyes widened and she jumped to her feet.
“Shit… something that you can move in that’s also hot without looking like you tried too hard… we’re gonna need both our closets.”
* * *
Orlando
Getting out of the car in front of Juliet’s old apartment with London, Orlando smiled when he saw the slightly surprised expression on her face. He couldn’t blame her for not really expecting him to show up, even discounting the fact that he’d ghosted her after roulette.
Yes, he’d spent time with Juliet before. Yes, they’d had incredibly hot sex before. But they hadn’t really done mundane activities together before. Moving her stuff? Not exactly the kind of thing he would have volunteered to lend a hand with.
It did seem to have impressed Brooke though. She actually smiled at him, though there was a wariness to her expression when she looked at him. He kind of wondered if she’d been setting him up for failure last night, or if she’d expected Juliet to go off on him for some kind of cathartic release rather than having a scene together. Regardless of her intentions, he was grateful to her for calling him, so he smiled back with his most charming smile.
“Good morning, ladies. So, what are we doing? I’m yours to command,” he said, winking at both of them. Brooke laughed and Juliet shook her head, but he didn’t miss the curve of her lips. She looked good, in jean shorts and a plain v-neck shirt that hugged her curves without clinging to them, hinting rather than showing. Her hair was up in a ponytail again, though it wasn’t as sleek and slick as the one she’d worn last night.
Beside her, Brooke was dressed similarly, though of course her braids were twisted up and around atop her head, and she’d tied a scarf around them. She had two duffel bags looped over her shoulders and there were three boxes tucked inside each other at Juliet’s feet.
“I don’t have a ton of stuff. I grabbed a lot of my clothes and things, what I could easily handle myself without too many trips.” Juliet made a face, avoiding meeting Orlando’s eyes. “It was a little awkward and London was arguing with me the whole time, so I just got out of there as fast as I could. I texted him though, yesterday afternoon, and asked when a good time to get everything else would be. He said this afternoon.”
“So, is he home?” Orlando looked up at the apartment building and back at her. Juliet blinked at him, surprised, like she hadn’t considered it.
“Well, I assumed he’d be gone, since he said this was a good time but… he didn’t actually say.”
“Either way, we’re getting you moved out,” Brooke said, patting Juliet’s arm. “And if he starts any of that ‘you need therapy’ shit in front of me, I’m gonna go off.”
“Hopefully he’s not there.” Juliet sighed. “But I’d rather just get in and get out without any arguing.”
“Fine. But I’ll only hold back for so long.” Brooke gave Orlando a look, as if wondering why he wasn’t speaking up. He smiled at her.
Because if London started hassling Juliet, he wasn’t going to pop off, he was just going to take London aside for a little talk. Man-to-man. Hopefully London would do them all a favor and be absent.
Not letting Juliet pick up the boxes, Orlando managed to grab them first and grinned at her when she glared balefully at him.
When they first walked into the apartment, that was exactly what it seemed like. The living room, dining room, and kitchen were all visible from the front door, and they were all empty. Juliet let out a breath, relaxing as they stepped in. She glanced around, as if looking for something.
Orlando was looking around too, curious as to how she’d lived for the past year and half. What her life with London had been like. Setting the boxes down to the side of the door, he took in the apartment.
The furniture looked comfortable, although a little more modern than Orlando preferred. He liked couches and chairs that he could sink into, that were hard to get up from. There was a gaming console plugged into the television, the controllers resting next to it. A bookshelf on the far wall contained a couple shelves of books, one shelf of DVDs, and two shelves of games.
Sauntering over to get a better look, Orlando raised his eyebrows. He’d never heard of most of the games, there were only a few that were a little familiar —Settlers of Catan and Carcassone. What was Arkhem Horror? Or Seven Wonders?
“Those are all London’s,” Juliet said, seeing where Orlando was looking. Then she stopped and frowned. “Though, technically I think I paid for Arkhem Horror and he never paid me back. I’m taking that one.”
“Do it. I love that game,” Brooke said immediately from where she’d planted herself in the kitchen. “This is your coffee maker, right?”
“Yeah, but leave it. You have one and if I need a new one eventually, I can get it.”
Brooke rolled her eyes but turned away from the coffee maker. Orlando picked up Arkhem Horror in the meantime. The box was huge and heavier than he was used to games being.
“No Monopoly?” he asked. That was one of the few games he’d played with Juliet, after their parents had gotten married. He hadn’t come around much, but there had been one family game night. They’d ended the game before anyone had won, but Juliet had been well on her way there.
Both Juliet and Brooke laughed.
