Your Guardian Angel

Chapter 27

"One...two...lift! Arrgh!" Ben and Tom lifted the ridiculously heavy couch and made their way down the rest of the ramp on the truck. They set it down in front of the door with heavy pants. "Christ, Tom. I didn't like moving this couch into your place in London and I sure as hell don't like moving it to your place here. Why'd you bring this?"

Tom leaned up against it and panted, "Because, Benedict, this couch is worth more than both your houses combined."

"I wish you would drop that," Ben said with a grunt as he lifted the couch with Tom once again. Thank God this place had double doors and not the small standard door they had to maneuver it though last time.

"Drop what?" Tom grunt, his legs shaking from this damn couch. "The fact that your future wife doesn't know you never sold your house in the off chance you'd be going back?" His fingers slipped on the corner, but he caught it before it could fall.

Ben nearly dropped the corner himself, but caught it with his knee. That was a bad idea. He hissed in pain, but didn't say anything about it. "The mortgage is paid off, I turned off the electricity and plumbing, it's not like I'm paying for anything. It's just sitting there, Tom. You're acting like I have a secret family living there—Christ, lift up higher, will you?"

Both men grunted as they took the last few steps into the living room. "Right here," Tom said. "Down in three...two..." Ben set down the couch before he could finish counting down and stood up with his hands on his lower back. "One," Tom rolled his eyes. He set down his part and they both slumped down onto the couch.

They both panted and felt their age hit them like freight train. "Remember when we used to be able to lift two kegs at a time?" Tom reminisced. "We'd walk blocks with them and be heroes when we showed up to the parties."

Ben laughed when he thought back to it. "Oh, to be twenty again. To be thirty again."

"Here, here," Tom replied. "Beer?"

"Please."

Tom got up and went into the kitchen as Ben stayed sitting. He thought more about what Tom had said and regretted telling him more than not telling Cassie. "You won't tell her will you?" He called. "It's just...I know you two have gotten close and I know you respect her. This is just something I need to let her know of in my own time."

Tom came back in with four beers. He handed one to Ben and set the other two on his new coffee table. "Please, Ben," he scoffed. "While I may respect the hell out of her and while I may like her more than you, you are my brother. I wouldn't do that and you know it."

"You told her about my last relationship," Ben pointed out.

Tom let himself fall into the couch with a sigh. "That's because she was pregnant and you were being a dickhead about it. She deserved to know why. And you are welcome, by the way. I still think that's why she didn't completely leave you."

Ben rolled his eyes because he was annoyed about how much Tom was right. "Yeah, yeah you saved my relationship and you will never let me live it down." He took a swig of his beer, then glanced at the clock. He nearly choked on his beer. "Fuck! I'm going to be late I've got to go. Cassie has a work party tonight."

"Party for what?" Tom asked as he got up to show his friend to the door.

Ben chugged his beer, then threw it in the stray garbage bag Tom had set out in the middle of the blank room. He belched. "Some author getting published at the firm and he's supposed to be the next big thing."

"Cassie's nab?" Tom asked with a smile.

"No," Ben sighed, "but she needs to be there and wants me with. Of course I'd rather be preparing my syllabus for next week, but I'm not going to leave her alone. Especially not with that prick, Lawrence, now that she's showing more."