The Men Next Door

Ch 45 - Campbell

December came so quickly that I almost forgot to blink.

Normally, I wouldn't have noticed the change in date, but when Brooks reset his calendar on the first of the month, complete with a few bright pink, dry-erase hearts that seemed out of place against the scraggly black numbers, I couldn't help but tease him about it.

"Secret love poems aren't enough?" I asked. "I get cute calendar drawings too?"

"Mhm." He glanced between me and the hearts, then popped the cap back onto the pink marker. "Except you were supposed to see this one. That's why it's by the door, not in my office. Or on my desk, where secret poems live."

"I think I was supposed to see that poem, too," I told him, biting back a big smile as I remembered the sweet words on a long-forgotten page. "You left the journal wide open, then left me alone in a room with it. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Not snoop," Brooks deadpanned, crossing the open floor plan to get started on dinner. Our much-more-spacious kitchen was probably his favorite part of living in Nashville, and we'd both quickly learned that adding a sous-chef — AKA me — did nothing but slow him down. "You could've closed the journal, or watered my plants, or found a movie for us to watch." He smirked to himself, rolling up his sleeves. "Or just... admired me through the window. There were lots of options."

I shrugged, tracking his movements from my seat at our small, marble-topped island as he plucked ingredients from the fridge. "One little change, and we might not have ended up here."

"Luca would say it was fate," he chuckled, then glanced down at my phone as it started buzzing on the countertop between us. "And call you like I summoned him, apparently."

I shook my head, even though the name on the display was clearly 'Luca IsTheBestNeighborEver.' I probably should've updated it to 'Luca Marino,' but there was something nostalgic about the goofy version he'd typed in. Neighbors or not, I couldn't quite bring myself to change it. "It's Addy."

"On Luca's phone?"

I nodded, swiping at the screen to accept the incoming call before it dropped off. The not-so-silent ringtone reminded me of one of those obnoxious restaurant pagers, and a small sigh of relief escaped my lips the moment it stopped. "She texted me from his number last night. Allegedly, her phone is broken and I don't want to know how it happened."

"Whatever that means," Brooks stated, raising an eyebrow before busying himself with a cutting board and a knife. His lips pursed thoughtfully as he chopped the greens off a few carrots, and I giggled at the idea of what absurd phone-breaking scenarios were running through his mind.

"Are you two talking shit about me?" Addy's muted voice asked from the other end of the line.

"Always," I responded playfully, bringing the receiver up to my ear. "Hi. When are you getting a new phone?"

"I don't know yet. Definitely before we move."

"Before Luca moves in with you, you mean? Isn't that still a month away?"

"So... about that," she started, then launched into a turbo-charged, Addy-style ramble. "Change of plans: we're both moving. Soon, probably. Well, Luca will move soon. By the end of the month. I might stay here until I find a new job or until my lease ends, whichever comes first." She paused like she was weighing her options. "Who knows? We'll see what happens, but I'll come visit for a few days either way. Help him move in, gauge my future closet space. All that good stuff."

"Visit where?" I questioned.

"Oh, right. Surprise! We're moving to Nashville." I heard a loud bang in the background and nearly jumped out of my chair. "Luca insisted on pulling a party popper when I said that. I should've video called, I guess. Imagine there's confetti streaming down."