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Everything Your Heart Desires Chapter 10 Howie stood with his arms wrapped around Cheryl's waist while she fished in her bag for her car keys. Not one to squander an opportunity for some additional time together, Kevin and Kristy stood on the passenger side of Cheryl's car, wrapped in each other's arms. "Can I see you again tomorrow?" Kevin asked, smiling down at the upturned face he'd just finished kissing. Cheryl's head snapped up as she heard the question. Kristy looked across the top of the car at her roommate, and wordlessly agreed. She turned back to Kevin, shoulders slumped and shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, I can't." Kevin felt like someone had knocked the wind out of him... that was hardly the answer he'd expected. "Oh." He suddenly felt like a fool, and averted his eyes from the angel in his arms. Cheryl looked at Howie and shrugged. "Me neither." Howie's forehead creased in confusion. What had just happened? Kristy moved her head to make eye-contact with Kevin. "It's not that I don't want to... I do!" She smiled sweetly and saw that that comforted him a bit. "But it may not be until later in the day... if at all. See, my furniture and the rest of my things are being delivered tomorrow, so Cheryl and I are going to have to spend all day moving it in and unpacking." She wrinkled her nose a bit and continued, "And I have quite a bit of stuff, so by the time she and I get done, we probably won't be very good company." Cheryl nodded, "Not to mention being sweaty, and sore, and dirty, and probably grumpy. It won't be a pretty picture." "What kinda stuff are we talking about here?" Howie asked, trying to picture what the two girls could possibly be getting themselves into. "Everything... my dining room set, the couch, the ottoman, my 'snuggle chair'..." She bit back a smile as Kevin's eyes lit up with the mention of that piece. "An entertainment center, a desk, my armoire, my bed... lots of stuff." "Snuggle chair?" Kevin asked quietly. "Yeah, the Medical Center paid to ship all of Kris's things out... which worked out perfectly since I didn't have a lot of stuff from my old place," Cheryl elaborated. "Snuggle chair?" Kevin repeated, his interest peaked. Kristy smirked, but still wouldn't answer him... not until they said what she wanted to hear. "I still say we should look into hiring some professionals," Cheryl said. Howie gave her a curious look. "Moving men... what'd you think?" Kristy nodded a bit, "I'm beginning to agree." Howie and Kevin exchanged a single look and Kevin decisively put an end to that line of thinking. "You are not hiring movers." Kristy raised an eyebrow at him. "I mean," he amended, seeing that Kristy didn't take to being told what to do very well, "I don't think there's any reason for you to hire movers." "We'll do it," Howie offered, to which Kevin sent him a thankful look for helping him remove his foot from his mouth. Cheryl and Kristy shook their heads and Kristy politely declined. "Guys, thank you for the offer... it's really sweet of you, but I don't want to take advantage of your friendship." Kevin turned Kristy's face to his. "You wouldn't be taking advantage of anything. We offered because we want to help you." "Besides," Howie said as he pulled Cheryl closer, "It gives us an excuse to see you tomorrow!"Kristy and Cheryl were organizing a few things before the guys got there to help them with their moving. Kristy heard Cheryl giggling as she filled the refrigerator with bottled water for their thirsty workers. "What're you chuckling about over there?" Kristy inquired as she wiped off the counter. "Your performance last night!" Cheryl grinned at her roommate. A guilty smile crossed Kristy's face. She bit her lip, "Too manipulative?" Cheryl shook her head. "Nah, they were happy to volunteer. You should've seen Kevin's face when you turned those big sad eyes on him and said you couldn't see him today. I thought the poor guy was gonna cry." "What about you? Hiring movers?!" Kristy raised her eyebrows and chuckled. "Like any man would stand for the woman in his life having to hire another man to do something like that? That's like a personal attack on their masculinity!" she giggled. "I almost thought you were going to blow it though when Kevin told you you WEREN'T hiring movers... though he back-peddles nicely," Cheryl conceded with a laugh. After knowing each other for less than two days, both guys had already figured out they wouldn't be telling Kristy or Cheryl what they should or shouldn't do."So, remind me why I agreed to this," Tim asked as he and Kevin drove up to the condos Howie owned. "Because you're a nice guy and you want to help Kristy and Cheryl out. And because with more man power, we'll get done sooner and then Howie and I can spend more quality time with them!" Kevin answered with a grin as he jumped out of his 4Runner and headed into the complex's office to find Howie. "And so I ask again, why am I doing this?" Tim grumbled good-naturedly as he followed Kevin inside. "D, c'mon. We still gotta call the girls and get directions to their place," Kevin called out while Howie was finishing up in the back room. Howie wheeled out a dolly. "Thought this might come in handy," he said as he passed it off to Kevin. He then pulled out his cell phone and dialed the girls' number by heart... an action that was not lost on Tim, although he suspected that his brother could've done the same thing. "'Sweet D and Train Movers' calling to confirm your appointment today," Howie said into the phone. "We're heading out, we just need directions to your place." He paused, listening to Cheryl, his eyes widening and a smile tugging on his lips. "Uh huh. Uh huh. Yeah. I think we can figure it out... OK, see ya in awhile." "So? Where do we go?" Kevin asked as they all piled into his SUV. "Straight ahead," Howie nodded. Kevin turned and looked at Howie. "You wanna be a little more specific? I think I can figure out how to get out of the parking lot. I meant after that." Howie shook his head, "Actually, we aren't leaving the parking lot... the ladies live in one of MY places!"Three minutes after Cheryl had hung up with Howie, there was a knock on the door. She opened it with a wide smile. "That was quick," she giggled as she gave Howie a light kiss. "How come you never said anything about living here before?" Howie laughed. "Well, at first I didn't know you owned them. Then when I figured it out, I didn't know how to exactly bring it up... 'Oh, and ah yeah, you're my landlord' doesn't come up in conversation very easily. And, well, then I just decided to surprise you!" "Surprise!" John said as he emerged from Kristy and Cheryl's kitchen. Howie smacked his older brother upside the head. "Forget to tell me something?" John chuckled, "Oh yeah! Cheryl and Kristy... those girls you and Kevin are smitten with... live in building five." Kevin and Howie rolled their eyes as Kristy and Cheryl both giggled, "Smitten?" Kevin shrugged and gave Kristy his best puppy-dog look. She smiled warmly at him, drew his head down to hers and kissed him leisurely. "So I see you got suckered into this too?" John asked Tim who nodded and rolled his eyes in Kevin and Kristy's direction. John chuckled and shook his head as he watched Cheryl and Howie whispering by the door. "This is going to be a long day."Next: Chapter 11 |