Page 50 of Boyfriend Maintenance

Kevin is fun, and he gets along with Bex well enough. I thought briefly that the two of them might hit it off a little too much, but Becca doesn’t date younger men. Plus, she has been dating a guy much older than her for the past couple of months. I’ve not met him yet, which doesn’t bother me, but I’m not sure this relationship is going to last a lot longer. She’s whip-smart and loves her bartending gig. Marshal has money, and from what she’s told me, doesn’t love that she tends bar.

Things between Jake and me have been amazing over the past few months. He still works a lot, but on nights when he’s on call, he stays over. As long as he has the office-issued cell phone on him, it’s not a problem. I also stay at his place occasionally, but it’s not Jake’s favorite place to be, so we don’t go there a lot. Mostly, it’s a money pit. He’s always having to put his own money into fixing up his unit because his landlord is shitty about doing it himself. I know Jake is itching to get a house. He told me the night we became a real couple that that was the reason he wanted the money. Not that I really had the money then, or now, but I feel bad he ended up not taking the check I gave him. But his pride is important, it wouldn’t have made him happy if he had cashed it.

If Jake’s happy, I’m happy.

Just as I finish up my turn, there’s a knock at the door. Becca announces she will get it and I briefly wonder if this is the moment we will finally meet stuffy Marshal.

It’s not though, because I hear a familiar voice. My brother walks down the short hall behind Becca. A surprise visit from Levi; it doesn’t happen very often.

“Hey, big brother. What are you doing here?” I walk over and give him a hug. Since the night he came over to tell me he broke off his engagement, I’ve made it a point to hug him more. It’s not something we would normally do but it turns out that we need each other a little more than we thought.

“I was in the building.” He drops the words casually and leans past me to shake Jake’s hand. Things with Jake and Levi were rocky at first. Jake didn’t like the way Levi talked to me the night of the engagement party and he didn’t like the way Levi gave him such a hard time about not knowing me, back when we were still a fake couple. Levi didn’t love that Jake couldn't handle my upbringing at first. But after a few dinners, they seem to have worked things through.

“Hey, Levi.” Jake drops his hand. “I don’t think you’ve met my brother, Kevin.” He jerks his head toward the couch.

Kevin stands and shakes his hand and they exchange pleasantries.

“You a Bears fan?” Kevin asks Levi.

“I am but I missed the first half. How are they doing?” They chat about the game for a few minutes. I don’t miss the look Levi gives Becca when she slides past him and sits down on the couch next to Kevin. She doesn’t sit close, but there are a few other places to sit.

Interesting.

“Levi, so what were you doing in the building?” To my knowledge, he doesn’t know anyone else who lives here.

“Ah, yes. Well, I wanted you and Becca here to be the first to say hello to your new neighbor.” He performs a little bow.

“What?” He has a great little place a few blocks from here, so I wonder why the move. He’d only lived there for about six months. I peek over at Bex and notice that she's eyeing him with curiosity.

“Yeah, you know my place over on Lexington? Well that was actually mine and Darcy’s. I was living there, but it was in both our names. She decided last month that she wanted it. Since I called off the wedding, I decided just to give it to her. Finding a new place and moving was easier than having to deal with her.”

“Didn’t she also go on the honeymoon?” This comes from Bex. Like me, she never liked Darcy, so she was thrilled when I told her Levi wasn’t marrying her. Now that I think about it, maybe it wasn’t because she didn’t like Darcy.

“Yup.” Levi walks over to the couch and sits down next to her. He takes up way too much room when he stretches out and makes himself comfortable.

“So, you’re moving into the building?” I try to get him back on track.

“Yeah, right across the hall. I was looking for a two-bedroom and that unit has been vacant for a while. So, Mr. Eastman cut me a deal.”

“A deal?” Becca looks at him in disbelief.

“Yeah, it’s move-in ready. And he paid half of my down payment.”

Kevin whistles and Jake mutters something under his breath.

“So, you bought it?” Becca crosses her arms.

“I sure did. I’m moving in this week.” He smiles cockily at her, then looks at me, “Looks like you’ll be seeing more of me.”

I smile. I love my big brother, and I couldn’t think of a better neighbor.

“Well, that’s great news, Levi.”

With that, we all enjoy a few more beers, chips and salsa, and then watch our team kick butt.

Later, after the game ends, Levi and Kevin leave and Becca heads out for drinks with Marshal. I sit on the couch with my legs draped over Jake’s legs, watching a Netflix documentary. Jake looks over at me and I catch his eye and smile back at him.

“I wanted to ask you something.” He looks a little nervous.

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