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Maybe this is why he never got a couch on his own before, Buck mused, looking at the incredibly long, and yet awkwardly shaped for a rectangular box that now laid on the floor outside of his building.
He should have known that the price for delivery was too cheap, that it didn’t include actual delivery aside from pulling it off the truck and leaving it here. And by leaving it here, Buck means that they didn’t even bother to get it into the front lobby, instead leaving it right on the sidewalk, where pedestrians were starting to shoot him dirty looks for having to maneuver around the obtrusive obstacle.
Of course he had to choose an even heavier couch too, opting to go with a sofa bed for guests, particularly thinking of the occasional nights that Chris stayed over. That kid wouldn’t stop growing, his feet almost at the end of Buck’s last couch. Perhaps for Jee-Yun too, when she got older. The stairs to the loft were definitely not the best for kids.
But now he wasn’t even sure if he could push it into the lobby, let alone up to his loft. Figuring he had nothing to lose except further embarrassment, Buck bent down at the end furthest from the door, planning to try angling it up that first pesky step and then through to the lobby, when he was interrupted.
“Need a hand?” a deep voice asked.
Buck smiled, tilting his head up to look at who had asked, and then had to take a double look to take in all the muscles. Now Buck was a broad, muscular man, but he had nothing on this guy. Maybe the couch could get up the stairs after all.
“Yeah, that would be great,” Buck finally stammered, realizing he hadn’t responded to the initial ask in the appropriate amount of time, his eyes lingering on the other man’s butt. It was a really nice ass too.
“Hey, I’m Buck,” Buck introduced himself, reaching over a hand to only have it engulfed in a larger one, all warm and strong.
“Tommy,” the older man replied, with an answering grin. “So were you thinking of pivoting? Then maybe your lobby might have something with wheels to help out a bit more.”
Buck nodded, slightly flustered. He hadn’t even thought about that, but it was a good idea.
The two of them bent down, lifted, pushed, and finally pulled the couch into the lobby entryway, all with Buck trying to not stare at how Tommy’s muscles flexed as he lifted.
“Jesus, kid, what type of contraption do you have in there?”
“Oh, uh, sofa-bed,” Buck responded, struggling to focus on the conversation, too distracted by the way the word kid made the heat pool in his lower region.
“And what floor do you live on?”
Buck winced as he thought about all the flights of stairs up to his place. “The 6th.”
“Okay then, let’s see what your doorman and crew can do for us,” Tommy replied with a chuckle. “I might be a firefighter, but I don’t think we can move this up without some more help.”
“Really? Me too,” Buck chimed in before waving to Roger, one of the staff who was already headed over in their direction. “I’m with the 118, you?”
“No way,” Tommy replied, sounding surprised. “Captain Nash is still there, right? I used to work at the 118, was there when he first came on. Now I’m out at Harbour.”
“Small world, huh?” Buck replied, wondering if Tommy’s leaving had created the open slot for him.
He continued thinking about it as they struggled to get the couch the rest of the way up the stairs, even with the help of Roger and Greg, but now the couch was sitting on the other side of his island, and Tommy looked like he was getting ready to leave.
Not really sure what he was doing but also not wanting Tommy to leave without a thank you, he turned to snag two beers from the fridge. “Beer? I owe you at least one for helping me lug that upstairs.”
“I can’t right now, got a shift in an hour. But…rain check? Saturday perhaps?”
“Yeah, Saturday works,” Buck responded with a smile. “Couch should be all set up by then, we can make sure it’s comfortable enough for the two of us.” The words tumbled out of Buck’s mouth before he realized how much of a flirtatious comment that was, but the responding wink from Tommy was encouraging, so Buck took another step closer to the man.
Still not entirely sure what he was doing, but rolling with whatever this was and emboldened by whatever brought Tommy across his path this morning, Buck reached out, snagging Tommy’s belt loop with his finger to pull him closer before reaching into his back pocket for his phone. “I’ll just put my number in here, so you can call me if you need to.”
Tommy smiled, not budging an inch from Buck, watching in amusement as Buck maneuvered around his body for his phone. “Oh, I’ll be calling, don’t worry,” he commented as his fingers flew across the touch pad once Buck handed back the phone, quickly sending Buck a message to confirm the contact. “If that’s okay, of course. But I thought you said your name was Buck?”
“Sometimes I prefer Evan,” Buck clarified, not even realizing that he had entered his contact information under Evan until after Tommy asked the question. “Buck is just a nickname. And yes, please call.”
Buck watched as Tommy left the apartment with a large grin on his face as he had to stifle a laugh until after Tommy entered the stairwell, not wanting the very hot man to see him giggling over a silly thought.
But maybe couches didn’t have to only come with girlfriends…