Read Accidentally in Love for Free Online

up and grinned. “In a box?”

    “You’re a genius!” Cal sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “You know, I really hope this works out, because I am sick of moving.”

    Tom gave him a thoughtful look. “Yeah, I can imagine.”

    “What about you?”

    “What about me, what?” Tom asked, frowning.

    “Do you think this will work out? Us living together?” Cal wasn’t sure why he wanted the confirmation.

    “I don’t know. I hope so. Not like I’m a big fan of painting.”

    From the stairs, Jason called, “Come on, Cal. Get a move on! If you think I’m bringing the rest of these boxes up on my own, you’re crazy!”

    Cal smiled ruefully at Tom. “I guess I’m not going to get away with claiming I’m crazy, huh?”

    “Probably not,” Tom told him.
     
    “Coming!” he called to Jason and headed for the stairs.

    Three hours later, in desperate need of a shower, Cal lifted a hand to Jason, who was driving away in his friend’s truck. He turned and trudged back inside to the kitchen, where Tom was trying to fit a pizza box into the refrigerator. Tom was kneeling on the kitchen floor with a collection of white Chinese food containers beside him, and looked up at Cal as he came into the room.
     
    “I can’t remember if these are the ones from the other day or the ones from last week,” Tom explained, gesturing at the cartons.

    “Smell test,” Cal suggested.

    Tom shook his head. “I’m too scared. Once I inhaled mold, and I didn’t stop coughing for two weeks.”

    “I’ll do it.” Cal picked up one of the cartons, opened it, and looked inside. “Noodle something?” He sniffed cautiously.

    “I always get noodle something,” Tom said. “I take it it’s not green.”

    “Nope. Smells okay.” Cal set the carton aside and tried the others, sorting them into edible and less so. “I think these are all for the trash. You should be good with the others.”

    “Thanks.” Tom began to scrape the discarded food into a recycling bucket that he kept under the sink. Cal was all for recycling, but Tom seemed to take it really seriously, unless it was a system set up by Sally. There were boxes for glass, plastic, cardboard, and plastic in the mudroom off the kitchen, and any food scraps got added to a composter on the side of the house. “Makes more room in there, anyway. Do you—would you like some?”

    “I don’t know how you want to handle the food situation,” Cal said. “I’m happy to help you eat the leftovers and make some more room in there. I don’t want to sponge off you, though.”

    “It’s two-day-old noodles,” Tom said. “I think you’re excused from sponging.”

    “Even so.” Cal shrugged. “Well, let’s see how it goes. Maybe when I know I’m going to be around for the week, we can go shopping and split the cost. We can take turns paying if we’re feeling lazy and want pizza.”

    “Sure,” Tom said without hesitation.

    “You’d tell me if I was doing something that bugged you, right?” Cal asked. Tom seemed so diffident at times, and Cal could imagine him being taken advantage of. He knew he could be a little overwhelming at times, and he didn’t want Tom to feel pressured into agreement on anything, no matter how trivial.

    Tom smiled as if he could tell what Cal was thinking. “I’d tell you. I’d probably be way too blunt about it, just to warn you. But I’d tell you.”

    “Good to know.” Cal privately thought that Tom’s confidence wasn’t high enough for him to be truly blunt. “Though you’re showing a lot of restraint in not telling me that I need a shower.”

    “That comes under the heading of ‘personal,’” Tom said. “I don’t go there. Your business. If I don’t like the way you smell, I’ll leave the room.” He gave Cal a sidelong glance. “I’d appreciate it if you did the same for me. Stay out of my personal life, I mean. I don’t need advice, and I’m not a charity case.”

    Cal let that sink in.