On an Edge of Glass

turns out, she and the English guy actually got engaged.  The wedding date is set for November and all of us are going to try to make it to the wedding—Ben included.
    “Hey babe!”  I call out. “When you get a chance, can you help me get that new bookshelf put together?  I have nowhere to put any of this crap that I’m unpacking.” 
    I pull out a picture frame wrapped in bubble wrap.   It holds a photograph that was taken at graduation.  Ben’s got his arm around my shoulders and he’s kissing my cheek.  I set it flat on the small table next to the bed.
                  Ben sneaks up behind me and grabs my hips.  His mouth is on my neck, raining a hundred tiny kisses along my skin.  “Anything for you, love.”
                  “Mmmmm…”  I spin and drape my arms over his shoulders.  “Maybe the bookshelf and the rest of this stuff can wait for a bit?”
                  He grins.  His fingers inch around my waist toward the button of my shorts.  “Considering that we’re officially grown-ups now,” he says as he kisses a path from my earlobe to my mouth.  “I was thinking that in the name of responsibility, we should test out the bed to make certain that I set the frame up right.  I’m not entirely sure that it’s safe for sleeping.”
                  “Huh,” I say, licking my lips.  “I wouldn’t want to get hurt in the middle of the night.”
                  He’s shaking his head and smiling.  “Noooo…”  His mouth finds that spot just below my ear that makes me fall apart.  His hands are—
                  “Ermahgerd!  Get a freaking room!”
                  I jump back.  Mark is standing just outside my bedroom door holding a pink flamingo statuette.  His face is contorted in a grimace of disgust. 
                  “We are in a room!”  I volley back.  “My bedroom —in case you missed that, Mark.”
                  “Well then shut the door, young lady.”  He lifts his finger in the air.  “When we agreed to live together you promised no monkey business in view of the common areas.
                  I throw my head back and sigh.  Ben chuckles and gives me a chaste kiss on the lips.  “I actually should go home and see if Nick needs help getting the TV mounted on the wall.”
                  “Seriously?”
                  He takes my hand and pulls me behind him as he crosses my apartment.  “Seriously.”
                  “I don’t want you to leave,” I pout, leaning against the open door.  “I can’t believe we don’t live together anymore.  It’s like we’ve done this whole thing backward.”
                  Ben smiles.  He takes my head between his two hands and kisses me on the lips one more time.  “I’ll be back soon to set up that bookshelf for you.”
                  “Okay.”
                  He walks ten steps away and pulls a single key out of his back pocket.  “And if you need me…”  He knocks the wall playfully.  “I’m right next door.”
                  I smile and watch as he disappears into his apartment.
                  “You do realize that you and Ben are positively disgusting, right?”  Mark asks me as I make way back toward him.  “I mean, he and Nick live in the apartment right next to ours.  Your lovebug is just one thin, rat-infested wall away.”
                  “Shut up.”  I launch a chenille throw pillow at him.  “I know that you’re newly single, but you don’t have to get all bitter-rejected-lover on me.”
                  “Hey!  If I’m being completely honest, Hal did me a favor.  We’re in New York City now.”  He spreads out his arms.  “A place that’s full of beautiful men, ready for the taking.”
                  I laugh.  My eyes fall on the weird corded bootie contraption that Ben unloaded earlier.  “By the way, Mark—what is this thing?”
                  “ That , my dear, is a foot warmer.”
                  “A what?”
                  “A foot warmer.  You plug it into the wall and stick your tootsies in there,” he shows me, “and, voila, you’ve got warm feet.”
                  I step back.  “Okay.  That is completely