The Eyes Have It 8

This is a work of fiction. All characters are over the age of 18.

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A loud bang startled me awake. The first thing I was immediately aware of was my hangover. On a scale of one to ten, this one was a thirty. The second thing I was aware of was my best friend Hoss standing in the doorway to my bedroom, dressed in nothing but boxers.

"Jesus, dude. You okay?" His already deep voice was even deeper, having just been woken up. He looked like shit, which was pretty much how I felt at the moment. We had hit the bars pretty hard in downtown Cleveland last night. Neither one of us did well.

"Wasn't me, man. What the fuck are they doing outside?" My tongue felt nasty and I wanted to puke.

I pulled on some sweatpants and a t-shirt from the dirty clothes pile on the chair next to my bed. By the time I made it to the living room, Hoss had put his jeans on but was still bare chested.

There was another loud bang, followed by "Son of a bitch, that hurt!" It was a woman's voice outside the door to my apartment. There was an edge to the voice that sounded like it did hurt, a lot.

Another woman's voice, "Sorry, it slipped. This thing weighs more than I do and I can't hold it up."

Knowing the sunlight would hurt my eyes, I shaded them as best I could as I opened the door. Right in front of us, two women were trying to manhandle what appeared to be a queen sized mattress down the walkway. The taller woman was dressed in a tank top and shorts, wearing flip flops. After noticing that she had nice breasts and great tanned legs, I could see the cut on her foot was starting to bleed. The smaller, younger appearing woman was similarly dressed, with tennis shoes instead of flip flops. I could hear Hoss suck in his breath behind me.

"Damn, they're cute. We should help, dude."

The older woman looked up when the door opened. "Oh, hi. We're just trying to move this into the next apartment. Sorry if we woke you up." She had a really nice voice, too. My eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight and I saw her face clearly. Rather, I saw her eyes clearly. Whatever it was I was going to say, I completely forgot. Those eyes were...captivating.

Hoss spoke from behind me, since I was at a loss for words. "We can help you with that. Right, D-Bag?" That snapped me out of my state of awe. I hate it when he calls me D-Bag.

"Don't fucking call me that, asshole. Yeah, we can help. By the way, you're bleeding there," I pointed down to her foot. Her nails were painted a deep red and she had a little toe ring on her second toe. "Flip flops aren't the best thing to wear for moving stuff, you know."

She started to say something but changed her mind, "Yeah, I know. We appreciate the help, thanks."

After we ducked back into the apartment to put on some shoes, Hoss took over at the far end of the mattress while I grabbed the head end. Lifting it up, we carried it towards the open door to the apartment next door to me.

The younger woman stared at Hoss. "Hi, I'm Megan. Thanks so much for helping." She had one of those "fuck me" voices. I couldn't help but notice the look on my friend's face. Shit, he was literally smitten by this girl.

"I'm Hoss. Nice to meet you, Megan." His goofy grin told me that all I was going to hear about for the rest of this lifetime was how amazing this girl was. She was beautiful, no doubt about that. Dark hair framed a face that shared enough similarity to the other girl to tell me they were sisters. She was more petite than her sister but she didn't have her sister's eyes, though.

"Aw, fuck, here we go again," I could hear the other woman mutter under her breath. "Smile, flex, heartbreak." She was staring at Hoss, as if assessing his level of dangerousness.

"He's a teddy bear. I'm Doug, by the way. I'm in the apartment next door."

She looked at me again with those eyes. "I'm Lauren, most people call me Laurie. This is going to be my place." Her expression was neutral as she looked me over. I couldn't tear myself away from those eyes.

"Hi, Laurie. You might want to look at that cut on your foot, it's still bleeding pretty good."

She looked down at her foot as she swung her leg forward to get a better look at the wound. Muttering something I couldn't catch under her breath, she led us into the apartment. "Just set the damn thing in the bedroom for now. I still have to bring the frame up and put it together." She dug through a box, pulled out a first aid kit and headed toward the bathroom. Megan followed her with a bouncy sway in her step. Hoss stared at her ass as it disappeared behind the closing door.

"Holy shit, dude. Megan is HOT!" Yeah, Hoss had it bad. "What's her sister's name?"

I was still trying to figure out who I was through the hangover, and mumbled "Eyes."

"What?"

"Oh, shit, sorry. It's Laurie." Hoss gave me a funny look, part confusion and part amusement.

"I'm getting Megan's number, dude. Not leaving until I do." Hoss was always supremely confident in his ability as a ladies' man. Me, not so much. "Laurie's cute, too."

"Yeah, we'll see. I don't think her sister likes you." I could hear muted voices coming from behind the bathroom door, Laurie was doing most of the talking and it didn't sound encouraging, gauging from the tone of her voice.

The door opened and the girls filed out, a fresh bandage in place over Laurie's foot. Laurie took the lead, "Thanks for helping, guys. We really appreciate it."

"How much more do you have? We can help, we're not doing anything else, honest." Hoss was talking to Megan. Laurie was not happy about that at all, especially since Megan wasn't making any attempt to shut him down. If anything, she was actively encouraging him, standing next to him, touching his arms and constantly smiling at him.

"Really? That would be so cool, Hoss. Thank you." Megan had decided we were going to help, regardless of her sister's opinion. I was just glad she was on the receiving end of her sister's glare and not me.

Laurie glanced at me and I just shrugged. Every time I looked into those eyes, I completely forgot how to talk. Hoss poked me in the side, "Let's go, dude. We got stuff to haul up and it's not going to get any cooler." Megan reached out and stroked his arm as he walked by. Hoss' grin got even goofier. Laurie groaned behind me. It was starting to dawn on me that Megan might be just a little guy-crazy. Hoss was probably going to be insufferable, given his obvious attraction to Megan.

On our way down the stairs, Hoss gave me shit as expected. "You like her, huh? She looks at you and you freeze like a deer in the headlights. She's cute, too. Not as pretty as Megan, though. Seriously, you gonna ask her out? You should, man. You need to get laid."

"Shut the fuck up, Hoss. Let's get this over with so I can die a natural death from this hangover." I really didn't feel that bad any more, I just wanted him to shut the hell up.

Hoss' crack about getting laid really pissed me off. We'd known each other since first grade and he was the only one I would let get away with saying something like that. My only serious relationship had started in the tenth grade with Stacy Allen. We went to every high school dance together, went to college together, and I had thought that we were eventually going to get married. Until she decided that she wanted to move to California. I didn't want to. So, after seven years, our relationship ended, not with a bang but a whimper. There was no fight, no definitive "it's over" moment. We just stopped seeing each other. In the beginning, I thought I loved her but when the end came, I discovered that I really didn't. She was familiar, she was comfortable, and we were just a habit that we had fallen into.

Another thing I discovered was that I couldn't get romantically interested in other women after Stacy. I would date here and there, but never the same woman more than twice. Again, we would part ways through neglect more than anything else. I hadn't had sex with anybody since Stacy. I spent more time as Hoss' wingman than actively trying to meet women. Not that I was any good at that, either.

On the other hand, Hoss went through women like nobody's business. In a room full of them, he would inevitably pick the one that would break his heart. He was just that kind of guy. He was honest, faithful, all the things women claim they want in a man, and then she would do him dirty. He worked for his grandfather's construction company, he made good money, dressed nice, took really good care of himself, again all the things women say they want. Truth is, he simply made bad choices when it came to women. It just never stopped him from trying. I didn't seem to have the heart for it.

Except now that I met Laurie. Those eyes. They were deep, dark emotional wells. Eyes that said she was a lot more caring than she outwardly let on. I'd seen her expression and her eyes when she looked at her sister flirting with Hoss. I felt dumb, like a clueless teenager all over again whenever she looked at me.

It was mid afternoon by the time we had emptied the back of the box truck they had rented. We put the frame for the bed together and placed the mattress on it for her. We put boxes where she indicated in the bedroom, living room, bathroom and kitchen. All the while, Megan and Hoss flirted shamelessly. I thought it was funny, Laurie obviously didn't. She said something I couldn't hear to Megan at one point and Megan told her, "Shut up, he's not like that at all. Every guy is not like Robert."

Eventually, everything made its way to where it was supposed to be. Megan made a show out of giving Hoss her number, which just pissed Laurie off even more than she already was. I found her in the kitchen, putting away dishes.

"Okay, I'm out of here. I need to shower and get something to eat. I'm right next door if you need anything."

She turned to look at me and I fell into her eyes all over again. It sounded like she said something along the lines of "Okay, thanks, Doug. I really appreciate all your help." Her smile finished the job of blowing me away. I walked into the doorframe on my way out, causing Hoss and Megan to laugh. I was too embarrassed to turn around to look at Laurie.

Hoss was sitting in the living room when I got out of the shower and got dressed. I felt much better than I had before with all the physical exercise. We decided on pizza and I ordered it through the app. We then cracked open a beer and sat on the couch to wait for it.

"I got her number, dude. I told you I would." He was joyously triumphant, waving his phone around in front of my face. He even had her picture for the avatar. Her smile was a genuine smile, all teeth and eye crinkles. I think she liked him just as much as he liked her.

"Did you make sure? She didn't give you one of those 1-800-Go Fuck Yourself numbers, did she?" I couldn't resist. That actually happened to him in a bar downtown last year. I wasn't about to let him forget it, either. I mean, what are best friends for?

"Come on, you know me better than that. I had her text me and then I texted her back. I only fell for that once, give me a break, D-Bag."

"Okay, Henry." He hated that name as much as I hated D-Bag. Henry was his given name, used only by his mother when she was pissed and me when I was trying to piss him off.

"Fuck you, asshole." We laughed. For at least tonight, life was good. The pizza arrived still hot, the beer was cold, and the Guardians won 4-2. We could hear the girls moving things around next door for a while and then they left together. Hoss left around eleven or so. They still hadn't come back by then. Megan spent most of the evening texting Hoss, though.

In an unusual turn of events, I didn't get the usual play by play from Hoss. I didn't pry. She had seemed legitimately taken by my friend and he was definitely in deep over her. Maybe the hundredth time was the charm for him and staying out of it would be for the best. I certainly wasn't an expert at love.

He also didn't give me any more crap about Laurie, either. That thought hadn't occurred to me until after I had gone to bed when Hoss left. I finally fell asleep sometime after midnight. My dreams were filled with those eyes and that smile.

I woke up the next morning feeling totally human. After a shower and my usual morning routine, I stripped the bed and collected the rest of my laundry. As I was headed out the door to the laundromat, Laurie came out of her apartment with her laundry stuff. She was wearing another tank top and tight yoga shorts. She had on different colored flip flops this morning.

"Hey, Doug. Thanks again for helping us yesterday." She smiled and I almost fell down the stairs. What the hell is wrong with me?

"Morning, Laurie." Damn, that was awful. "You're welcome. How's the foot doing?"

"Good." She raised her leg and pointed her foot so I could see it, she had a clean bandage on it. "Can I follow you to the laundry room? I don't remember where it is." She adjusted her grip on the laundry basket, causing her breasts to sway slightly under her t-shirt. Eyes up, Doug, eyes up.

"I don't use the laundry room here, the washers are usually messed up. There's a laundromat just down the street that's not too outrageous. At least their machines work." Inspiration struck me, "You want a ride? It's not that far."

Laurie smiled at me, "Sure, I'll take a ride as long as you behave yourself."

"Always. It's why I'm still single." Seriously, did I just say that out loud?

Her laugh was just as amazing as her smile and her eyes. "Figures." We loaded our stuff in my car. I remembered my manners enough to open her door first. I gave her plenty of room to get past me, I didn't want to be creepy.

The conversation to the laundromat was the usual get-to-know-each-other stuff. Laurie was 25, she worked at a bank as a customer service representative, Megan was her only sibling. She went to The Ohio State University, she corrected me on using "The", and graduated with a degree in Finance. She had just moved back here but didn't want to live at home.

I told her about me, I'm 26, graduated from Cleveland State with a degree in Computer Science, no siblings. I worked for a financial services company downtown as a technician, where I spent most of my days fixing ID-10-T errors and resetting forgotten passwords.

I noticed that she wasn't wearing a ring, didn't have any kind of shadow on her finger from one, and she didn't mention any current boyfriend. I'd already blurted out I was single so she didn't even have to ask. I'd sort of figured out the boyfriend part on my own, since it had been just her and Megan doing the initial moving. Girls never seemed to have any problem letting me know they were taken, so this was a good sign.

It wasn't until after we started the washers that the subject turned to Hoss and Megan. She had a lot of questions about my friend. A lot. She probably asked each of her questions at least three different ways. Questions like: Was he a player? How many girlfriends has he had lately? Party habits? Stuff I would expect a very protective sister to ask. I answered her truthfully. Hoss was a good human being who had bad taste in women, for the most part. Not that I thought Megan was bad, far from it, he simply hadn't made good choices in the past.

"Hoss is a great guy. He's never mistreated anybody who didn't deserve it in spades. I'm actually more worried about Megan fucking his head up than I am about him fucking hers up."

Her reaction caught me a little off guard. Her eyes flashed as she said, "Meg picks losers. Always has. They're going a little too fast. Just like every other time she sees a guy she likes. She's all in. Your friend seems nice. Seems. You seem nice -- ", she broke off the sentence suddenly, apparently realizing she was about to go too far. "I worry about her, that's all. Her last boyfriend was a fuck up."

I just nodded. Hoss' ex-girlfriends were a who's who of opportunists and emotionally unavailable types. Megan didn't seem like that but I had been wrong before. The conversation lulled for a bit, both of us fiddling with our phones.

As soon as the washers stopped, we loaded everything into adjacent dryers. I tried very, very hard not to look at her laundry as she stuffed it into the dryer. Unfortunately for her, torturous for me, she seemed unable to get her underwear into the dryer without dropping it in plain view. It wasn't hard to figure out she liked lacy things. Colorful lacy things. I couldn't tell if her face was red from exertion or embarrassment. All the bending over also highlighted the fact that she had an outstanding ass. I couldn't tell if she had gone commando or not, but there were no visible lines under her yoga shorts. It did keep me from staring at her underwear, though. I was spending a lot of time with my hands in front of my partial erection.

She did check out my laundry, too. My work clothes were conservative slacks and shirts, I had a couple of pairs of jeans, a few casual shirts and some graphic t-shirts. I have a thing for argyle socks to go along with regular black athletic boxer briefs. Just your typical mid-20's guy who buys his own clothes.

Another forty five minutes went by as the dryers hummed. We didn't revisit Megan and Hoss, though. She liked Italian food, red wine and rom-coms. She was more of an adult contemporary music fan, although she did listen to other types of music on occasion. She made fun of my beer, pizza and rock and roll lifestyle, but it was good natured. I'm not a complicated person. I can enjoy a good steak and whiskey, same as anybody else.

It wasn't until we got to making fun of me that I noticed her smile had changed. She had smiled and laughed when we talked about Megan and Hoss but when we got on the subject of ourselves, the smile and laugh were magical. Her eyes lit up, the works.

Until I fucked up and asked her about a boyfriend. Somewhere a switch flipped and we were back to all business. "I don't really have time for a relationship. I have enough trouble taking care of Meg after hers implodes." Her unhappiness was evident. It was looking more and more like Megan and Hoss were either meant for each other or the train wreck of the millennium in the making. I was hoping for the former.

"Sorry, didn't mean to get nosy. My experience has been that attractive women like you always have a boyfriend. I was just surprised." As usual, too much explanation. She dropped her head to look at her phone but not quickly enough to hide that smile. Her face was all business again when she looked up. I was trying really hard to hide my elation at her admission that she didn't have a boyfriend. It meant I might have a chance. Probably almost nonexistent, at best, but it was still a chance.

We collected our clothes, folded what needed folding to take back, and then headed back to the complex. I was a gentleman and followed her up the stairs. I tripped over my own feet twice. I swear by the time we reached the top of the stairs, she was swinging her ass on purpose. Fortunately, my laundry basket hid my hard on. I managed to get inside without falling or dropping anything. I don't think I hid being flustered all that well, though.

I opened up my ironing board and plugged in the iron to warm up. Grabbing a beer from the fridge, I could hear snippets of Laurie having a conversation next door with somebody on the phone, probably Megan. Our kitchens were back to back so noise seemed to carry between apartments pretty well.

"Where was I? Doing laundry." Pause. "I was busy, didn't check my phone." Longer pause. "Doug showed me where he does his laundry." Another pause. "None of your fucking business. What did you want?" The voice faded out, probably moving to somewhere else in the apartment. We both had our phones out during the entire time at the laundromat. Come to think of it, hers never made a sound the entire time. Mine hardly does, usually just from Hoss' texts.