Brayden slumped hard into the couch in his living room. He and James had sorted through the kitchen for nearly 4 hours, trying to divvy up what belonged to who. It seemed James was just as eager to get Brayden out as Brayden was to leave. Not a single harsh word between them while they did the entire kitchen, it had been awkward and soul crushing work but at least the hardest part of the apartment was delt with. Brayden groaned at the ceiling before gathering his courage and finding another box.

Brayden started in the laundry room, throwing all his shoes that he wouldn’t wear while there was still snow on the ground into a box, and sealing it up, placing it on the stack he had growing.

He’d take it all to Lillian’s soon, an in between place for his things, so when move out day came, it would only be his furniture. He would have taken it to his moms, but she was just so far away from the city that it didn’t make sense to drive all the way out there.

A box from his desk followed, old papers and things from high school filled this one. Brayden eyed his stack of boxes with reproach before he decided to start bringing them down to his truck.

He pushed the hair off his face, or tried to, with his shoulder, pressing the elevator button with a knuckle. Brayden huffed out a breath and stared at the elevator doors impatiently.

“What the fuck is taking so long?”

He grumbled internally.

Finally, the elevator rang, and the doors started to slide open. Brayden rushed in, his stack of boxes blocking his immediate view. Something thudded against the wall of boxes stopping him.

‘What the fu-” Brayden started.

“Sorry!” A small voice from the other side squeaked.

Brayden thought he recognized that voice from somewhere but couldn’t place it.

“Sorry.” He replied, stepping out of their way before stepping into the elevator.

When he turned around to somehow jam a knuckle into the button to take him down to the parking garage, he thought there was something familiar about the girl he glanced on the other side of the doors.

Did he know her? She didn’t live in this building, not that he could remember anyway. There was something oddly familiar about her, he just couldn’t place her. Deciding that he didn’t recognize her voice or face and that meant it wasn’t important, he promptly forgot about her.

Brayden loaded some of the boxes into the bed of his truck, spotting the canvas still stored back there. What was Lillian was going to do with it?

She could want to keep it; it is her ass. He thought to himself.

He quickly texted her before he forgot and loaded the rest of the boxes in.

Having halved the number of boxes sitting by their front door, Brayden deemed it a job well done and decided he wasn’t going back down after getting back to his apartment. His phone buzzed in his pocket with a text from Lillian.

Ask James if he wants it back, it was rude of me to take it, it was a gift.

Are you sure?

Yeah, he’ll probably say no anyway but plz ask, if he doesn’t want it then I’ll find somewhere for it.

OK. One sec.

Brayden glanced across the apartment at James’s ajar door.

“Hey James,” Brayden called walking up to the door, rapping on it once lightly before continuing inside. “Did you want that canvas of Lillian’s ass back? She said it’s yours and she’s sorry for taking it…” Brayden trailed off.

The girl from the elevator was in James’s bed, and worse James was just moments away from being in her. The girl was in her underwear.

Did Lillian have a pair like that?

he thought briefly before looking away. James was shirtless between her thighs where she was had been fumbling his zipper down.

“Sorry!” Brayden coughed out slamming James’s door shut behind him.

He looked down at the phone still in his hand and blankly into the apartment, before looking back at it.

He said you should have it.

That’s it? OK. Thanks I’m bringing a bunch of boxes over tomorrow I’ll bring it with me.

Brayden lowered his phone and stared at nothing for another minute. Clearly James wasn’t nearly as hung up on Lillian as Brayden expected him to be. God they’d only been broken up for… Brayden counted with his fingers – 17 days! He tried to reason that Lillian wasn’t exactly waiting around to move on either but there was something about it that gnawed at him. That girl looked so familiar, and James had seemed so cut up about Lillian.

Brayden chewed on his lip thoughtfully before he was sent flying away from the door and into his own room when suggestive noises started floating through.

Hours later Brayden lounged on the couch in the living room. Mindlessly scrolling on his phone while a show Lillian liked played on the TV. He had busied himself with more boxes ignoring the act happening in the other room. He was a little worried he was packing too quickly, and he’d have no shit left for weeks before he found a suitable apartment. The only reason it wasn’t a house was Brayden didn’t think Lillian would react well to him buying her a house right off the bat.

He responsibly changed his scrolling to apartments in the city, focusing on closer to Lillian and where he worked, trying to find something neatly in the middle. He booked several viewings cross referencing them with Lillian and her schedule for the next few days he had off. 3 apartments to look at tomorrow, and another 2 on Wednesday after her class.

Brayden stared at the ceiling of the living room he’d called home for the last 6 years. He decided he never liked it that much anyway and started to get excited about finding somewhere new.

Somewhere new with her.

He looked at the date on his phone and tried to remember. It was any day now, when he really saw her for the first time. He had known her years at that point but around this time the year before he started to notice her. She was coming out of her shell; she’d offhandedly flirt with him or ask him meaningful questions about how or what he was doing. She wasn’t looking to James for confirmation on every word she said anymore. Brayden smiled at the memory of accidentally coming home to find her in a towel in his kitchen. Her whole body had turned red before she had darted away into James’s room, leaving the fridge open.

Brayden closed his eyes and thought of all their verbal battles, his battle of wills against himself. He drifted off, greedily reliving his favourite moments with her.

Small hips rocked gently against his own, feather light kisses brushed his neck and jaw. Brayden hummed his approval at Lillian’s sweet pecks along the curve of his jaw. His hands found her waist and he frowned. Her hips were too narrow, and her skin felt wrong. Brayden’s brow furrowed realizing her lips weren’t the right kind of soft and the hair falling around his face didn’t smell right. His sleep heavy eyes blinked open slowly, trying to figure out what was wrong, his fingers tried to feel her ribs and found the wrong set beneath his palms. Trying to blink the sleep blurred vision away, the girl in his lap rocked more desperately against him.

“What the fuck?” He finally managed.

Using the grip he already had on this girl he lifted and nearly threw her off himself. It was the fucking elevator girl, again! He sat up hastily and glared at her.

“Who the fuck are you? And what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” He snapped harshly.

Brayden’s eyes darted to the oven clock reading 2am and then back at her.

“You don’t recognize me?” She frowned tilting her head to the side.

“I recognize you from the elevator and my roommates’ bed.” Brayden glared.

“Racheal? We went out a couple times about this time last year?” She cattily replied.

“Racheal? I don’t… - oh right Racheal.” Brayden gapped.

He studied her hair and shoulders again. She was the first girl Brayden had tried to go out with who had reminded him of Lillian. Her hair was the same colour, and she had slim shoulders, from the back she looked quite similar. Flashes of fucking this girl from behind clouded his vision. Right, Racheal. She’d been annoying, if he remembered right, but she had looked enough like what he imagined Lillian to look like from behind that he’d forced himself to see her a few times, imagining Lillian in her place.

“I remember, yeah Racheal. That doesn’t answer my other question though, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Well, James found me on Tinder the other day and when we came back here, I remembered him and your place, I guess that little girl he was seeing is gone. When I saw you asleep out here, I thought maybe we could, you know, since I’ve slept with you both maybe we could all have a little fun together.” Racheal smiled suggestively, running her hands up Brayden’s thighs.

Brayden couldn’t help the sound of disgust that came out of him as he stood up, shaking her off him.

“Not happening.” He glared down at her.

She was wearing one of James’s shirts and that pair of underwear from before, Brayden recognised them finally. Lillian did not own a pair like that. He remembered pulling those off with his teeth at one point trying to drown out the insipid sounds this girl made with the ones he’d heard from James’s room.

“Why not? I thought we had a good time. You were such an animal in bed I don’t see how or why you’d turn down a threesome.” Racheal countered.

“I’m seeing someone.” He said flatly, starting to walk away.

“You should call her, we don’t have to tell James, the two of us would probably do whatever you wanted.” She continued, following him.

“She is not that kind of girl.” At least that Brayden was aware of. “And I’m not that guy anymore.” He snapped at her again. “Leave me alone.” He growled, before reaching his door and slamming it closed behind him.

He paced weakly before his bed before throwing himself down onto it. Was he supposed to tell Lillian about this? Was it just some kind of freak thing? Dirty images of him and a faceless girl fucking Lillian flashed before him. He growled.

That isn’t helpful he scolded himself.

He would just tell her the whole thing tomorrow like some kind of anecdote and hope that she really was that understanding. He puffed and ran his fingers through his hair. He had forgotten all about Racheal. She was one of half a dozen girls he'd gone through trying to satiate the craving he had for Lillian, before giving up completely back in August. He really was some kind of depraved animal, shaking his head. Thoughts of a threesome rolled around in his head again. Brayden could never share her with another guy, but a girl?

A scene flared to life behind his eyelids, Brayden would be buried deep in her ass, having her leaning back against his chest while he kissed her neck and pulled gently on her nipples. A faceless girl would be between her legs, devouring her, making her quiver and clench around him, the girl would use two fingers while she played mercilessly with her clit making Lillian scream and cum while Brayden watched, feeling her cum drip onto his balls. Lillian would beg and beg for him to fuck her after that. Putting on a show with the other girl for him, while he watched her eat the other girl out, showing him new things she might like with her tongue.

Brayden’s eyes flew open, and he rubbed his face roughly with a hand. He was a monster, he decided. He cursed that girl for putting the idea of a threesome in his head. He griped and growled, pulling his clothes off roughly before burying his face in his pillow forcing himself to go back to sleep.