I trudge out of my makeshift bedroom and into the clutteredattic, folding my arms over my shirt to hide how filthy I am.
“Ellis, you remember Cooper, right?” Mom asks, gesturing at him. “You spent the summer after eighth grade with him.”
I chance a look at Cooper. He glances at me quickly before picking up a box. Judging by the way his biceps and back muscles strain against his white T-shirt, I’d guess it’s a heavy box.
“Yeah,” I reply. “We actually talked earlier today.”
Sort of.
“Oh, excellent!” Mom says, her smile growing. Aunt Naomi and Sloane climb the steps behind Cooper.
“Hey, Naomi,” Cooper says. “Should I put this in the living room?”
“That’d be perfect,” Aunt Naomi says.
He carries the heavy box down the steps, and Sloane hands me a light one, offering a nervous smile.
“Are things going any better with him than they did earlier?” she asks quietly while Mom and Aunt Naomi sort through boxes, picking out the heavy ones for Cooper.
“He hasn’t tried to kill me, but he also hasn’t spoken to me.”
“Are you going to ask him what his problem is?” Sloane asks. “Because I’m dying to know.”
I’m dying to know too. But I’d rather not have an audience of nosy relatives when I ask him.
I shrug. “Maybe eventually.” I step around her with the box. “But right now I just want to get this job done and take a shower.”
We spend the next hour carrying boxes from the attic to the living room, Cooper acting as if I’m not there and me wishing I weren’t.
By the time we finish, the five of us are dripping sweat, and I’m forcing myself not to stare at Cooper’s flushed cheeks or the toned stretch of abs beneath his shirt when he lifts it to wipe his forehead.
He is the definition of a distraction. I might actually be lucky he wants nothing to do with me.
“I ordered pizza,” Aunt Naomi announces, continuing to pull decorations from the boxes in the living room. She sorts them into piles only she and Sloane can make sense of. “It should be here any minute.”
“Oh. I actually have to go,” Cooper says. “I told my mom I’d be home by seven. I’m already late.”
“You didn’t think I’d let you come over to help and not feed you, did you?” Aunt Naomi asks. “Don’t worry—I already texted your mom to let her know.”
Cooper forces a smile. “Oh. Okay. Awesome.”
“Cooper, I’ve never heard you be so quiet,” Sloane says before chugging a bottle of water.
His eyes connect with mine for such a brief second, I question whether I imagined it. Then he shrugs. “I’m just tired. The shop was busy today.”
“Cooper works at the Caffeinated Cat,” Sloane tells my mom.
“Oh, how neat. I’ll have to check it out this week,” Mom says. “I’m thinking of applying for a job at the art-and-crafts store next door.”
I raise my eyebrows.This is news to me.“You are? Why?”
Mom grins. “I miss working, and I’d like to pay some form of rent.”
“Oh, stop that,” Aunt Naomi says, waving off Mom. “I don’t want your money.”
Cooper’s brow furrows in confusion. “Rent? How long are you visiting?”
“Ellis didn’t tell you when you talked earlier? We’ve moved here,” Mom says. “Temporarily!” she adds, seeing my horrified face. “We’re around long enough for me to get a job, though.”
