“Books are heavier,” I say. “They go first.” I shoulder a banker’s box that says H: BOOKS (HEAVY). “Where’s the stairwell?”
“Through the lobby, to the right of the elevator,” Maddie chirps, already scooping up a box. She throws me a look over her shoulder and then turns back to Hailey. “He’s grumpy, but he’s helpful. You’ll love it.”
Hailey’s eyes flick to mine. “Fourth floor,” she says, tilting her head toward the door.
Maddie’s chatter fills the stairwell. “So the apartment is technically a ‘junior one-bedroom’ which is code for ‘we scammed a wall into a studio.’ The view is great, though! There’s a sliver of mountains if you lean out the window and risk your life.”
“Sounds great,” I deadpan.
We reach the fourth floor, and it hits me how much of a son of a bitch this is going to be with the elevator acting up. I set the box down by 4B, roll my shoulders once, and catch Hailey watching. She drops her gaze to her boots, cheeks flushing a slight pink that is most likely from the cold.
“Key?” I ask.
She jumps, fumbles, then slides it in the lock. The door sticks. I push my shoulder to it, feel the give in the top hinge. Loose screws, cheap strike plate. I can fix that.
“Welcome home,” Maddie sings.
“Okay, I’ll go move the truck and see what I can do about that elevator.”
By the time I get the U-Haul wedged between two compact cars that are absolutely not compact, I’m sweating under three layers of flannel and denim. Denver drivers honk like it’s an Olympic sport, and some guy in a puffer jacket gives me a sarcastic thumbs-up when I finally kill the engine.
City life. Gotta fucking love it.
When I head back toward the building, I can already hear Maddie’s voice echoing down the stairwell.
“Hailey, we need an unpacking playlist that doesn’t make me want to cry!”
I push open the door just as Hailey backs into the hall carrying a box half her size. She’s in leggings, a sweatshirt that says Coding is Sexy in fading letters, and those boots with thewhite fur on the inside. A streak of hair’s come loose from her beanie, curling against her cheek.
The box wobbles. “Whoa—careful.”
I step forward, grab the edge before it tips, and our fingers brush. Her eyes fly up, wide and startled, like she wasn’t expecting the contact.
“I’ve got it,” she insists, though her arms are trembling.
“Sure you do.” I lift it out of her hands easily and her mouth drops open.
“You make that look too easy.”
“Occupational hazard,” I say again, and the corner of her mouth kicks up. “Have to handle a lot of heavy things when you’re building houses.”
She moves ahead of me, opening the stairwell door with her hip. The moment we hit the first landing, I realize how narrow the space is. My shoulders barely clear the wall. She’s just ahead of me, her hips swaying with every step, and my brain short-circuits for a second before I drag my gaze to the damn ceiling.
Don’t look. Don’t even think about it.
Halfway up, Maddie calls down from above. “You two okay down there, or did Hailey bust her ass slipping on the ice again?”
Hailey whips around. “Maddie!”
I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. “Everything’s fine. Focus on not dropping whatever that is before you kill yourself.”
Her laugh echoes down the stairwell. “You’re no fun.”
“Never claimed to be.”
Hailey’s still blushing when she reaches the top. She sets down a lighter box and blows a strand of hair out of her face. “I swear she’s worse now that she’s your sister and not just my roommate.”
“She’s always been worse.”
