I quickly closed the tab as Dillon came out of his room with a massive grin. Uh-oh.
“He said yes!”
“Yay!” I tried to sound excited. I did.
I should have been thrilled, but the thought of spending a month living under the same roof as Xander made me feel all kinds of weird. I’d had a secret crush on him for longer than I could remember, plus I’d jacked off to his True Fans videos. I was a terrible person.
“He said he was looking forward to seeing you again. All I need to do is give him the dates you need to stay and the day and time your train arrives, and he’ll meet you.”
I gaped at Dillon. “Xander is looking forward to seeing me?” My voice was super squeaky.
Dillon laughed. “Of course. Why wouldn’t he be?”
I rested my chin on my hand. “Oh, I don’t know. I wasn’t sure he knew I existed.”
“How long have you been my best friend?”
I shrugged. “Maybe for sixteen years?”
“Seventeen.” Dillon sat beside me on the sofa. “We met on our first day of primary school. You were crying because some bully was calling you names.”
“And you told him that anyone who wanted to be mean to me would have to be mean to you too.”
“It was better than punching him in the face.” Dillon nudged me gently in the ribs. “And it stopped him from picking on you.”
“It stopped everyone from picking on me.”
Even at four, Dillon had been an intimidating guy. He’d been tall and broad for his age, characteristics that had stuck with him his entire life. In contrast, I was petite. Where most boys had developed muscles at puberty, I’d kept an androgynous shape, which meant I looked just as good in jeans and a T-shirt as I did in a dress and heels. I’d never been any good at fitness modelling, but I hoped I could find a home in high-fashion or runway modelling. Thankfully, what I lacked in brawn, I made up for in height. At five feet eleven, I was just tall enough for catwalk modelling. Of course, I still looked short next to Dillon and Xander, as they were both six-foot-something.
I started messing with the hem of my hot pants. “Are you sure Xander’s okay with me staying with him for a month?”
“Yes! He said you should go down a few days early to get your bearings before your first open call.”
“Really?”
Dillon laughed. “Yes.”
I fanned my face to stop my eyes from welling. Tears would wreck my eye make-up. “He’s so kind.”
“That’s my brother.”
I still didn’t know how I would look him in the eye, but that was a problem for future me.
“As you said, it’s a sign,” Dillon said. “I believe in you. I know you’ll get offers from at least one of those modelling agencies.”
I clasped my hands beneath my chin. “I hope so.” I looked at the ceiling. “It feels like I wasted three years getting a business administration degree just to make my parents happy.”
“Having a qualification to fall back on can’t hurt.”
“No, but student debt can.”
“Tell me about it.”
I looked at Dillon again. “How’s the job-hunting going?”
“Same old story. Either I’m overqualified, or I don’t have enough experience.” He sighed. “I’ll find something sooner or later.”
“Hopefully sooner?”
