I leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and watched as she made waffle after waffle. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, not like last night. This one was pleasant. She’d ask me to grab something, and I did, and we found an easy rhythm of working together. In a weird way, being with her reminded me a lot of my grandma. The woman was stubborn and found joy in the simplest things, like going in the car wash or sweeping to an old record. Lorelei seemed like the person who would enjoy small things, the quiet moments.
“Alright, you heathens, waffles are done.” She stacked three of them on each plate, smothered them with butter and syrup, and set silverware to the side. Dean appeared first, his eyes as wide as the plates.
“Worth it. Thank you. I’m dying inside.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Thanks, Lo.” Oliver licked his lips as he grabbed his plate. Callum followed, moving twice as slow with his lazy gait.
Instead of grabbing his plate, he walked up to Lorelei and put an arm around her. “You’re an angel. Your face, your cooking. Your—”
“Knock that shit off right now, McHenry,” Dean warned.
“I’m complimenting your twin sister.” Callum rolled his eyes before winking at Lorelei. “Thank you.”
“None of you get used to this shit. Dean called C Dubs, which he gets once a year, and since I’ll be long gone by January, this won’t happen again.”
Long gone by January?Hearing those words were like a punch to the gut.
“What if I threatened you’ll be kicked out?” Dean asked, shoving a huge bite into his mouth so it came out muffled. “Blackmail you into food.”
“I’ll get Mom involved.”
“The fuck you will.”
Lorelei laughed and handed me a plate. “Eat, Monroe. You need some carbs to soak up that alcohol.”
“Right, thanks.” I took it from her, a previous comment she made coming back and changing my mood.I’ll be long gone by then.
She’d only been here a week, and her presence felt like part of the house already. Man, I needed to get it together. As we ate waffles and Lorelei and Dean gave each other shit the entire time, I made a plan. I had to avoid being at the house as much as possible because around her, my focus crumbled. She made me want to say screw my rules, which were toneverget involved.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
Lorelei
My left cheek twitched at watching Eric lean close to the girl on his right. She giggled, and he said something smooth, probably, and ugh. Why was I watching them? What good would it do? He didn’t have my heart anymore. I didn’t have many regrets in my life, but pickingthis classwith Eric when we’d first started hooking up was a dumb choice. The fact we both wanted the internship too added another layer of emotions in there. Seeing him chat with Mrs. Gravestone last week and watching her laugh with him, sent a flurry of anger through me. He was charming as hell, but that didn’t mean he’d earned the spot… probably.
I wanted itmore.Plain and simple.
This wasn’t a box to check for me though. I loved the power of words and how an image could tell a story. Marketing was what I was meant to do, and Eric had taken away some of that passion. That was frankly quite unfuckingacceptable. The internship would be mine, and I’d earn it. I wouldn’t charm or flirt my way into it, no. I’d work hard and do a damn good job to show Mrs. Gravestone this was who I was—someone who got knocked down but pulled herself up and tried even harder. I was that way on the field, so why couldn’t I be like that in real life too? I was even more determined to help Luca’s grandmother. It lit a fire in me. Excitement buzzed through me.
Building my inner confidence up, I stood tall and made my way down the stairs. It was a small lecture hall of about seventy people, and we met here two days a week and in a small group on Thursdays.Thankfully,she had two rounds, and Eric wasn’t in my small group.
“Mrs. Gravestone?” I asked, refusing to look at Eric who stood only a few feet from us. He said he sat in front to pay attention, but I knew it was because he likedgettingattention. It was different.
“Yes, Ms…”
“Romano.” My face heated.She doesn’t know my name.
“Ah, yes. Ms. Romano.” She smiled. “What can I do for you?”
It was hard to tell when people had that flash of recognition when they heard my last name. Was she a football fan? Did she know my brother? Maybe. Did she remember my last name from the syllabus? Unsure. Either way, it bothered me. I wanted to be known forme,but it was hard having a quarterback for a twin.
I’ll make myself memorable.
“I’d like to chat about the new direction for my project.” My voice came out louder than normal, stronger.
“You had the…” She paused and glanced at her notebook. “Girls’ soccer team. Hm. Yes, we vetoed that being too easy and convenient for you.”
