Extra toothbrushes, aftershave, razors. Normal, boring guy bathroom stuff. Nothing to entertain myself with. I’d been hoping for some magazines or abook.
I poked my head back out into the hall. If nobody was in the living area, I might try to find a movie to watch. Hopefully, they were all in their bedrooms orsomething.
The thick carpet of the hallway masked my footsteps. I sneaked to the end of the hall and peered into the living room and kitchen. The coast was clear. I dashed across the hardwood floor, like a mouse avoiding thehousecat.
The kitchen was state-of-the-art, with a simplistic feel. Instead of cabinets, there were open shelves lining the walls. All of the dishes were impeccably organized on one wall above the dishwasher and sink. The opposite shelves, over the stove, held meticulously placed food. Everything from cereal to taco seasoning was beautifully arranged so the labels faced out. I tore my gaze away from the most organized shelves I’d ever seen and grew curious about what was behind the two doors leading off of theroom.
To snoop or not to snoop? That was thequestion.
I sighed. I knew myself pretty well. I’d snoop. Inquisitive by nature, I couldn’t help myself. Door number one was a pantry. Pretty standard, like they shopped in bulk at a superstore. There was a stockpile of just about everything. Toilet paper, toothpaste, soups. There was even a bunch of deodorants. The pantry was as painstakingly organized as thekitchen.
It was time to peek behind door number two. Laundry room with a distinctly feminine touch. Where was the woman who had decorated parts of the house? The wallpaper was chevron. I’d not met a man yet who would pick chevron wallpaper for himself. Even flamboyant Todd would shudder away fromchevron.
More overly organized supplies lined the walls on shelves positioned over an industrial-sized washer and dryer. Bleach, fabric softener, soap, large containers lined up as if by a ruler. The baskets on the floor were labeled with words like whites, colors,darks.
I really needed to know who was so over-organized. My money was on Ellion, because his computer room had been awfullyclean.
Footsteps in the kitchen made me squeak and jump behind the partially closed laundry room door. I had no idea why I was so scared—I had two out of three odds of it being a nice guy in the kitchen, but with my luck it’d beGriffin.
Of course. I peered out of the crack in the door to see the enormous grouch rustling through the fridge. Chandler followed him into the kitchen and leaned against thecounter.
“What’s your deal, man?” heasked.
Griffin shut the refrigerator and turned to face Chandler. The kitchen lights made caramel highlights in his hair glint. “You know what my deal is,” hereplied.
Chandler cleared his throat. “It’s been threeyears.”
“It feels like it happenedyesterday.”
“Are you still in that kind of pain?” Chandler’s face expressed how much he cared forGriffin.
“Notphysically.”
“What do you mean?” He stepped closer toGriffin.
“I mean, I’ll probably never get over it. Now leave me alone about it. And get her out of that bedroom. Of all the rooms in the house, why’d you pick that one?” Griffin slammed the refrigerator door shut without getting anything to eat and stompedout.
Chandlerfollowed.
I had to find out what happened toGriffin.
Once the coast was clear, I crept out of the laundryroom.
“What the hell were you doing in there?” a deep voice yelled at me from across the great room, in the general area of the TV. Griffin paused in the act of putting a DVD in the player. “How long have you been in there?” hedemanded.
“I’m sorry.” I squeaked out. “I was looking for…” I thought fast. “Abathroom.”
“There’s one right beside your bedroom.” He slammed the stack of movies in his hand onto the couch. “You should go back there until Chandler can figure out a way to get you out ofhere.”
I narrowed my eyes. Enough. How dare he? I was used to dealing with overbearing older brothers. I didn’t let them walk all over me, and I wouldn’t lethim.
“Excuse me?” Iasked.
His eyebrows lowered farther, the scarred brow not quite as far as theother.
“Do you think I chose this? I got on a plane today and said, ‘Please, let me wreck my car and almost freeze to death in the frozen wasteland you call your yard.’ ” I stood in front of the giant of a man, chest heaving, fury radiating off of me like a space heater, and he turned around and walkedaway.
He walkedaway.
