“I mean, it’s the deadfuck of winter,” he pointed out, gesturing to his arm. “I’m useless on a snowboard, and I know you two won’t have any fun on the slopes without me, so what do you think?” He held out his arms like we were eleven and he’d found us a treehouse. “By summer, we could elevate the hell out of this place. Clean it up, a little paint, a bar…”
“Someplace away from girlfriends…” Drew chimed in.
And Lance added, “…with ourothergirlfriends.”
I shook my head, knowing exactly what would happen in this place, and all of it with the express purpose to fuck something.
Might be fun for a night, but…
I don’t know. Maybe we could put in a pool table. A gaming system. Could be cool, I guess. Someplace to hang out—away from family and school—where we could relax. Maybe that was what I needed. A home of my own with a family I made.
Madoc never made me feel like an outsider, but it’s been a long time since he didn’t have to stretch his attention. Fallon, his brothers, the kids… I’ve wondered for a while if I should still be one more person he has to tend to.
Maybe it was stupid that I still hung around? I was an adult, after all. And they weren’t my family.
“Do we rent it?” I asked.
“We can buy it,” Lance told us, lowering his voice as if he was telling a secret. “The bank that owns it is out of Chicago, and they consider the real estate here a non-starter. If we get approval from the remaining city council, it’s do-able between all of us.”
Or Lance and me, anyway. Drew didn’t have any money, but Lance was trying to be nice. I wouldn’t have to use all of my inheritance from my dad for college.
But still… “Why do I want to own a run-down, old building before I own a house?”
“This is a house.”
“It’s our house, Lucas.” But it wasn’t Lance who said it. I glanced at Drew, his hands still in his pockets and his shoulders relaxed.
He approached and gripped my shoulder where it connected to my neck, squeezing with a light in his eyes.
I’d known these two since we started college two-and-a-half years ago. Now, here we were, last half of our third year, and we’d kept our circle small and close. I liked my friends, and for the first time, I had people I chose rather than people who were obligated to care about me. Not that I’d ever felt like a burden to my mom, but it was nice to create my own circle. Madoc would never tell me I wasn’t welcome anymore, but his life was very different from when it was just us. I was a responsibility he didn’t need anymore.
“What do you want to do here?” I teased.
“Oh, I plan on being my own worst enemy,” Drew replied with a smirk. “And you can handle security.”
Security?
I pinch my brow. “You want cameras outside?”
I’d installed them for my mom a few months ago.
“And in my room,” he added.
Lance snorted, and I just drew in a breath that felt heavy already. He said shit like that to make me nervous, but I knew he wouldn’t film girls in his bed.
And definitely not without their knowledge.
Drew headed to the back, toward a staircase, and spun around. “First dibs!” he called.
Lance darted after him, and I followed, joining them in exploring and daydreaming of the possibilities. My mom would freak if she found out I spent money onsomething like this. Madoc, on the other hand, would want in. He never really grew up, in all the right ways.
Staring out an upstairs window, I spotted a little girl, maybe eight, with a ski cap covering the top of her head and dressed in an oversized hoodie as she carried a backpack. She trudged through the snow in what looked like broken Doc Martens and stopped in front of a darkened shop window. Quickly surveying the area, she jammed her elbow into the glass. It broke, and she reached in, unlocking the door before she opened it and disappeared inside.
Drew and Lance were in another room, no one but me seeing her. And to my surprise, I didn’t move. Didn’t call the police. Didn’t run to stop her.
Madoc has showed up for me for years. Made sure I was seen. Remembered.
No one in the Falls remembers that Weston is still here. It’s my turn to show up for others.
