I laugh. “Excuse me?”
She rolls her lips together in a failed attempt to hide her smile, especially since she’s never been able to figure out how to keep it from reaching her eyes. “You’re a strong guy. Should only take you three or four trips to get it all up there.”
“And what will you be doing while I take care of this?”
“There’s too much for one trip. Someone has to stay with the extra bags to keep them from being swiped by some guy on a Vespa.”
I eye the bag closest to me. “I don’t think that technique would work. This bag is bigger than a Vespa.”
She laughs and tugs the luggage in question closer to the building with a little grunt. “Fine, then to protect them from some guy in a giant van.”
“And why, exactly, amIthe one who has to take up all the bags whenyou’rethe one who packed two years’ worth of clothes?” I ask as I cross my arms over my chest. I’ll carry the bags, but I’m going to get apleaseout of her first.
“Because you have all of that,” she says, patting my biceps, and I don’t think I imagine the pressure of her fingers tightening.
“What do you say, Quinn?” I ask sternly.
She flutters her lashes, over the top and dramatic, and it shouldn’t be as cute as it is. “Please?”
“Good girl.”
Her grip definitely tightens on my arm that time, her eyes widening.
She recovers less than a second later, punching my arm with a laugh. “I never should have given you that stack of romance novels. It’s like I walked up to Thanos and handed him the Infinity Stones. The women of Rome are in danger.”
I chuckle, shaking off my disappointment. Of course her mind goes there. She’d never consider me for herself.
Even on my most hopeful days back in college, I never expected more than friendship from Quinn, who is all light and joy and can have her pick of whomever she wants. Her friendship is enough. More than enough. It’s everything. That moment in her apartment is messing with my head, making me see and hope for things I’d long given up on, and if I don’t want to mess up the most important thing in my life, I need to get my head on straight.
I grab the first two bags, grunting as I hoist them up. “The fuck did you pack in these?”
She yells a singsongthank youat my back as I make my wayup for the first time. When we complete the last trip up—first for Quinn and third for me—I need a cold beer and a flat surface. Quinn knocks on the door of our new place, and the door tears open a second later.
Inez, who has been dragging the luggage into the apartment as I brought it up, is bouncing on her toes, a beaming smile on her face. “Welcome home, you two!”
We follow her inside, and my eyes run over the the apartment. It couldn’t be more stereotypical if it tried. Charming—if cold and uneven—terracotta bricks jostle our suitcases like we’re still out on the Roman streets. Stucco walls, painted a warm yellow, feel like a hug in the bigger rooms and suffocating in the tiny kitchen off the foyer. The exposed wooden beams would do any modern farmhouse proud, but make it seem like we’ve stepped back in time when paired with the rest of the apartment.
It has a large living area, with a couple plush leather couches and a massive dining table. I wonder how anyone is supposed to host a dinner party to fill that table when the kitchen can barely fit three people. It’s odd and old and perfect.
Inez points out the doors off the living room. “I took the one on this side. It’s smaller than the other two. Those rooms each have a desk, and I figured you’d appreciate a place to grade papers away from the school.”
“This is incredible. Thank you,” I say.
She smiles and nods before pointing back to the two remaining doors. “Those two are up for grabs. They’re basically the same, so it doesn’t matter. The only difference is the corner one has a better view.”
At the word view, Quinn’s and my eyes clash together. We’re two gladiators in the arena, sizing up the opponent, and that view’s our ticket to freedom. I’d do a lot of things for this woman—giving up a room with a view isn’t one of them.
Our fingers twitch towards our suitcases like this is the Old West. Each waiting for the other’s move. Each afraid to pull theireyes away and give the slightest advantage to the opponent. I half expect a tumbleweed to roll between us.
I’m not sure who moves first, but suddenly we’re both scrambling for our suitcases. Unfortunately for Quinn, she brought three times as much as me. As she reaches for one bag, I knock another one down between her and the room. My other hand closes around my suitcase as I shoot off toward the far door.
Her laughter rings out behind me. “Asshole.”
I grin over my shoulder and see her scrambling over the suitcase, all luggage left behind in pursuit of the prize. But she can’t catch up to my long legs.
I fling my suitcase into the room, slamming the door behind me and flipping the lock with a satisfying click. Quinn’s body hits the door a second later. The doorknob turns, but there’s no way she’s getting in with that deadbolt.
“You’re such a cheater!”
