His blonde undercut tried to obscure who he was, with the front so long that it almost seemed as if he didn’t care if people could see his eyes. Still, I knew who he was immediately. I had seen his face in the pictures scattered throughout the house every day since I moved in.
He tilted his head, letting his hair fall to the side and giving me a better view of his face as he narrowed his eyes. “Who are you?” he asked, his deep voice vibrating through his chest.
A cool breeze moved through the treetops, and the rustling leaves brought me back to earth. “I,uh…I live here?”
He took a step back and looked at the house as if to make sure he hadn’t come to the wrong place.
“This is still the Draper residence,” I said. “You’re in the right place,Devin.” His name wasn’t used often, but whenever it echoed through the house, it was followed by a moment of silence.
He winced. “Am I still that infamous?” His chest rose, but his breaths were as quiet as the wind. His eyes traveled down and up my body, taking their time to gather information. “So again, who are you?”
“Oh. Right.” I got up, the stairs creaking under my feet. “I’m Alex.” I stepped aside onto the grass to get out of his way. “Sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” He clutched the strap of his backpack with his right hand and took the stairs two at a time, his steps steadyand precise like a metronome. He slowed only with the second-to-last step, coming to a halt right in front of me.
Now that we were eye-level, it was easy to get lost in the small sounds he made—the faint smacks of his lips when he put on a semi-friendly smile, the light tap of his shoe against the wooden steps as he shifted his weight, and the quiet exhale when he narrowed his eyes. “And Alex belongs to…?”
“To the house,” I said, holding my breath so I wouldn’t miss a beat of his captivating presence. “I mean, I work here. For your parents. I take care of… everything.”
“Right.” He scrutinized me for another second before his face softened. “Do me a favor and call me Sebastian. Devin’s my middle name, and I’m not a big fan of it.”
My eyes clung to his lips as I watched every single word fall from them. His voice was like an epiphany, like a sound I had been searching for my whole life and had finally found. But more importantly… what was he doing here?His arrival hadn’t been announced or prepared for. I had set up beds, mattresses, and couches for the nineteen guests, but I was never asked to set one up for him.
Sebastian nodded toward the house. “Is it as chaotic in there as I’m guessing?”
“It’s rude of me to be out here, isn’t it?”
“Nah.” He shook his head. “It makes sense. If I could, I’d stay out here, too. But then I could’ve saved myself all the trouble of coming, so…” He glanced at the house and then at me. “Nice meeting you, Alex. I guess I’ll see you around.”
He slipped inside, closing the door as quietly as possible behind him, almost as if he didn’t want to announce himself. I stared at the frosted glass in the front door for a few seconds, watching his shadow move. Then Laura’s surprised shriek carried all the way outside. More shadows joined his,until it looked like the entire family had gathered in the foyer to welcome their long-lost son home.Lucky him.
When I finally tore my gaze away from the door, a chill crept through the gaps in my sweater, reminding me that winter had just ended. But I had to stay put a little longer, at least until the family moved away from the foyer. I didn’t want to interrupt today’s true reunion.
