I groan. “Cass.”
I do have to admit though, without her at times I would’ve spiraled right off the fucking planet.
“What?” she says, laughing. “I’m supportive. This is what support looks like.”
I shoot her a playful look. “Do you want to see them or not?”
“Absolutely. I’ve been waiting for this moment since you first told me about your little chaos triangle.”
I ignore that, mostly. “Then help me make this place look like I wasn’t raised by wolves.”
She cracks her knuckles. “I got you.”
We start with the living room, her scooping up cups and wrappers while I straighten the couch cushions and grab a laundry basket for all the blankets I’ll pretend I folded later. She makes fun of the five lip balms on my desk, I mock her for the travel cup that’s been sitting in her car since January. It’s familiar, fun, the kind of easy I forgot I needed. Somewhere in the middle of it all, the nerves creep back in. Carter and Tate are coming. I don’t know how the hell I’m supposed to act normal when just thinking about them makes my whole body remember everything.
Cassie’s elbow-deep in my silverware drawer. “So… do I finally get to meet the other one this time?”
I pause mid-swipe on the coffee table. “You say that like he’s an actual ghost.”
“You realize I’ve never actually seen him, right?” She turns around holding up two mismatched forks like they’re evidence. “I’ve seen Carter, had coffee with Carter. Approved of Carter, butTate?” she waves around of of the forks. “The unfiltered, mask-core twin? Still a mystery.”
“You had dinner with your mom that weekend,” I point out.
“Tragic timing. I missed my chance to lay eyes on your morally questionable gamer. Do you know how emotionally damaging that is for a girl?”
I groan. “Please never say that again.”
“What? It’s iconic. Two hot twins, one sassy streamer? I’d watch the hell out of that show.”
“This is my life, not fan fiction.”
“But it couldbefan fiction. Especially if you let me meet them today.”
I roll my eyes with a smile. “Why not?”
Her eyebrows shoot up. “Wait, seriously?”
“Sure,” I say, tossing the last of the throw blankets over the arm of the couch. “You’re already here, you helped me clean. Might as well.”
“Hell yes.” She claps her hands like she just got upgraded to first class. “I promise I’ll be chill.”
We finish up cleaning, Cassie vacuums while I do a frantic sweep of my bathroom and light my best candle like I’m summoning the gods of Not Gross. The apartment looks halfway decent by the time we collapse onto the couch. “I’m starving,” I groan.
“I’m already opening the delivery app,” she says, waving her phone. “Burgers?”
“Yes, and fries and possibly a milkshake, order triple of everything actually, Tate eats just as much as Carter if not more.”
She cackles as she taps in the order when my phone vibrates.
Carter:2 minutes out, sweetheart
I stare at the screen for a second too long, my fingers tighten around my phone. “They’ll be here any minute.”
“Breathe Hav.”
There’s a knock on the door. It’s not even loud, just three easy knocks that I know are from Carter. I feel every single one of them like a drop of adrenaline straight to my spine.
Cassie glances up from her phone, eyebrows raised. “Showtime?”
