“I didn't think there was an attic.It doesn’t look like there is one.You have that skylight over the stairs.”
I nodded.“It doesn’t cover the entire second floor.The house is really odd.An architect started remodeling it, gave up halfway through, then just left it unfinished for a few years before finally deciding to sell.That’s both the good news and the bad.It has good bones, but it still needs a lot of work.”
“Can I really go up there?”
I nodded.“Sure.I’ll be right behind you.”
He put one foot on the first step, then stopped to frown at me.“I’m not going to fall through the floor or anything like that, am I?”
Linc was having the time of his life downstairs, going by all the chortling.Sharing your mate three ways came with a side of lots of schadenfreude, apparently.
I kept a straight face.“Everything’s solid.The attic was in great shape, and as a general rule, I typically like my floors solid.”
“Hmm.It’s just that you were all suspicious two minutes ago.”Off he went climbing the stairs.
“Suspicious, huh?”
I could see his stitches as I climbed up behind him, but they hadn’t robbed him of his sense of adventure.Which, to be frank, I didn’t really know much about.If all true crime nuts were alike, he could do bursts of adventure while not leaving the house for days on end like Linc.
Marcus, as it turned out, had more room in the attic than any one of us.He was about half a head shorter than me and about a head shorter than Ell, but in this space, that meant a lot.He went right to exploring—not that there was much to explore.Yes, the place was cool like any secret nook was cool, but it was kind of awkward.I’d put a beanbag chair and a small table I’d made from leftover wood close to the window, and Marcus went right toward that.
He spotted the birdfeeder right away.I caught a cardinal taking wing, but some of the other birds wouldn’t mind a new observer.The blackbirds in particular had decided they owned the place.
“Oh, wow.You’re a birdwatcher.Like a cat, but you’re a werewolf.”
Uh-huh.This was what I got.My own damn fault.At least Linc and Ell couldn’t hear us up here.
“I’m sure you don’t mean it like that.I’m sure you wouldn’t want to suggest that I’m like one of those house cats watching the birds outside all day and wishing they could hunt them.Also, Marcus, come on.Me, a cat?”
Marcus turned around.He looked about ready to tease me about the cat thing—not that I thought he had it in him to be really mean—but when he saw me, he sort of softened.Reminded me a lot of watching butter melt on the griddle.It was in how the lines around his eyes smoothed out, and his lips quirked up just a fraction.
“I mean, this isn’t what I expected.It’s unique.”
I nodded.A ray of sunlight flashed in through the window, illuminating him and giving me possibly the worst of ideas.
“Do you mean you like the attic?”
He looked around.“It’s pretty bare.”He shrugged but turned once to take in the finished if unpainted walls.“Looks like you’re only half done with it.”
“Marcus, if you want to…I mean, only if you wanted to.This could be yours.I could get it all done, but make it exactly like you’d want it to be.”
He pursed his lips.“What, you want to put me in the attic?No, thank you.”
I shook my head.“No, for real.If you… I don’t want to pressure you, and it’s really just an idea—there are many options.But if you end up deciding that you like it here, if you end up deciding that you maybe want to live here, this could be your room.Your bedroom, at any rate.We don’t make it a hard and fast rule about who sleeps where—honestly, our socks stick more to the relevant closets than we do to each of our beds—but if you want a space you can make yours, this can be it.”
I pointed at the point where the roof met the floor.“I can custom build furniture for the angles.Drawers and stuff like that.I’d custom make you a bed too.”My eyes went wide.“Oh!I could do a floating writing desk by the window.”I pointed at the small skylight in the slanting part of the roof.“Your bed under there so you can at least see a small slice of the night sky.You’d be able to watch the moon.Or howl at it if you feel that.”
I could envision it.It wouldn’t even be all that much work, and it’d be fun, getting Marcus to choose how he wanted everything to look, whether he wanted things painted or wallpapered over or left as they were.
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking uncomfortable.Shit.I could’ve kicked myself.
I held both hands up.“Marcus, I didn’t mean to push you.”
He cleared his throat.“No, it’s okay.I wanted to come up here.It would be—no, sorry.I’ll just go get dressed.I need a cup of tea, like, an hour ago.”
I moved out of his way, ducking my head so it wouldn’t collide with the roof.
“Yeah.Sorry.I just—you can come up here any time though.If you want to watch the birds, you know?”
