“Nope! I never am!” he calls back from down the hall.
I think he’s inside his bedroom with the door open. I’ve yet to see his room, and it would feel weird to go look inside.
I set the orange on the counter and walk to the front door, standing on my tiptoes to peek through the peephole.
Uh-oh.
I unlock the door and swing it open.
Then I stand there like a doofus.
“Well, are you going to let us come in or not?” Willa adjusts her glasses and steps inside, brushing past me.
The cup of coffee she’s carrying smells heavenly, but I pause my sniffing to smile at Kingston.
“Hey, Lucy. How are you?” Kingston greets me with a smile and a quick hug.
I grin as I step back. “I’m in the doghouse.”
He grimaces. “I’ve been there before.” Then he stage-whispers, “More than I’d like to admit.”
“You might still be there,” Willa tells him threateningly as she slips off her shoes, lining them neatly next to Miles’s running shoes.
Miles walks out of the hallway, still wearing that pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. “Oh, did something go wrong with the inspector?”
He’s so casual, ignoring the elephant in the room and acting like they’re here on work business.
Kingston picks up the bone tossed to him and launches into the story about the electrical being haywire on the Legacy building and how they’re going to have to do a lot of rewiring in the commercial space.
Willa’s still staring at me. It’s that really intense look, where I’m not sure if she’s just thinking, or plotting my demise.
Kingston pulls out a barstool for her, then sits down on the one next to it. I walk into the kitchen slowly, brushing past Miles and opening the fridge.
“You all staying for dinner?” I stare at the mostly empty fridge.
“I already ordered us some dinner,” Willa finally says.
I turn slowly to look at her. Willa knows the way to my heart is good takeout.
She smiles sheepishly at me. “It’s apology food.”
“Is it pizza?” I let the fridge door fall closed with a snap.
“Yes.”
I smile back. “Then apology accepted.”
“I’m sorry I lost my temper with you. And that I yelled. Kingston reminded me that we’d been a bit busy over the last month. And I didn’t even bother to ask you where you were living or to even help you move.” She sighs. “I lashed out at you this morning whenI’dbeen the absent sister.”
I shrug. “It’s not your fault. Like you said, there’s been a lot going on. I just didn’t know how to bring it up. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings that I was living with a roommate.”
Willa shrugs and glances around the open-concept kitchen and living room. “This space alone is bigger than my entire apartment. It makes total sense now that I see it. I just wish it had worked out for us to live together.”
I nod and smile and tell a little white lie. “Me too.”
Both Kingston and Miles have given up on any semblance of a conversation between each other. They’re ping-ponging back and forth between us.
“You all good now?” Kingston asks.
