On the opposing team are Kingston, his friend Miles, Archie, and Bailey’s husband, Dan.
Willa and Kingston are busy getting in each other’s faces, arguing about who’s going to win. I’m predicting they start officially dating any day now with the amount of chemistry there is between them.
Miles, Kingston’s friend, stops next to me. “You’re staring.”
“I’m trying to put a scary face on for the guy who’s flirting with my little sister,” I admit.
Miles chuckles. “Oh, I’m sure that frown is going to make him burst into tears.”
I glance up at him with a smirk. “I’m totally capable of making people cry.”
“Maybe happy tears…”
“I’ll remind you of that when we win tonight.”
Miles folds his arms across his chest and leans down toward me, his eyes twinkling. “Bring it.”
Turns out, he’s as competitive as I am, and most of the game is spent trying to foil each other—turns out we’re both willing to cheat. At one point, he even held me in place physically. I may or may not have tripped him at another time.
And when we end up losing because of Kingston literally carrying the football and Willa for a touchdown, we all know this game had more to do with Margaret forcing them together.
I walk toward the house next to Miles.
“Well, I’m sorry I didn’t make you cry,” I tease.
He laughs. “Actually, I think you did. I was not expecting you to trip me, and I laughed so hard I might have cried.”
“Thanks for being a good sport. I can get a little too competitive.” I grimace.
He stops walking and holds out a hand to me. “I had fun. Friends?”
That hopeful look and warm smile are impossible to resist. I grasp his hand in a firm grip. “Friends.”
THREE
Lucy
PRESENT DAY
The first thing I notice as I step inside Miles’ house is that it smells fresh—like the guy knows his way around some cleaning products.
The entrance is perfectly organized—not a single thing out of place. There is a line of coat hooks on the wall, with a shoe bench and baskets below it. There are smaller black hooks that hold two different sets of keys.
I didn’t see a car in front of the house, but there’s an attached double-car garage, so his vehicle must be parked inside.
The area is so orderly that I know Willa would approve. I’m a little sad that Willa and I can’t live together, but we butted heads, growing up. Now that wedon’tlive together, we’re great friends, and I want to keep it that way. I had to work extra hard to salvage our relationship while our parents’ marriage imploded. And I’m so grateful we were able to grow closer rather than fall apart. But it’s still fragile territory. We werenotraised in a happy home.
There are a lot of people you can love deeply but be perfectly happy not living with. I just hope the opposite is true of Miles. I’d rather happily live with Miles than fall in love with him.
But now…looking around, I’m a little scared I’ve decided to move in with the male version of my sister. Everything has a place.
Miles steps inside after me and shuts the door firmly. The lock beeps cheerfully.
I watch as he shakes out his T-shirt and slips it on, which is sort of ironic since it’s so warm in here. Shaking my head, I focus on the entryway. It’s a nice hallway, leading into the open-concept living room and kitchen. I look everywhere except at Miles’s face. I’m afraid he’ll see the hesitation there. This place is gorgeous. He could charge me triple the price he quoted me.
“Well, what do you think, roomie?” Miles asks with a laugh as he bends down to untie his running shoes.
I snap my jaw closed and try to think of an answer. “You know, I’m realizing that maybe I should have looked around here before I agreed to this. What if I find something scary in this house?”
