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"Hell yeah!" Ryk answered instantly, and I turned my gaze on Star, who'd closed his eyes and seemed to be pretending to sleep.
"Star?" I prompted, and he squinted one eye open with a groan.
"Fine, fine. I'll help," he grumbled, and I smiled.
"Good. Thank you," I said, and he hummed before closing his eyes again. He must've been a cat in his previous life.
"Do you need any help with dinner?" I asked, and Nico shook his head.
"Not at all. I'll start in a bit. I'm making cookies now," he said, making my day.
"Really? What kind?"
"Chocolate chip. I wanted to start simple," he said, and I grinned.
"I would love to try some when they're done," I said, and he smiled.
"Of course. I'll let you know when they're ready."
"Cool. I'm gonna go do some laundry," I said, and Nico gave me a totally dorky thumbs up before heading back to the kitchen.
Shaking my head, I made my way to the linen closet to get some fresh sheets before heading to my room. After changing the sheets, I grabbed my laundry basket and carried it to the laundry room a.k.a. the hall bathroom. No one used it except for laundry, though it didn't look like it'd been used recently. Did they do their laundry on a different day?
I'd assumed they did it when I was at work, but the detergent looked like it hadn't been used at all. Had they not done the laundry since they moved here?
Could it be that they didn't know how? That couldn't be, right? Everyone knew how a washing machine worked.
Right?
Shaking my head, I focused on my own clothes for the moment, setting the machine up properly before starting a load.
Once that was done, I made my way back to my room. I'd go hang out with the others once I'd cleaned up the place a little.
I wasn't exactly a messy guy, but I was usually rushing out in the morning and coming into my room sleepy as hell, so it grew a little more disordered every day.
Puttering around the room, I picked up random things, putting them back in their correct spots. I fluffed my pillows, dusted my curtains, trashed the empty sports drink cans I'd left all over the place. Yikes, I needed to be better at keeping my room clean, especially now that I wasn't alone in this house. What if Nico or Star had seen my room the way it was? I'd have died of embarrassment. Though I had a feeling Ryk's room was even messier.
Once my room was as clean as it was going to get, I joined Ryk and Star in the living room.
Candy came rushing to me from the corner of the room the moment I sat down, and I smiled as I leaned forward to pet her. She was a German Shepherd I'd gotten when I first started living on my own, and she'd lived with me for close to three years now.
"Hey, Candy. How are you doing?"
"I gave her a treat, but she still hates me," Ryk said, and I glanced up at him to find him pouting at Candy.
In one word, Ryk was beautiful. He had an almost angelic—if I believed in such things—face, with bright red curls, big blue eyes, and beautiful freckles scattered all over his nose and cheeks. With his ever-present smile, he could win over any person he set his sights on; I was sure of it.
It seemed dogs were impervious to his charm, though, because Candy seemed very determined to stay as far from him as possible.
"See? She hates me," he said in a mournful voice, and I smiled.
"She just needs a little time. Soon enough, you'll be besties," I said, and he smiled softly.
"I hope so."
Nine
Star
