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“Agh!” Kruger hollered, jumping back. “I swear, woman, you’re one of them ghosts in those movies you like.”
“You just can’t hear her over all the noise you make,” Max told him as he approached.
“Bro! Sweet ride.” Win bounded around Max to try and open the back door. “Hit the locks, bro. Give me a tour.”
Arsen hit the lock button, and the back door was pulled open almost instantly. Win dove into the back seat. “This is sweet! Lars! Come see.”
I glanced at Arsen, worried he would be put off by the sudden onslaught of my friends. But he just smiled.
My door opened, air brushing against my side. “What the hell is that?” Kruger hollered, jolting back and pointing at my and Arsen’s joined hands.
I ripped my hand away so fast, tucking both beneath my thighs. My face flamed with his outburst, and the ringing in my ears seemed louder than before.
“What?” Win leaned between the two front seats, his chestnut hair flopping around as he tried to see what Kruger freaked out about.
“Nothing,” Kruger said, barely containing a grimace. “Thought I saw something.”
My heart was beating unevenly, and my stomach felt like it was on a trampoline. “We should get to it,” I said, sliding out of the Mercedes and shutting the door.
“Since we’re all down here, let’s bring in the couch,” Ryan suggested.
“You guys need a hand?” I heard Arsen ask.
“No,” Kruger said at the same time Max said, “Yes.”
Ryan spoke over them both. “Bro, sure. Sectionals are heavy.”
Arsen got out of the G wagon and pocketed his keys. As we all went to the truck, I pulled out my AirPods, jamming them in my ears and turning on one of my favorite playlists, which was a mix of old and new music.
Four of us grabbed one side, and the other four grabbed the other. Wes hauled in the ottoman that was our coffee table, and the girls directed us through the front door and into the living room. There was already a large rectangular rug laid down on the dark wood floor. It was dark grey, thick, and soft underfoot.
Once the two pieces were in and together, Rush, Arsen, Ryan, and Jamie went back out to get the last section. When they were done, it was a large U shape that the ottoman sat in the center of. The couch was gray like the rug but a lighter shade.
The girls started tossing a bunch of pillows around, I slid out of the room to head toward the kitchen. Our place had almost the same layout as Max, Wes, Win, and Lars’s place next door, except our fireplace was centered on the wall in the living room and theirs was in the corner.
Both places had three bedrooms, three floors, and a garage. The lower floor was basically just a basement with laundry. Max and Win kept workout equipment there at their house. The middle floor was the living room, kitchen, and dining room with a set of glass sliders that led out to a yard. The top level held all three bedrooms.
I went down the small hall from the living room to the kitchen, knowing it probably looked like our friend’s but not remembering for sure. We did look at this unit before signing the lease, but my brain sort of skipped over a lot of the details in the midst of me processing the fact that I was going to be moving houses.
So now I wanted to acquaint myself with it because not knowing was giving me anxiety. The kitchen was to the left and did have the same black cabinets and white countertops as next door. There was a white subway tile backsplash and a double stainless-steel sink with a small window over it.
A long counter with room for stools beneath separated the kitchen from the dining room, which was currently empty. The glass doors had standard blinds covering them, so I couldn’t see into the yard. I didn’t care about the yard, though.
Turning to face the kitchen, I looked immediately for the fridge. It was there. So was a stove and dishwasher. There was even a microwave built in above the stove.
Relief drained some of the tension from my shoulders, and I leaned my elbow onto the counter.
“Matty?” Jess’s voice had me straightening.
I gave her a sheepish smile. “I couldn’t remember if we had appliances.”
She laughed. “They’re all here,” she said. “But we still need to buy some pots and pans.”
“We’ll go out tomorrow, and you can pick what you want. I’ll buy.”
“I’ll pay half.” She pushed.
I shrugged. “Fine. If you want to tell Gram that you refused to use the money she sent…”
