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“Nah,” Draco shook his head a little. “It would’ve scared her.”
“She can deal with more than people think,” I replied stubbornly.
“I had plenty of people comin’ to see me,” Draco said. “It was nice havin’ a pen pal.”
“She read me every single one of your letters,” I told him, smiling.
“Got one every week like clockwork,” he replied, shooting me a grin. “I couldn’t leave her hangin’.”
“I should’ve had her over tonight,” I said, curling my legs up on the couch. “She would’ve been stoked.”
“She’s doin’ good?”
“She’s doing fucking great,” I replied. “She has a job at an old folks home that she loves.”
“She mentioned that.”
“It’s perfect for her,” I said as Curtis began to snore. “She helps out in the kitchen and plays like a million card games a day with all the oldies. They love her.”
“I’m glad,” he said.
After that, we were both quiet. Eventually, Draco fell asleep and I got off the couch so he could spread out. Reaching out, I gently shook his shoulder.
I barely stopped a startled scream as his hand instantly shot up and wrapped around my wrist.
“Sorry,” I said, trying not to show him how badly he’d freaked me out. “Just letting you know I was going to bed.”
“Alright,” he replied groggily, letting me go.
I moved toward the tree, stepping over Curtis as Draco stretched out on the couch.
“Hey,” he called, making me pause to look at him. “Leave it on, yeah?”
“Sure,” I said, keeping to myself how dangerous it was to leave the Christmas tree lit all night while we slept.
“Lock the door,” Draco reminded me. Within seconds, he was asleep again.
I rolled my eyes, but double-checked the door was locked as I made my way to my room. As I passed Kara’s open doorway, I couldn’t stop the smile that played around my lips as I looked at her bed, perfectly made but missing her pillow. I wondered how she’d like coming home to a pillow that smelled like Draco.
My smile vanished as I remembered that Curt had stolen my pillow.
* * *
“Hey,” Curtis called, knocking on my doorframe as he peeked his head in. “I’m gonna run home and grab a quick shower.”
“D still asleep?” I asked quietly.
“Snorin’,” Curt replied with a little smile. “I’ll bring him some clothes back and he can just shower here, if it’s cool?”
“Works for me,” I replied from under the towel I was using to dry my hair. “I’m almost done in there.”
Curtis lingered in the doorway.
“What?” I asked, pulling the towel off my head.
“Nothin’,” he replied. He made no move to leave.
“Spit it out,” I said with a laugh.
“I don’t know,” he said, glancing over his shoulder as he dropped his voice. “Just—he hasn’t even wanted to see my place.”
“He hasn’t?” I replied, surprised as hell.
“He wanted to come straight here,” Curtis said. “And I figured it was because of Kara, but—” He shrugged.
“You’re overthinkin’ it,” I told him gently. I knew all of his worries about his twin. The anxiety and guilt he’d carried with him since that fateful day in high school when our lives had changed. “He’s got forever to check out your shithole bachelor pad. He’s going to live with you, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well then,” I said in satisfaction. “Give him a minute, yeah? Things’ll settle down and you won’t be able to get him out of your space.”
“You’re probably right,” he replied.
“Now go home and shower,” I said, pulling the towel back to my hair. “You smell like a gerbil.”
“Asshole,” Curt replied with a huff.
“We have like forty-five minutes before we have to leave,” I reminded him. “Get a move on.”
“I’m goin’,” he said. With a tap against the doorframe, he spun and walked away.
As soon as he was gone, I hurried to finish getting ready. Tiptoeing to the bathroom, I closed the door behind me and got to work on my hair. It was the longest I’d ever worn it, and while I liked it that way, it was a pain in the ass to style. I was sweating by the time I was finished blow drying it, and I almost jumped out of my skin when I turned off the hair dryer and heard someone knocking on the bathroom door.
“Morning, lazy ass,” I greeted, opening the door to Draco’s sleep-creased face. “How’d you like that couch? Nice, huh?”
“You look like you put your finger in a light socket,” he replied groggily.
“I still have to curl it,” I said with a huff. “You need in here?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled. “Where’s Curt?”
“He ran home to shower.”
“He could’ve woke me up,” he said as I grabbed my makeup bag and the curling iron from under the sink.
“He’s gonna bring you some clothes if you wanna shower here,” I replied.
“Works for me,” he said. His eyes were on the floor. “Are those nipples?” he said, his lips twitching.
