“Sawyer,” I mutter.
“Obviously.” She grins. “But that still leaves three other rooms. Who would you want them to go to?”
I hate that I have to admit that I don’t know Darian’s teammates as well as he does. Sure, I spend a little time with them, but it’s not like we train together, and most of them are at least a year or two ahead of me in school.
I’m not sure what it would be like to live with any of them.
What we really need to do is some kind of trial run and?—
I perk up in my chair, my back pinging straight. “Oh shit, that’s good.”
“Don’t swear.” Mom points her fork at me. “And what’s good?”
“I’ve got an idea.” I turn my grin on Darian, excitement at my true genius starting to bubble in my chest.
Darian watches me, his eyebrows rising. “Mind sharing it with the rest of the class?”
I laugh. “You’re gonna love this.”
“Don’t make him guess,” Dad mutters. “I hate the guessing game.”
Well, that’s one thing we have in common. Potentially the only thing we agree on, but I don’t have time to dwell on that right now, because I’m too busy slapping my brother’s arm with glee and sharing with the table.
“Let’s invite the whole team away for a weekend… or anyone who might make a good roommate—like Nix—and then we’ll run some summer tryouts.”
Darian narrows his eyes. “What do you mean by tryouts?”
I shrug but can’t hide my smirk. “You know, just some little tests to see who we can live with.”
Mom snickers, winking at me, while my father grumbles that it’s dishonest.
“It’s genius,” I counter. “And if you think about it, I’m taking your advice. You said we need to find people we can live with on the day-to-day stuff. Over the weekend, we cantestthem and see who the best people will be to share a house with.”
Dad still doesn’t like it, but I don’t give a shit. The only person I need to convince is Darian.
“What do you think?” I give him a hopeful look.
He glances at Dad, and I have to fight my eye roll.
Don’t look at him! Make up your own fucking mind! You’re twenty-one! You don’t need his approval for every little thing. You don’t need his approval foranything!
I wish I could scream this at the top of my lungs, but it’ll only cause carnage, and I’m trying to be convincing right now. So, I hold my tongue and let him ruminate on my idea for a minute.
“Mi vida.”Mom smiles at Dad.“Sólo se está divirtiendo un poco.”
Dad’s lips twitch. He loves it when Mom speaks Spanish. She started learning it after they got together, and she’s fluent now.
I bob my head, agreeing with her gentle argument. It is just a bit of fun. I’m not out to get anybody. I just want to see who’d be good to live with.
Reaching for him, Mom brushes her thumb over Dad’s wrist, and that one move finally has his frown lifting completely.
She’s always had a magic touch with Dad. I don’t know how she does it, but his head is bobbing, albeit stiffly. Thankfully, it’s enough to have my brother grinning.
“Okay, fine. It’s a good idea.”
“Of course it is.” I wink at him, and his mouth curls up on the left.
“So, who do we know with a place where we can run these summer tryouts?”
