Page 46 of Finding My Forever

“Such an unfortunate turn of events.” Liam walked to one of the white sofas and sat down. I grabbed a water bottle Elijah had left of the counter and chugged half of it before taking a breath.

Sophia slid next to me with a bottle in her hands. “You, okay?”

I nodded but ended up shaking it.

“What’s wrong?”

“I can’t…” It came out as a whisper. So my voice had ran away with my brain.

“Overwhelmed with all of this?”

“A bit.”

“Good.”

I turned my head and looked at her, confused.

“It would be weirder for them if you dove right in and started asking them questions or figuring out how you could benefit. This.” She gave me a pointed look. “Is a normal reaction.”

“Then why are you so calm?” I asked her with just a hint of my annoyance showing.

“Because Elijah told me on the way over. He said they don’t typically let girls come over, since it usually changes things when girls see this. If they do bring girls over, they watch their reactions.”

“So, this was a test?” I was feeling a little sick.

She grinned. “And I think we passed.”

“How do you know?”

“We wouldn’t still be here if we didn’t. Eli said if girls start getting weird, they make an excuse and make them leave.”

I looked to where Elijah and Liam were sitting. Both were relaxed and talking animatedly about something.

We weren’t getting kicked out, so I guess we did pass.

“Come on.” Sophia led us to the couch opposite the guys.

“Do you want a tour or to find a movie?” Liam asked.

A tour? What kind of apartment required a tour? Now I was too curious to say now.

“Sure.” I stood up and he took me through the hall past two tidy bedrooms to the last door. He opened it and revealed a library or study room. Two of the walls were lined with more books and one was another view of the park.

“Do you love living here?” I asked, picturing myself here like a crazy, obsessed girl already planning our future together.

It would be a dream come true to live in a place like this. One day.

“Yeah, I looked at dozens of apartments with my realtor before finding this one. I put an offer in the second I saw the view.”

“You’re nineteen.” I shook my head with the realization of how different our lives were. “Were your parents okay with it?” I had to imagine they had been with him when he found it.

“My mom loves it. My dad hasn’t had time to come see it yet, though.”

How strange that his dad hasn’t seen something he bought.

“He was mostly concerned about the resale value. He wanted to make sure I’d make a profit when I sell it.”

Wait. “You bought this?”