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At one time, over half of the rooms were occupied. Way back when Lily, Loren, Ryke, Daisy, Connor, Rose, and I all lived under the same roof. Hard to believe that happened at all—but it did.
Now that it’s just Lily and Loren and their three-year-old son, it must be a quieter house.
“I almost picked Ryke and Daisy’s old room,” Garrison tells me. “But then Lo said that I wasn’t allowed because it’s the smallest guest room in the house and I’m not permitted to do that to myself out of guilt.”
Sounds like Lo.
Garrison starts untangling his wad of cords. “And I thought about your old room, but it’d be too weird. So I chose the guest room at the end of the hall, three doors down from Maximoff’s. You remember it? It’s the one with the paisley wallpaper.”
I nod, still smiling. “Is that the one Lo says gives him a migraine every time he goes inside?”
Garrison laughs, a real heartfelt laugh. “That’d be the one.” He glances at the screen, our eyes meeting for a beat.
I push up my glasses. “I wish I were there to help you move in.”
I almost bought a ticket, but Garrison told me not to miss my first week of classes for him. That we’d Skype instead.
“You are here,” Garrison reminds me. His positivity is palpable, and it runs through me like a drug. “Pick a wall for my poster.” He travels around the room with his laptop.
“By the window,” I say.
He smiles wide. “We are two minds in one. Who knew, I was thinking the same exact thing.” The way he says it—he definitely wasn’t.
“Uh-huh. Sure.” I match his smile. It’s contagious.
“I love your choice,” he says. “That’s exactly where it’s going and I’m going to think about you every time I look at it.”
My chest swells, and I wish I had that reminder in my room. I glance at the photograph of us on my nightstand. We’re both lounging on the dock at the lake house, the sun setting, and he’s kissing my cheek.
Garrison places the laptop on the dresser, the spot that lets me see most of his room. He grabs a hoodie from a box and tosses the clothing in a trash bag. He already told me he’s throwing away every hoodie he owns. New start. New look. “How’s school?” he asks.
I’m about to answer but the door opens abruptly. “Uncle Garrison!” The dark-haired toddler rushes in and belly flops onto Garrison’s bed.
“Heyheyhey!” Lo calls out from the doorway. “What’d we say about knocking?”
Maximoff picks himself up from the mattress and turns to his dad. “I have to knocks before I enters,” he slurs the words a little.
“Try again, bud,” Lo says and then gives Garrison an apologetic look.
Garrison is full-on grinning.
Maximoff goes outside and knocks on the door. I hear Lo say, “And now what do you ask?”
“UNCLE GARRISON?!” Maximoff screams at the top of his lungs. “CAN I COME PLAY WITH YOU?!”
Garrison laughs. “Yeah, kid, come on in.”
Maximoff just started calling Garrison his uncle. Even though they’re not related. He’d be his actual uncle if Garrison and I got married, but we haven’t really discussed that possibility. It can’t be on Garrison’s radar if he’s thinking I’m going to break up with him.
I wouldn’t.
The door opens and Maximoff bounds back inside. “Can I—can I help you unpack?” he asks with these big green eyes that are so Lily—it’s impossible not to fall prey to them.
Garrison nods.
Lo notices the laptop screen. “Is that my sister?” Lo asks me, brows raised.
“I’m here in the…not-so-flesh,” I say.
“Just a bunch of ones and zeroes,” Garrison adds, and while standing behind Lo, my boyfriend winks at me. It’s sexy enough that I blush.
Lo frowns and looks over his shoulder. “Are you two flirting in nerd?”
“Man, we’re not nerds,” Garrison snaps. “Aren’t the nerd stars a few houses down the street?” Lily affectionately refers to Connor and Rose as the “nerd stars” but the Cobalts are so far from what you’d picture a stereotypical nerd. If anything, I fit the bill the most. Glasses, comic-book loving introvert.
Lo touches his chest. “Forgive me, you two are flirting in geek.”
Garrison raises his brows. “That’s you and your wife.” Lily and Lo are the superhero-obsessed ones, sometimes even more than me.
Maximoff picks up a pillow and tosses it at his dad. Lo dodges it like it’s nothing, his focus on Garrison. “Christ, you and words. Fine, you’re flirting in computer shit or whatever you youths calls it.”
“Binary,” Garrison says.
“What?” Lo’s brows knot.
“It’s a binary numer—you know what, never mind.”
“Good, I was thinking this was going to turn into a lesson,” Lo smiles his half-smile. “You do know I dropped out of college.”
“You tell us every chance you can get,” I say lightly.
Lo turns back to the computer. “My sister with the jokes.” He cracks another smile. “London is going well then?”
