AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There’s a dip in the bed as Cami plops down next to me.
She slaps my thigh. “What’s on your mind, girlfriend?”
“It’s…it’s…” I try to find the words for how I’m feeling. “It’s just that this will be the first time I’m at the apartment since my brother…” I look down at my hands, unable to finish that sentence.
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry.” She wraps her arm around my shoulder and pulls me into her.
I’d told her about Emmett and everything our second night living together over cheap wine and Chinese takeout. Talk about really opening up to someone quickly. She had seen the framed photo of him and me and had asked if he was my boyfriend. Super gag moment—you know, since we look so much alike and all. I guess I’m used to living in a small town and everyone knowing we were related.
“Just tell him to meet you here.”
I shake my head. “No, I need to do this. I can do this. I chose to come here, knowing that I couldn’t avoid it forever. I guess deep down I had just hoped to avoid it a little longer.”
She twists her mouth as if she is planning something. “I know just what you need.”
She eyes me up, and why do I instantly feel worried over the look she is giving to my outfit choice? Cami jumps up from the bed and struts back over to the closet where she continues looking for an outfit.
“You sure you don’t wanna come out with us? It might be fun.” Having Cami there with me would give me an easy escape if I needed one.
“As much as I would love to hang out with Hottie McHotterson and that sex-on-a-stick roommate of his, I have a date.” A smile spreads across her face, and I’m
not sure if it’s because she’s excited for her date or if it’s at the thought of how attractive she finds Zach and Kyler.
I internally roll my eyes as I remember her drooling over both of them at our door the other day to go to dinner.
“Of course you get a date the very first week of college.”
“Don’t hate. Don’t hate.” Cami fusses over a few more hangers. “A-ha!” She pulls out a black tube top with a slight dipped V to front.
“Ooh, that will be hot, your date is going to be excited to rip that off.”
“Oh, no. This, my dear, isn’t for me. I’ve already got my outfit, and for the record, no, I don’t plan on keeping it on long.”
Wow, she is the female version of Zach.
“This is for you.” She holds the top out in front of me.
“Hell no. I can’t wear that.”
“You can, and you will. Pair it with that jean skirt I saw in your dresser. You need to bust out of your comfort zone. Escape reality a little bit.”
Little does she realize if I met the boys at the apartment, I would definitely be out of my comfort zone.
Before I know it, I’m dressed in the outfit Cami had picked out and am standing outside Zach and Kyler’s apartment. My brother’s apartment. My phone vibrates.
Zach: Running late. Just got out of the shower. Door’s open.
I stand in front of the door and tell myself over and over that I can do it. I reach for the doorknob, take a deep breath, and turn it. Standing in the front hallway, I look around the apartment. The last time I was here, I was with Dani, my dad, Adam, and Zach, cleaning out my brother’s room. The wall that used to hold my brother’s Baltimore Ravens flag is now empty. I look to the end table that used to house the photo of me and him that currently resides on my dresser in my dorm room.
My heart catches in my throat. Breathe, Haylee. Just breathe. There is no sign that he ever lived here.
No one has noticed that I was here, so I can easily make my escape. I turn and place my hand on the doorknob to run when I hear a door opening behind me. Shit.
“Hey, Hails,” I hear the deep voice call out behind me, and I close my eyes.
What I wouldn’t give to turn around and see my brother standing there in the doorway in jeans and one of his many classic T-shirts—the T-shirts that were all packed up the last time I was here, most of those with Dani, wherever she may be now.
I feel a hand brush my shoulder, pulling me out of my thoughts, but it catches me off-guard and I jump back, my back slamming into the door.
