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The truck wheezes to a stop outside 52 Edgewood Drive. I sit for a moment, staring at the house Caleb has spent the past three years living in. It’s larger than I expected it to be; a three-story brick structure with a neatly trimmed lawn out front.
Every light in the house looks like it’s on, so I won’t be waking anyone up. I shouldn’t be surprised. Pretty sure I’m the only person in the state of Kentucky under the age of forty who goes to bed at ten p.m. on a regular basis. It’s almost midnight now.
I climb out of the car, grabbing the bag of clothes I hastily threw together and slamming the door shut behind me. The sound echoes on the empty street. I walk toward the brick house, startling when a loudclangcomes from the right.
“Sorry!” I glance over at a guy who looks to be my age, with sandy blond hair and a friendly smile, who’s standing with two overflowing trash bins. The lid for one is now lying on the cement sidewalk. “Didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s fine,” I reply, loosening my grip on the bag I’m holding. “Here, let me get it.” I approach him, grabbing the fallen lid and plopping it back atop the bin.
“Thanks.” He gives me a wide grin.
“No problem.” I turn to leave.
“Are you coming back to campus early?”
I spin back to face him. “Uh, no. I’m not a student here. Just visiting someone.”
“That makes more sense. Idefinitelywould remember seeing you around.”
Friendliness turns flirtatious. I smile, awkwardly. This is what I get for being a good Samaritan, I guess. I’m out of practice when it comes to dissuading flirting. Guys weren’t exactly swarming me in high school, and there’s not a single person in Landry unaware I’m dating Caleb Winters.
“Good luck with those.” I nod to the bins.
He smiles before continuing to the curb. “Hope to see you around.”
I walk up to the front door of Caleb’s house and knock.
“Yeah?” The door swings open, revealing a shirtless guy with dark blond hair chewing what looks like a stick of jerky. He looks me up and down, then smirks.
“Is Caleb home?” His truck is in the driveway, but I suppose he could have gotten a ride with someone. I probably should have texted him a heads-up, but I liked the idea of surprising him.
“It would be great if you could spread the word around campus that other people live here, too,” the guy replies. “NotjustWinters.”
“If I went to school here, I’d definitely consider doing that,” I reply.
His face crinkles in confusion. “Where do you go to school?”
“Could we have this conversation while I’m not standing out on the street?”
“Uh, yeah. Sure. Come on in.” He pulls the door open, and I step inside.
The outside of the house may not look like it’s inhabited by a group of college guys, but the interior definitely does. Sports equipment is hung on pretty much every visible surface: railings, doorknobs, and a couple of chairs. A pair of socks are flung on the floor and the walls are bare.
I’m not sure why Caleb was bothered by me turning the farmhouse topsy-turvy. Seems like it would have just felt the same as living here.
“Guys are through here.” The blond guy whose name I probably should have asked for heads down the hall and disappears to the right.
I swallow my nerves and follow. I’ve only met two of Caleb’s college teammates. They visited him in Landry last summer, and we got lunch. They were both perfectly nice, but the one meal didn’t establish any of the rapport I have with Colt, Jake, and Luke. No one at Clarkson knows anything about me and Caleb’s past: good or bad.
“Winters! Some chick for you,” I hear called out just before I reach the opening.
I enter what is obviously the living room. Four guys are sprawled out around the large space. There’s a massive sectional couch holding two of them; the third and Caleb are in bean bags.
Unsurprisingly, there’s a baseball game playing on the flatscreen television.
Iamsurprised to see a bunch of girls parked on the couch between the boys. A few are sitting on the floor as well. I do a quick count, registering there’s eight of them. A couple take note of my arrival, but the others are distracted, talking with the boys.
