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Lovey opens the door to the back seat and grabs my duffle and a plastic bin. I pull out my backpack and another bin and follow her up the front walk. I spot Rose two doors down doing a cartwheel on the front lawn, followed by a roundoff. She waves and skips up the front steps of the house, meeting Quinn at the door.
Lacey holds the door open for us. “Can I take anything?”
“We’re good. BJ has more of Winter’s stuff in his Jeep,” Lovey says.
“I’ll grab a tote.” Lacey is the quieter of the twins, and her face is slightly more angular than Lovey’s. She also has a small birthmark above her lip on the right side, which makes it easier to differentiate between them. Although their style helps with that too. Lovey is all pastel colors, and Lacey is a bit more funky.
“This is the kitchen,” Lovey says as we pass through the spacious room.
It’s eat-in, with white cupboards and gray countertops. It must be at least twice as big as the cabin’s kitchen.
“Wow. This is amazing.”
“It’s great for communal dinners,” Lovey agrees. “The living room is through there. I’ll show you once our hands aren’t full.” She leads me up a staircase and down the hall, passing one closed bedroom door and two open ones—those belong to Lovey and Lacey. At the end of the hall, we climb to the third floor.
“It’s a long way up, but it’s private and has its own bathroom.” Lovey elbows the door open and steps aside to let me through.
“Holy wow.” I set down my load and take in the huge, open room with sloped ceilings. A sliding door leads to a balcony, which overlooks the backyard. “Are you sure you want me to take this room? Maybe you or Lacey would rather have it? Or even River?”
“River spends a lot of time at Josiah’s place, so he already said he doesn’t need the extra space. And Lacey and I are settled in the bedrooms on the second floor, so this is all yours.”
“Every student house I’ve ever visited has been run-down and in need of a serious paint job,” I admit. “I feel bad that I’m taking this from Rose.”
The walls are painted a purple so pale it almost looks white at first. The floors are honey hardwood, and in the center of the room is a square area rug. The bed is set in the middle of the room, and I’m pretty sure it’s a queen. Dark purple curtains frame the sliding door, pulled back and tied with white ribbons.
A huge white dresser sits across from the bed, and on the other side of the room is a pale wood desk, a combination whiteboard and corkboard fixed to the wall above it. Broadway play posters decorate another wall between two doors. The open one leads to the bathroom, and the other I assume is a closet. The spare room at BJ’s house was nice, but this is so much different. It symbolizes freedom and new beginnings.
Lovey pats my shoulder. “Rose will be fine. Kody’s room is huge and neat as a pin. Plus, it’ll be good for Quinn and BJ to have a little estrogen in that house to balance things out. Rose is a neat freak, and BJ isn’t. It should work well if they don’t irritate each other to death.”
BJ appears in the doorway, carrying a box and a bag. “I forgot how freaking many stairs there are in this house,” he huffs, setting his armful beside the other totes and bags.
“I’m going down to help unload,” Lovey says. “Rose brought everything except the kitchen sink.”
“We’ll be there in a minute,” BJ says.
“Take your time.”
She disappears down the stairs, leaving me alone with BJ.
“How do you like the space?” he asks.
“It’s amazing. This room is almost the size of our entire cabin.”
He comes to stand in front of me, the toes of his shoes touching mine. I look up at him. “It’s a lot to take in, huh?”
I smile. “Yeah. It’s a lot.”
“My bedroom is smaller, and you’re welcome to sleep beside me anytime you want.”
“I don’t know how much sleeping we’ll be doing.”
“Eventually we’ll get to the sleeping part, but this week, it’s all about showing you the fun side of college. And this room has lots of privacy.” He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me closer, his mouth covering mine.
I loop my arms around his neck and sink into the kiss, at least until I hear someone stomping up the stairs.
“Dad incoming!” Coach Ballistic appears in the doorway a moment after we break apart. “That’s a lot of stairs.” He’s slightly out of breath. “I think there are only a couple more boxes down there for you.” He sets down the ones he’s carried, and his eyebrows pull together as he takes in the small pile that’s accumulated next to the door. “Are we missing any?”
“Nope,” I assure him. “I pack light. We should go down and help. Rose brought half of Pearl Lake with her.”
