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    The house isid out so that the stairs ascend to the second floor in the middle, which means all the rooms are effectively situated around thending in a circr design. As I found out earlier, my room is located at the front of the house, in the left corner, with Cade’s room to my left and AJ’s room to my right.

    Mine is also the only room with an ensuite, while the guys share bathrooms that are between Cade and Xavier’s rooms and Hunter and AJ’s rooms, respectively. When I asked why someone wasn’t already staying in the ‘main‘ bedroom or if I might have inadvertently kicked someone out when I said I would move in, they assured me the room was already unupied.

    Apparently, when they all moved in, they didn’t want to cause animosity by allocating the room to any of them, as they were all equally liable for rent and utilities. Until now, the room had basically been used as a pseudo storage room, and the bathroom was used whenever one of them couldn’t wait for his ‘bathroom buddy‘ to finish in the shower and then would pop over to this one.

    The room is spacious yet not massive like the one I had at Michael’s ce. There’s a wardrobe and a dresser that should fit all my clothes nicely. The queen bed against the far wall has bedside tables on each side and is currently covered only in white bedding. When I next get paid, I n on changing that by popping over to Bed, Bath & Beyond and picking up a few pieces of décor and bedding that suit my tastes better.

    The bathroom has a single vanity, a toilet, and a decent–sized shower–tubbo that I can’t wait to soak in asionally. Candles, bath bombs, and a few bottles of heavenly- scented bubble bath will also be on my shopping list for BB&B, along withfy and soft towels.

    Standing in the center of the room, sunlight spills through the windows‘ shutters, creating a warmb, /bcozy feel that’s already soothing to my soul.

    The guys each left something in my room as a ‘wee gift‘, which made me smile fondly. When I saw it for the first time, my throat tightened at their thoughtfulness.

    Xavier had strung fairy lights haphazardly around the window frame behind my

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    headboard. Even though it was still the middle of the day, they were already glowing softly like something out of a dream. I can’t wait to see what they look like when the overhead lights are off at night.

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    At the foot of the bed sits a folded hoodie that’s gray and slightly frayed at the cuffs, and oh so soft. The kind you only get after a hundred washes. I run my fingers across the fabric, pick it up, press it to my nose, and inhale deeply. Hunter’s cinnamon and vani scent invades my senses, and I’smile instinctively.

    On the nightstand closest to the door sits a matte ck mug with rose gold bold lettering crooked across the side: Queen of Bad Decisions. Inside the mug are three packets of my favorite hot chocte and a neon yellow sticky note taped to the handle with Cade’s messy handwriting: For emergency caffeine and/or poor life choices.

    ss glints in the afternoon sun on the dresser. It’s a photo frame, and inside is a picture of AJ and me, too small to believe we were real, his right arm slung over my shoulder, and my left arm around his back. I was seven, grinning with one pigtail slipping loose, one front tooth missing, and my cheeks smudged with dirt. He had just turned eight, stood with a Band–Aid on his left knee, and that signature deep scowl already forming. I can’t believe he kept this, but I’m not too surprised, either.

    I sit on the edge of the bed and nce at every gift again. I pull the hoodie over my head, tuck my knees up to my chest underneath it, the photo frame still sped in one hand, the mug within reach on the bedside table, the fairy lights twinkling with a golden hue off to my left, and let my eyes fall shut for a moment.

    This room won’t feel new tomorrow, but by then, this house won’t just be where I live.

    It’ll be where I stay.

    The rest of the day unfolds slowly and without a schedule or n. There is just the soft hum of mixed voices, the smell of coffee, hands brushing in passing, too often to call it coincidence, and a quiet thread of something unspoken stitching through it all.

    By the time evening rolls around, the living room looks like the aftermath of a storm. Numerous Chinese takeout boxes stand open on the coffee and dining room table. Coffee cups, empty soda cans, and half–empty water bottles are scattered across the table, the

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    floor, and any t surface they could be bnced on.

    Various pairs of shoes lie abandoned in corners or next to the couch, like someone kicked them off mid–step and never looked back.

    自

    Cade is half passed out on the rug, snoring lightly, an arm flung over his face. He made it about ten minutes into the impromptu movie before dropping like a stone.

    Hunter is stretched out on the far end of the couch, his head tipped back, his arms crossed loosely over his chest, his breathing slow and even–already fast asleep.

    Xavier is slouched in the armchair, his legs thrown over the side, flipping through channels with the remote dangling from his hand now that the movie has ended. His eyes are half–lidded, but there’s defiance in the way he won’t admit he’s too tired to fight it.

    AJ sits at the other end of the couch, one arm thrown over the backrest, a light beer bottle in his other hand, and his gaze tracking the room inzy arcs, now and thennding on me where I’m slouched back in thefy bean bag opposite him, a soft knowing smile tipping the one corner of his mouth.

    I curl my legs beneath me and tug Hunter’s one hoodie sleeve lower over my hand as I sip from my half–finished soda that’s in my other hand. Cade mumbles something about ‘nachos‘ and ‘fighting a bear‘, then kicks weakly in his sleep like he’s reliving a fight with wildlife he, apparently, won.

    Hunter stirs, shifts in his seat, and mutters, “You’re an idiot,” without opening his eyes, which makes AJ chuckle. Xavier changes the channel iagain/i, as he deadpans, “We should’ve left him outside.”

    I snort into my sleeve. “Don’t lie, you love him,” I say.

    Xavier lifts his mug, raises his brow, looks at me indifferently over the rim, and replies, “That’s a questionable statement, at best.”

    AJ leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and his voice is low,zy, andced with something that has me breathing a little bit heavier, “You’re stuck with all of us now, you know.”

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    Unable to look away from him, I catch the half–smile tugging at the edge of his mouth. The kind that always makes me wonder if he’s joking. Maybe he is. Perhaps he’s not. Or

    maybe it doesn’t really matter.

    “Good thing I’m adaptable,” I say, raising my can in mock toast.

    At that, he leans over, taps his bottle gently against mine, and says, “Wee home, Cupcake.”

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