Alice points out each area we pass as we tour the two floors. Everything is white, with brick and wood accents in each room that tie it all together. The second floor has a huge space that Alice says the previous owner used to entertain people. I can’t help but picture bookshelves lining the wall, all filled with my favorite literature and silly signs I’ve collected over the years, and a reading nook in the corner with the kind of chairs that you sink into and lose hours in while you escape into nineteenth-century romance novels.
I stop myself from fantasizing about what kind of Pinterest ideas I can use to decorate the house because it’s not right. I started the board years ago when I thought about running away until I could build up to the future I deserved. One where I could afford a reading nook without anybody’s help. The problem with that is my bank account currently has $116.05 in it, which is barely enough to get groceries. If I can’t afford more than a month’s supply of food, how am I going to afford anything else?
Ky walks up to me and bumps our shoulders together. “What’s wrong?”
Shoulders dropping slightly at his knowing tone, I let out a soft exhale and say, “I think maybe we should rethink this whole thing.”
His eyebrows jump. “What?”
I glance at Alice, who’s typing away on her phone a few feet away, before settling my gaze back on his confused face. “It’s a really nice house and I like it, but I have nothing to offer.”
He blinks. “Okaaay.”
Tipping my head back, I look at the white ceiling. Maybe it’s because the places I grew up were always small, dark, and dirty, but I love how light, bright, and open everything here is. It makes saying this that much harder. “I didn’t come here to be like my mother, Kyler. I’m not interested in using people for their money. Honestly, I don’t know why I agreed to do this whole roomie thing with you to begin with.”
His deadpan expression doesn’t make me feel any better. “First of all, you didn’t agree because I didn’t give you a choice.” He pins me with a look that tells me not to argue. “Secondly, I never want to hear you compare yourself to Katherine. You are not your mother, Leighton, and you never will be.”
“Our situations are—”
“Not the same. Listen, I agreed to help you because I want to. Not because I felt obligated, because no matter what, we are family. So, get out of your stubborn little head.”
My lips twitch. “My head is not little.” Then again, do I want to be told I have a big one? Not really. “And I appreciate what you’re doing, but I just think that this is all a little…too much. Not that I don’t love the house, but—”
“Alice,” he says, cutting me off. I frown at him. She appears by his side in impressive record-breaking time. I bet five bucks, because I can’t afford to lose more than that, that she’ll try slipping him her number by the time we leave. “Can we think about this before agreeing to anything? I think there are some things Lenny and I need to discuss.”
Swallowing down my words when his pointed, no nonsense tone fills the room, I watch as Alice nods. “Of course, Mr. Bishop. There’s nobody else looking at this property right now, so you should take all the time you need.”
I don’t miss the way Kyler’s face shadows over. He hates being called that because it reminds him too much of his father, someone he never got along with or aspired to be like.
We’re on our way out, Kyler and Alice in front of me, when she rests a palm on his bicep and bats her lashes. “I just have to say that I’m a big fan.”
Here we go. Biting the inside of my cheek to stop from smiling when Kyler’s face flushes, I examine the shrubbery again, feigning interest in them, so I don’t have to witness whatever is bound to happen. I’ve had to watch Ky get hit on all the time and it hasn’t gotten any less awkward. Alice giggles, says her cell number is written on the back of her card, and asks for a picture.
Dang. I’d be five dollars richer. $121.05. Missed my opportunity.
Once we’re in our separate cars, Alice honking as she leaves the driveway first, Kyler loosens a sigh. “Don’t say it,” he grumbles, making me grin.
Taking my thumbnail out of my mouth, I stifle a laugh. “But she’s such a huge fan.” I bat my lashes at him in mockery, which makes him roll his eyes in return.
“Don’t do that. You’re better than them,” he chastises. Then, “And don’t pretend you aren’t like that with people you admire.” He eyes me before turning onto the road. “I haven’t forgotten about your encounter with the guys from Violet Wonders.” He spits out their name like it’s bitter in his mouth, making me crack up.
“Why do you still hate them so much?” He’s the one who got me backstage passes to meet them, which is still a favorite memory of mine, despite his old rivalry with the opposing band. I own all their music, even their comeback albums since they got back together a year ago and have the picture of me with the five group members in a frame tucked away for safekeeping.
“They’re assholes.”
“You say that about everyone,” I point out, looking out the window. “And aren’t you sort of friends with a couple of them? You used to text with Zayne and Manning.” He just sort of grunts an incoherent reply that makes me shake my head. “They were perfectly nice to me. Plus, Garrick even let me have a beer when we all hung out in their dressing room!”
Kyler shoots me a daggered glare. “He did what?” I see the spit flying from his mouth and make a face.
“Gross. Calm down. It was just one beer.” It was technically half a beer, maybe less, because it tasted disgusting. The guys even laughed at the apparent dislike on my face when I passed it back to Garrick who finished it off in a few chugs.
“You were fifteen when you met them!”
He has a fair point, but I don’t back down because I know he’s done far more at much younger ages. “It isn’t like he invited me in to have an orgy with them.”
The groan he responds with is loud and burdened as his cheeks tint pink. “Never again. I never, in my entire life, want to hear you say that word again. Especially in relation to those dickwads.”
“What? Orgy?” I make sure to say the word slowly so I can be sure it’s the one he’s referring to.
His glare intensifies. “I swear to God, Leighton, if—”
My phone rings, and I hold up a hand at his useless rant when I see his sister’s name pop up on the cracked screen. “Hey, Mia.”
“Lenny Lou,” she greets cheerfully. I can’t help but smile at the old nickname, given to me once she found out my middle name is Louise. “How is house hunting with the little bro going? Any potential?”
Nibbling my lip, I give a quick glance at Kyler, who’s back to focusing on the road. “We need to talk about some things before we make any decisions.”
From the profile of his face, I see a brow arch before he gives a quick look as if to argue with me. I ignore him. “Can you believe your brother doesn’t want me saying the word ‘orgy’?”
Mia’s laugh is abrupt and loud, making me giggle at the string of curses Ky makes. “That is both random and not surprising whatsoever. Do I even want to know how that came up?”