Chapter 6
SIX
NICOLO RASTELLI
Instead of showering (since we have to pack and move me out of my dorm room, which will just mean getting sweaty again), Sebastian helps me change the sheets on his— our bed. I’m glad he realized how stupid it is for him to sleep on the sofa in his own home, especially when his bed is big enough for both of us.
Once that’s done, we leave his house and stop by the recreational center so I can get my car. Then I lead the way to the dorms.
The whole building is a hub of activity.
Last minute arrivals are hustling to move in before school starts on Wednesday. People are introducing themselves to the students they’ll be sharing a living space with for the semester, while the RA coordinates the pandemonium to the best of their ability.
I ignore them all and make my way to the far end of the hall with Sebastian hot on my heels. My soon-to-be-former dorm room door is locked and the room itself is empty, which isn’t a surprise.
Sunday, when I moved in after having lived out of a shitty motel for two weeks while I waited for the dorms to be ready, my roommate explained he already had a job lined up. That he probably wouldn’t be around much between work, class, and other school-related activities.
I’m not even sure we exchanged names before he fled with an apron clenched in his hands.
“This is me.” I gesture to my side of the room. A dozen or so boxes are jammed under the bed, poking out from underneath the thin twin mattress.
When I unpacked, I stuck with the necessities, not wanting to spread across the entire room and encroach on my roommate’s space.
“I’ll carry boxes down while you repack.” Sebastian bends to fish a box out from under the bed. My mouth goes dry and I jerk my gaze away.
The way the basketball shorts he’s wearing cup his ass and thighs is enough to have the front of my skinny jeans growing uncomfortably tight.
What in the fuck is wrong with me?
He’s my brother!
Acknowledging he’s handsome is one thing but being attracted to him is something else entirely. The last thing I should be doing is eyeballing his ass. It’s a really great ass though. And . . . Sebastian hasn’t really been my brother in a long time, has he? After ten years, we’re strangers more than anything else.
“Nicolo?” Sebastian is standing in front of me, holding an armful of boxes. The corner of his mouth tips up into a half smile I remember from when I was young. I have a feeling he’s called my name more than once.
I blink and shake myself. Now isn’t the time to be distracted.
“Yeah. Sorry. What?”
He tips his head towards my side of the room. “Repack.”
I exhale and nod before grabbing one of the empty boxes I planned to dispose of today. It’s a good thing I didn’t. Finding new ones wouldn’t be a problem, not with everyone moving in for the semester unpacking their belongings, but it would’ve been awkward to ask for the boxes required to move out.
Sebastian leaves the room as I strip my bed and shove the sheets, blanket and pillow into one box, before I simply empty the contents of my desk into another. I drag the clothes I hung up this morning from the closet and drop them into a couple boxes before adding whatever’s left to the last remaining box.
By the time Sebastian’s back, I’m done. Nothing is organized, not the way it was when I originally packed with our mother’s help, but it’s all in easy-to-carry boxes and that’s what matters.
He inspects my side of the room with a critical eye and an arched eyebrow. “That was fast.”
I shrug and pick up a box. If the rattle as I adjust my hold is any indication, it’s the one I dumped my school supplies into. “There wasn’t much to repack.”
He shakes his head, mouth twitching with a barely repressed smile, lifts another box and backs out into the busy hallway.
I follow him out the door, careful not to bump into any of my classmates.
He knows my packing was a maelstrom, but he isn’t going to call me on it. Later, when I have to unpack, he’ll probably have something to say about how if I’d packed with any sense of patience or organization, unpacking wouldn’t be half as hard.
Future me can deal with future problems.
Between the pair of us, we finish quickly. Everything I own is distributed between the trunk of his SUV and the back of my car.
“Need to let anyone know you won’t be staying here?” Sebastian shuts the back passenger door as he casts a glance towards the dorm.
I should probably notify the school, or my resident advisor at the very least, that I won’t be living in the dorm, but it’s probably better if no one knows where I’m staying.
If Uncle Vincent gets a wild hair up his ass and decides dragging me back into the Family is better for business, he’ll have a harder time finding me if I’m not where I’m supposed to be.
I shake my head. “No. It’s fine.”
My roommate will probably notice my absence, but I doubt he’ll say anything. I wouldn’t if I was him—if everyone thinks I’m living there, but I’m actually not, he’ll have the whole room to himself.
If he’s smart, he’ll throw some sheets and a blanket on my bare bed and fill the empty space I left with all of his stuff so it looks like a room shared by two. When our dorm mates or the RA ask after me, he can shrug and play dumb.
“Alright.” Sebastian pushes off my car and grasps my shoulder, squeezing softly. I lean into his hold. “Follow me home.”
Home. Sebastian’s home.
Mine now too.
How long has it been since anywhere felt like home?
Truthfully, a long time. Probably since the day Sebastian left with our father for his baptism and never returned.