1. Charli #2
Dad watches her with an adoring look, and I bite my lips together as I wait for my turn.
He should adore her. She does freaking everything for him.
Yes, I know he’s in a wheelchair, but even if he wasn’t, he’d probably expect her to cook and clean and run this house like the good little woman she is.
But she’s more than good.
She has a full-time job as well. And she’s had that since we were kids. Always running around after everyone. And sure, Dad’s not a complete sloth. He’s a marketing manager and works hard too, but when he gets home, he’s the one watching sports on TV while Mom’s in the kitchen.
It drives me crazy!
“You need to find people who will be easy to live with.” Dad serves himself some green beans before passing the bowl to Darian. “Don’t just think about who’s the most fun. You need to ask yourselves, ‘Who can I handle sharing a space with for the day-to-day things?’”
“He’s right.” Mom nods.
Of course she does.
She agrees with Dad on everything.
And yes, that also drives me insane.
“Maybe we should ask Ben.” Darian glances at me. “He seems responsible.”
“And boring,” I murmur.
“Ben is not boring. You just don’t know him.”
I roll my eyes.
“Being responsible is a good thing, Carlota.” Dad frowns at me. “You should want to live with someone who knows how to clean up after themselves.”
I don’t miss his little dig.
If my father and I can argue about anything, it’s the fact that I’m a slob and my room is a war zone.
But it’s my fucking room, and I should be able to have it the way I want it!
And I’m not a total slob. He just doesn’t get that I’m able to find things just as easily when they’re on the floor.
And it’s not like I leave my stuff lying around the house all the time.
I’m aware that we have to have clear pathways for his chair. I’m not a complete idiot.
“You know what?” Darian digs into his meal, loading up his fork before looking at me. “You don’t know half the guys as well as I do, so you really shouldn’t have any say in this.”
I balk, resisting the urge to throw a carrot stick at his head. “If I’m going to be living with them, I should damn well get a say!”
“Carlota,” Dad softly barks. “Cuidado con esa boca.”
“I am watching my mouth,” I argue. “And how is it okay for your son to suggest that your daughter gets no say in who she lives with, but it’s not okay for her to say damn?”
His expression folds into a frown, and Mom quickly eases the tension with a smile. “Which friends of Darian’s do you like, baby? Maybe start with those.”
“Sawyer,” I mutter.
“Obviously.” She grins. “But that still leaves three other rooms. Who would you want them to go to?”
I hate that I have to admit that I don’t know Darian’s teammates as well as he does. Sure, I spend a little time with them, but it’s not like we train together, and most of them are at least a year or two ahead of me in school.
I’m not sure what it would be like to live with any of them.
What we really need to do is some kind of trial run and—
I perk up in my chair, my back pinging straight. “Oh shit, that’s good.”
“Don’t swear.” Mom points her fork at me. “And what’s good?”
“I’ve got an idea.” I turn my grin on Darian, excitement at my true genius starting to bubble in my chest.
Darian watches me, his eyebrows rising. “Mind sharing it with the rest of the class?”
I laugh. “You’re gonna love this.”
“Don’t make him guess,” Dad mutters. “I hate the guessing game.”
Well, that’s one thing we have in common. Potentially the only thing we agree on, but I don’t have time to dwell on that right now, because I’m too busy slapping my brother’s arm with glee and sharing with the table.
“Let’s invite the whole team away for a weekend… or anyone who might make a good roommate—like Nix—and then we’ll run some summer tryouts.”
Darian narrows his eyes. “What do you mean by tryouts?”
I shrug but can’t hide my smirk. “You know, just some little tests to see who we can live with.”
Mom snickers, winking at me, while my father grumbles that it’s dishonest.
“It’s genius,” I counter. “And if you think about it, I’m taking your advice. You said we need to find people we can live with on the day-to-day stuff. Over the weekend, we can test them and see who the best people will be to share a house with.”
Dad still doesn’t like it, but I don’t give a shit. The only person I need to convince is Darian.
“What do you think?” I give him a hopeful look.
He glances at Dad, and I have to fight my eye roll.
Don’t look at him! Make up your own fucking mind! You’re twenty-one! You don’t need his approval for every little thing. You don’t need his approval for anything!
I wish I could scream this at the top of my lungs, but it’ll only cause carnage, and I’m trying to be convincing right now. So, I hold my tongue and let him ruminate on my idea for a minute.
“Mi vida.” Mom smiles at Dad. “Sólo se está divirtiendo un poco.”
Dad’s lips twitch. He loves it when Mom speaks Spanish. She started learning it after they got together, and she’s fluent now.
I bob my head, agreeing with her gentle argument. It is just a bit of fun. I’m not out to get anybody. I just want to see who’d be good to live with.
Reaching for him, Mom brushes her thumb over Dad’s wrist, and that one move finally has his frown lifting completely.
She’s always had a magic touch with Dad. I don’t know how she does it, but his head is bobbing, albeit stiffly. Thankfully, it’s enough to have my brother grinning.
“Okay, fine. It’s a good idea.”
“Of course it is.” I wink at him, and his mouth curls up on the left.
“So, who do we know with a place where we can run these summer tryouts?”
I shake my head, popping a piece of chicken into my mouth and talking around my food. “It’ll cost too much to rent a place. And everything will be booked out anyway.”
It’s not like I have a lot of spare cash lying around. My scholarship covers everything, but I still need money for entertainment. I don’t want to use up what I’ve set aside for the year ahead on this weekend experiment.
“I got it.” Darian snaps his fingers.
“What?” I turn to him, loving the hopeful expression on his face.
“I’m pretty sure he’ll say yes.”
“Mind telling me who?”
“Mac.”
“Who?” Dad asks.
“Finn MacAlister.” Darian grins. “He’s one of my teammates.”
“The guy who looks like a vampire?” My face bunches.
“He’s not a vampire. He’s just got pale skin.”
And scary blue eyes that can peel the flesh off your bones.
My spine twitches. “He lives in New York, doesn’t he?”
“Mac’s family is loaded. They’ve got houses all over the place, including a lake house in Aspen. I’ve never been there, but Enzo told me it’s super lush. We could see if he’ll let us borrow it for the weekend.”
“Yeah, okay.” I pop another piece of chicken into my mouth and nod.
We’ll have to invite the guy to join us, which could be interesting.
I don’t know him very well, but I’ve heard he’s a wild beast. Not exactly the type of man I want to be sharing a house with for the year.
But just because we’re using Mac’s lake house to run summer tryouts doesn’t mean we have to invite him, right?
“Maybe just don’t tell him what we’re up to,” I suggest. “You know, keep it casual. Say we’re just wanting to have a good time with the team or something.”
Darian nods, and I’m relieved he agrees with me.
We’re facing important decisions here.
You can’t just ask any ol’ person to share a house with you. A year is a really long time if you don’t like your housemates.
We have to be thoughtful about this.
And I can already tell you that I won’t be selecting Mac as one of my roommates. He probably wouldn’t even want to live with us anyway.