1 Scarlett

“Let me help you!”

Edgar takes the box from me and wedges his foot into the half-open door. A huge bag hanging over my shoulder, I try to roll a suitcase of at least forty pounds across the apartment floor. A familiar smell intoxicates me, a mixture of lilac and fir, quite characteristic of this place. It’s been almost a year since I left Boston to complete my second year of college in Paris with Paige, my best friend. Eleven months since I had set foot in the apartment my big brother shares with his best friends that I have known since I was little. During my first year of college, I stayed in the dorms. I was starting to feel a bit short on money, but Edgar was already settled in his apartment in the south of the city, and I couldn’t see myself moving with him and three other guys. Until today.

“Have you decided to settle down for ten years, Scar?”

Nolan’s husky, warm voice startles me. My fingers tighten on the strap of my bag, and I look back at the figure of Edgar’s best friend. One of the guys with whom I will have to share this apartment and who, by the way, is my lifelong crush. The guy I’ve been in love with since I was old enough to look at boys, but Nolan doesn’t see me as anything but, pain in the ass little sister. I tried to get away from him by going to Paris. However, seeing him standing in the living room I know that plan didn’t work. I’m so screwed. The prospect of living with him causes a surge of panic in my chest.

He hasn’t changed. His smile is still white. His presence is still as magnetic. My feelings, still so devastating. But given the disapproving glance he casts at my brother; I see that he’s far from being thrilled with my move in.

“Hello to you too, Nolan, it’s nice to see you again,” I say.

It’s been almost a year since I last saw him and my heart, my body, all my senses react the same way as the day I left. The butterflies are excited in my stomach and another part of my anatomy is waking up as soon as my gaze falls on the hand that he passes mechanically through his messy hair. Undone curls cut short but terribly sexy. I’ve always had a thing for guys with wavy hair and Nolan Jones is precisely the one who wears it the best.

Obviously.

“It would make me even happier if you didn’t come to live in this apartment. But what can I say? Life isn’t fair.”

He smirks at me and my stomach twists. His unpleasant joke doesn’t surprise me. I’ve known him for years and he talks to me like I was a kid. His surrogate sister. The one he never had, while I’m stuck with not one, but three brothers with all the bad things that entails. For Nolan, I’m the girl to keep away from his group of friends who, despite only a year apart, is considered to be the pain-in-the-ass teenager.

“What a pity, in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m moving in for ten years.”

He stifles a laugh and glares at me sideways, crossing his muscular arms against his chest. The veins in his forearms bulge and the color of his tanned skin contrasts with the white of his polo shirt. Another new one to add to my list of “clothes in which Nolan is mega hot!” and I’ve only been here five minutes.

“Move your ass, Jones,” my brother says as he walks out the hallway. “There are still two boxes to go up and Leo is waiting for you at the car.”

“Two boxes? I think he’s able to handle them by himself! Unless Scar put some bricks and some French rocks in them?”

I wince, not giving him the satisfaction of correcting him that ridiculous nickname the three of them give me. His origin? The Lion King cartoon, which they had the misfortune to watch once. It was a trigger. They thought they recognized my kindness in the character of Scar and here I am labeled for eternity. At first, it literally drove me crazy, because it had a way of making them laugh every time I got annoyed. The more I asked them to stop, the more they liked doing it. So, I learned to stop fighting and just accept it.

Scarlett 0. Edgar, Nolan, and Leo 1.

“Just two or three things that can help me, in case I have a sudden urge to knock you out!”

Edgar sighs and Nolan bursts out laughing as he comes to grab the suitcase from my hands.

“That’s it, you already make me regret this roommate,” mutters my brother. “Scar, your room at the back on the left.”

“Yes, I remember.”

I let Nolan walk down the hall, rolling my suitcase on the polished floor, and I follow him in silence to my new room. The white walls attract the light that filters through the large window at the back and the few wooden pieces of furniture that dress the room make it quite charming. Milo Sullivan, who used to live here, moved in with his boyfriend, whom he met during the year I was abroad. My brother told me that they got together after a misunderstanding at a party. If I was surprised to know that Milo was gay, I am even more surprised to see that he took it to the next level with Gabriel. The last time I saw him, he only had fun with girls and didn’t date anyone. The cliché of the hockey player, in short.

“Milo left you the rug, but if you don’t want it, we can always move it.”

Nolan places my suitcase in the corner of the room, and I look down at the floor where a navy-blue rug is wedged between the bed and the large wardrobe.

“It doesn’t bother me.”

“You can hang things on the wall too, if you want.”

I give him a quick glance, noticing that he still has that mocking look on his face despite the banality of our exchange. As if my presence was enough to make our conversation entertaining for him.

“Cool, I have some pictures, that’s perfect.”

I quickly inspect the place, walking to the window while carefully avoiding touching Nolan on the way. I’m acutely aware of his presence. The choppy sound of his breathing, the light scent of his shampoo, the spicy scent of his cologne, the warmth of his body standing right in the middle of this cramped room. I stare at an imaginary point outside, trying to bring down the sudden assaults my heart is making in my chest.

“Don’t take the opportunity to put your Justin Bieber posters there either,” he mocks.

I smirk.

He can’t help it.

“What, you’re afraid of being infected with Bieber fever?”

He laughs and I ignore the shivers on my arms seeing his perfect mouth move in a smile that only he knows the secret to. A pout that would be able to cause a pileup on Interstate 95 in Massachusetts. Anyway, in my body, it’s quite a mess. Especially knowing which room Nolan occupies. The only one adjoins to mine… behind my headboard.

“Just kidding, Scar,” he says. “It’s good to see you again, you haven’t changed. You’re still as annoying as ever! It’s going to be fun this year!”

It’s not until I turn to face him that I realize he came closer to me. Only a few centimeters away, I almost bumped against his chest. And since that wasn’t enough, one of his hands comes to rest on top of my head and ruffles my hair. Like I was a kid he was teasing. Or a small dog.

I push him away quickly and he laughs.

“Get out of my room, Nolan!”

“Jones, are you pissing off my sister again?”

Edgar enters the room with one of my boxes, followed closely by Leo, the fourth and last member of the house. They place my remaining belongings on the floor, near those already piled up against one of the walls. I shift, putting a good distance between Nolan and me, and quickly brush my hair with my fingertips to flatten it.

“I think we’re good, everything’s up,” says Leo.

“It’s nice of you to help me anyway. And let me stay with you.”

“It’s nice to have you back,” Leo said with a sincere smile.

OK, so it’s only Nolan who’s pissed off!

After taking a last look around the guys file out of my room, leaving me alone. I collapse on my bed as soon as my door slams and sigh for a long moment, my eyes glued to the ceiling and my nostrils still impregnated with a familiar smell.

I’m back.

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