Stripped Love (Guys Next Door #1) - Baylin Crow Page 0,9
stage one last time and was startled when I locked eyes with Phoenix.
It was only a beat before he turned away, and I swallowed hard and then forced myself to follow them out of the club.
2
Archer
Two weeks later
Our dorm room had been stripped bare of our personal belongings, and all that sat in place was the standard bland furniture.
The sound of students out in the hall created a constant buzz as everyone prepared to leave for the summer. I took one last look around the space that had been home to me and CJ all semester, making sure we weren't leaving anything behind.
Before we'd started packing, my side of the room had been kept neat with bare essentials, aside from the desk that had housed all of my art supplies. CJ’s side had been a disorganized mess, with Hawthorne Pirates Basketball memorabilia scattered around and piles of dirty clothes lying in heaps wherever he decided to toss them.
I couldn't say I'd miss the overbearing smell of sweaty gym socks and uniforms that somehow never made it into the broken laundry basket, but I had grown used to the chaotic clutter.
"You sure you got everything?" CJ asked from the doorway where he'd been talking to a guy from their team for the last five minutes.
I glanced at the bulging trash bags stuffed full of bedding and clothes and cardboard boxes with the rest of our stuff stacked against the wall. The top one had two gleaming trophies from CJ's winning seasons sticking out. Vanity ran strong with the twins when it came to their sport, so rather than leaving them home, he'd likely haul them right back for the fall semester.
I nodded. "Yeah, that's it. Where's Caleb?"
"I'm right here." Caleb shouldered past CJ and lifted two boxes. The top one rattled, and CJ cursed.
"Can you be careful? I don't want my shit broken." He glared before picking up the other two boxes.
We'd already loaded Caleb's things from the dorm across from ours into the rented trailer. What had started with my single room and the twins sharing a space freshman year, quickly changed due to the parade of girls Caleb had snuck into his room, despite the rules.
According to CJ, if he had to listen to his twin have sex with one more girl, or be invited to a twin sandwich, his dick would never work again. So, I gained a roommate, and Caleb was free to play baby mama roulette. CJ's words.
I scooped up the bags and then, weaving through the crowded hall, led the way to the elevator.
The twins stood at my side as we stopped outside the door, waiting for the car. When it arrived, we stepped inside and scooted toward the back to make room for a group of girls chattering about their summer plans.
One paused and glanced over her shoulder towards Caleb, and her cheeks bloomed red as she scanned him up and down. I glanced over at him and rolled my eyes at the arrogant smirk on his face as he soaked up the attention. Her gaze briefly switched to me then on to CJ where she lingered. Unlike Caleb, his bored expression met her interested one. Night and day, the twins were alike in so many ways, yet different at the same time. The doors slid closed and began its descent.
Ignoring them, CJ knocked into my shoulder. "You sure you want to stay with your uncle? You can always just come stay with us. The pool house is clean and no one really uses it."
He'd been trying to persuade me all week. "I told my uncle I'd come help at the shop, and he has the room set up already. I can't back out."
Truthfully, I wouldn't even if I could. With parents who turned a blind eye to what went on at their house while they left for frequent vacations, the twins regularly threw parties.
I didn't mind attending now and then, but summer for me was more about relaxing and writing—not surrounding myself with endless noise.
"You’d better stop by and visit. It's only a twenty-minute drive so no excuses," CJ said as he shifted the boxes' weight in his arms.
The ding of the elevator signaled we'd reached the ground floor, and we waited our turn to get out.
"And you have to promise to come to at least one party." Caleb nudged me as we stepped into the chaotic lobby. "We'll come kidnap you if we have to."