my nuts if I told Aamee anything of the sort.
In an effort to assert our sibling bond, I said, “But Fifi would probably kill me if I told you any, and I’m too nice of a big brother to do that.” I thought the nickname was a nice touch.
“Fifi?” Aamee and Sophia said in unison. Though their tones could not have been more different. Aamee was practically vibrating with excitement, while Sophia looked less than pleased, to say the least.
“Brody, you know I can’t stand when you call me that,” Sophia said much more sweetly than she obviously wanted to.
“Sorry.” I tried to give her an apologetic smile, but no apology could change the fact that Aamee had already heard it.
“Fifi,” Aamee said. “It reminds me of a small toy poodle.”
“All toy poodles are small,” Sophia told her.
“I think toy poodles are cute,” the other girl said.
“You’re not helping, Gina.”
Gina mouthed a Sorry to Sophia before addressing Aamee. “We should probably get going and let Sophia get unpacked.”
Aamee looked genuinely confused. “She owns like six things, and all of them should be donated to Goodwill.”
Of course that wasn’t true. I’d seen some of Sophia’s clothes already, and a few still had the tags on them. I wasn’t sure who would pay sixty-eight dollars for a tank top. Apparently those people existed, and I was now sharing an apartment with one of them.
I couldn’t say I was particularly surprised, though, because from what Brody had told me, the Masons were wealthy. Brody was set to take over his dad’s company if he could figure out how to finish his business degree. Hopefully I wouldn’t fuck all this up for him. Or myself. Or for Sophia, for that matter.
“All right, well, it’s been real… I’m sure Sophia wants to finish unpacking.” When no one budged, I added, “And I need to shave my balls.”
Emma started giggling like a second grader, and Gina and Aamee looked disgusted and were already heading toward the door. Since that was the point, I was proud of myself for my quick thinking.
“I guess I’ll see you around,” Aamee said to Sophia. “Though not at the sorority house, obviously.”
“Well, I’m still allowed there. I’m not kicked out of the sorority.”
“Right,” Aamee answered, and it looked like it pained her to do so. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Brody.”
The way she said “pleasure” gave me the chills—and not the good kind.
“Nice to meet you too.”
Once the three of them had left, I closed the door and locked it. Sophia and I didn’t say anything right away. We just looked at each other, both fighting back smiles until we couldn’t any longer.
“I’m not sure whether I should address the ball shaving first or the fact that you basically gave me a nickname that’s associated with one of the most annoying breeds of dog ever.”
I shrugged. “I’ve never been great under pressure.”
“I can see that,” she said, but thankfully she was still smiling. “This is going to be an interesting living situation.”
“You can always go back and live with Aamee.”
“Technically I can’t,” she said.
“Then I guess you’re stuck with me for the foreseeable future.”
“Guess you’re stuck with me too.”
Chapter Three
D R E W
I opened the door to Brody’s apartment, only to find every light off and total silence. Sophia was either a hardcore partier or she was already asleep. My bet was on the latter. Not that I could blame her. I’d have loved to have been sleeping at almost three a.m., but I had a job to maintain.
While being Brody had some advantages—namely taking business courses for free and not paying rent—there was also a distinct disadvantage: having to maintain my job as a bartender so I could pay my other bills and feed myself.
Burning the candle at both ends would’ve been harder had Brody not stacked most of his classes in the afternoons. The guy might have been in school longer than some doctors—and didn’t even have a bachelor’s degree to show for it—but he wasn’t a total idiot. Getting up before noon was overrated.
I toed off my shoes and left them next to the door. No way did I want to track the grossness from the bar into Brody’s apartment. As I tried to find a lamp, I banged into an end table, causing the plastic legs to screech across the floor. I reached out to steady it, and my hand connected with the remote.
Figuring the TV could provide some light, I felt around for the large