“Hi, I’m Dillon. And that was some of my family.”
“Only some?” one of the guys asked, scoffing.
I held back another wince. Not off to the greatest of starts.
“That’s Sanders. Well, his name is Paul, but he goes by his surname,” Pacey explained.
Sanders just snorted, giving me a once-over that left me feeling judged. Or maybe I was just reading into things since I felt as if I had no idea what I was doing.
“Tanner,” the brooding one in the corner said as if his name were all that was needed. And maybe it was.
“And I’m Miles,” the slightly shorter guy said, giving me a slight wave. “We probably should have decided who got which room before this so it wouldn’t be so awkward, but here we are. Oh, and sorry about the couch. My mom wanted to help with the new house since it’s my first time living on my own outside of a dorm and went garage sale diving. It’s a lot comfier than it looks. At least, that’s what she says.”
I looked at the very large brown monstrosity that I thought was a sectional, not a couch, and grinned. “Looks great to me. I mean, I don’t have a couch.”
“I’ve got a TV,” Tanner said, shrugging. “Actually, I have two thanks to my dad wanting to get a larger one for his man-cave or whatever. We can put one down here, at least the bigger one. I don’t think the smaller one’s going to work in any of the rooms but the master, and I never have good luck with that.”
There was something there, but I wasn’t going to ask.
“Well, I have a bunch of kitchen supplies thanks to my sisters-in-law.” I looked at them and shrugged. “When they moved in with my brothers after the weddings, they ended up with a lot of doubles. We can probably fill that entire kitchen—or we will if my sisters have any say in it.”
Pacey smiled. “That sounds like a plan. I have a few other things we can make work, too. As long as you guys aren’t the labeling sort,” he said with a sigh. “I mean, I’m sure we can all remember what’s what. Or make a list, I don’t really care. But I refuse to live with another person who has a label maker they use on everything they’ve ever owned, including their pillows.”
I blinked at him and then laughed. “Well, I think my sister Violet out there may have a label maker, but I can ask her not to bring it in. Though she might want to use it with the fridge or something.”
“That’s good,” Miles said before leaning back on his heels. “Anyway, we’re all parked in the back near the large garage. We probably need to start unloading things. My family was going to help, but work sort of got in the way.”
“Yeah, same thing with half of my siblings,” I said.
“My parents actually hired a moving company, so my belongings should be here within the hour,” Sanders explained.
“Makes sense,” Pacey said. “Well, I guess we can draw straws or something, but I don’t have straws. I do have Twizzlers,” he said and then reached into his messenger bag for an open bag of candy. He pulled out five red ropes and broke them into various sizes. He popped a spare one into his mouth and gave us a look before tossing the other ends towards everyone else. “I guess I could have cut into two, but I really just wanted a Twizzler for myself,” he said as he swallowed the plastic-y candy.
I chewed, the strawberry flavor bursting on my tongue. Well, this was a good way to begin living together, I guessed.
“Okay, there are five sizes of rooms. Mostly because I think this was a custom home down this row, much like the rest of them. No two rooms are exactly the same, so we’ll go by sizes.”
Sanders stared at me. “Here, you go first, new guy.”
“You guys got here, what? Five minutes ahead of me? But I guess I can be the new guy,” I said, shaking my head.
“Well, you’re the only one starting at DSU this semester,” Miles said.
I looked around at them. “Yeah, I guess you guys have all been here a while.”
“For a couple of years now, but we can show you the ropes if you want. School’s hard, fun, and can be intriguing,” Pacey said, grinning.
Tanner didn’t say much, and I had to wonder if the guy liked me or not. Not that I cared. I had enough friends. Right?
Pacey continued. “Anyway, pick one.”
I pulled out a Twizzler and didn’t look at it. Sanders went next, and then Tanner reached forward, pulling one out silently as Miles took the next, and Pacey looked down at the last one.
“Well, then. I guess that makes sense,” Pacey said, and I frowned.
I looked down at the extra-long Twizzler in my hand and snorted. “I wasn’t expecting that,” I said.
Sanders glanced at my candy before schooling his face. “No big deal. The third-sized room has the biggest tub. Mackenzie will like that.” He winked.
I wasn’t about to ask.
Tanner held up his very short Twizzler. “Looks like I drew the proverbial short straw. None of the rooms are tiny, though, so it’s not a big deal. By the way, there were two desks in the office, and two in the library. We can just claim which ones we want. There’s also a large desk in the alcove for whoever wants the fifth. The other four are the same in size, although I think the view in the library is better.”
“Then you can take that one,” I said, looking at the others. “Since you kind of got the short end of the stick on the room.”
Tanner shrugged. “That’s fine with me. Hopefully, we can get some studying done because I actually want to graduate one of these days,” he said dryly.
“Same here,” I said quickly.
“I’ll take the alcove since I’m in the middle of room sizes,” Sanders added.
“Okay, on that logical path, I’ll share the library with you,” Miles said, and Tanner nodded.
I looked at Pacey. “Looks like we’re study mates,” I said.
Pacey just smiled, a blond brow rising. “Looks like. Do you want to ask the rest of your family in so they can help you unpack?” he asked.
“Oh, I’m pretty sure they have their ears to the wood.”
The front door opened, and Violet walked in, her cheeks red but a smile on her face. “Well, this pregnant woman would really love to know where your bathroom is, if that’s okay,” she said quickly, blushing even harder.
I laughed and looked up at the guys. “Do you mind?” I asked.
“I am not going to stand in the way of a pregnant woman for anything,” Pacey said and gestured towards the door next to the library. “There you go, it’s the half-bath, although it has two sinks for some reason. How this house has five and a half bathrooms, I’ll never know. It’s like a Tardis in here.”
“You know Doctor Who?” Miles asked, a smile on his face.
Pacey shrugged. “I know a lot of things.”
“We’ve got a lot in the truck, just tell us where to go,” Cameron said. “By the way, I’m Cameron, this is Aiden. If you guys need anything, just let us know,” Cameron said, and everybody finished introducing themselves as Violet came back out.
She smiled as she looked around. “This place is gorgeous. The fact that everything is hand-carved wood everywhere, it’s like we’re in the Clue mansion.”