Page 195 of How to Lose at Love

I wave when he drives off, standing at the curb until he’s gone, not sure I’ll see him again until the holiday.

“Alone at last,” Dallas moans playfully into my ear, making me shiver—not because it’s sexy, but because it tickles, whispers in my eardrum.

“Alone?”

Is he joking? Alone, with the twins underfoot?

Drew and Drake are both home—now so more than ever—loving nothing more than hanging out as a foursome to the point where Dallas had to install a lock on his bedroom door.

Our bedroom door.

Ours.

Sounds weird saying it…

Weird but good. The trials of the past have only brought us closer, like they should, and we haven’t had any issues pop up since.

I haven’t seen much of the girls next door, merely glimpses as they scurry to and from. They’ve even chosen to walk a new route rather than pass in front of the house, which is fine by me. Fine by Dallas too since the sight of Tiffany pisses him off more than a lineman talking shit about his mom on the field during a game.

He cannot stand Tiffany and barely tolerates Shannon, Drake’s flavor of the semester for the convenience of having her next door. He keeps her at an arm’s length by enforcing a few rules he insists she follows.

No sleeping over.

Must be gone by ten.

No hanging out in the living room.

There is no way in hell I’d put up with that shit, but I’m not Shannon, so…

“Are you coming upstairs? I want to show you something.” Dallas is already upstairs, head poking out of the bedroom so he can call down to me, scowling at Drew when he appears behind me.

“What?” his brother asks.

“Not you, numb nuts—I’m talking to my girlfriend.”

“What?” I call up with a smile on my face, already starting the climb up the steps.

“It’s a secret something.”

I roll my eyes. “Is that something inside your pants?”

Dallas frowns. “How did you guess?”

He pulls me into his arms when I reach the top, pressing me against the wall beside the bedroom door.

“How did I guess? Because you’re so predictable.”

And he can’t keep his hands off me.

“Get a room!” Drew shouts from the bottom, hands around his mouth so his shouting is louder.

“We have a room.”

“Well, maybe you should go in it.” Drew walks off, and Dallas laughs, taking me by the hands and pulling me into our bedroom.

Kicks the door shut behind him.

Locks it.

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