Page 188 of Sincerely, Your Enemy

“I love you, too, rich girl. It was a pleasure getting stabbed for you…Kind of.”

Four months later...

Lacey

“Ithink I pulled a muscle just looking at that box,” I hear Theo say as he and the guys unload the last of our things from the moving truck.

I’ve always hated moving, but I’ll admit having all of your friends lend a hand definitely makes the experience less miserable.

We were up at 5:00 a.m., scrambling to finish packing up the house in time for the move. Daniel, Sierra, Oli, Kelsea, TJ, and I looked like a bunch of headless chickens running around, but it was worth it because we have to give the truck back at 9:00 p.m., and we finished the last trip at eight thirty.

I felt a bit sad leaving behind the only place my siblings and I had known since our dad died, but the feeling quickly dissipated once we went to pick up the keys for our new duplex.

I’d forgotten how big the place was until we unlocked the door an hour ago and began exploring the five-bedroom house TJ, Kelsea, Sierra, Oli, and I now get to call home—and that’s without counting the apartment on the second floor where Daniel will be living. He wasn’t lying about wanting to be more involved in our lives.

If you’d told me a year ago that I’d be able to rent a house this size, I would’ve called you bonkers—granted, the rent is split three ways and unevenly between TJ, Daniel, and me, but hey, a win is a win.

I remember the day TJ and Kelsea moved in with us like it was yesterday. TJ had just been discharged from the hospital following the kidnapping attempt.

TJ was under strict orders from the doctor to take it easy for at least six weeks, and I wanted to be close to him to play nurse, so I suggested that he and Kelsea live with us for a while.

Kelsea and Sierra were all for it, overjoyed by the idea of sharing a room and having nonstop sleepovers. As for Oli, he wasn’t thrilled about having to share a bathroom with three girls, but he came around pretty quickly.

Once he began developing a not-so-subtle crush on Kelsea, to be exact.

You know how the story goes—boy falls in love with his sister’s best friend, even though she’s older than him and only sees him as a kid.

TJ and I never called him out on it, but we could see the signs. I often worry that he’ll get his heart broken, seeing as he’s been friend-zoned by Kelsea since the moment they met, but then again, who knows what the future might hold? They’re young right now, but they won’t be teenagers forever.

I had no idea when I first brought up TJ and Kelsea moving in for six weeks that “six weeks” would turn into, well…forever.

In time, it became harder and harder for me and TJ to be apart, and without even realizing it, we began to rely on each other to take care of our siblings.

With the help of Daniel and Mrs. Harrison, we found a way to juggle chores, our studies, our social life, and, most importantly, our love life.

It all felt natural, effortless, and although we were worried about people calling us crazy for moving in together so soon, we eventually figured, “What the hell? This works for us. Screw what people think.”

We’ve been inseparable ever since.

I love the life we’ve built together in the past few months, but all good things must come to an end, and I knew as soon as TJ was given the green light to play basketball again that everything would change.

And I was right.

After TJ got injured, we thought he wouldn’t be able to enter the NBA draft, but thankfully, he already had a handful of teams interested, and once he explained that the injury wouldn’t be a long-term issue, he managed to work something out with them.

The team he chose wound up agreeing to give him time to recover until he felt ready to play at a high level again.

He’ll be leaving next week for the NBA summer leagues, and from there, he’ll probably get swept up into the craziness of his new life, traveling all over the place and barely making it home. I was worried about it at first, but Mrs. Harrison is only a ten-minute drive from our new place, not to mention Daniel lives right above us. I have a great support system, and I’m confident I’ll be able to manage on my own just fine.

TJ says we can make it work long distance and that he’ll be flying us in to his games all the time, but it doesn’t change the fact that the next few years are going to be chaotic. I just hope we don’t drift apart in the process.

“Holy shit, how many families are going to be living here?” Chance snorts as soon as we step foot through the front door.

He’s right. The place is huge. But TJ made it clear we wouldn’t have to worry about money now that he’s going to be playing pro. He’s also planning on moving his mom back into his childhood home and getting her around-the-clock care.

“Last one goes in the kitchen,” I tell Finn.

“On it,” he says before carrying the gigantic box out of the room.

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