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Let me take care of you now.

She pushes back the covers and climbs into bed. I pull her curtains closed over the windows, and when I finally get into her bed, she’s watching me. Lying on her side.

Her hair is a brush of warm brown against the blue of her pillow. She’s pulled the cover up beneath her chin, a bare arm resting above it.

“Hi,” she says, brushing her fingers over the edge of the comforter. “I might kick in my sleep. Or snore. Or cough.”

“Maybe. But you won’t bother me.”

“What if I have to use the bathroom fourteen times?”

I try to hide my smile. “Then I’m sorry for you. But I’ve already told you, trouble. You don’t cater to my feelings.”

She tucks her hand beneath her head. “Why are you so different from anyone else I’ve ever known?”

“Because I’m much, much better.”

Nora laughs a little and plays with the edge of the coverlet. Her fingers brush over the seam of the fabric. “You’ve always been arrogant.”

“My only flaw.”

“All four of you are,” she says. “You, Rafe… Alex and James.”

“Mhm. It’s what we bonded over.”

She smiles again, a true smile, and fuck if I couldn’t do this forever. Distract her with silliness. “That and being sent away from home,” she suggests. “And causing problems.”

“Don’t forget being incredibly handsome. That’s what cemented our friendship.”

“You’re an idiot,” she says softly, and it sounds like the first compliment she’s ever given me. “Tell me about high school.”

I groan. “Of all the questions you could ask.”

“I want to know. I’ve only heard it from Rafe’s perspective.” Her voice is soft. “I know he showed up in Vermont and planned on getting kicked out in a week. It was right after we lost Etienne, in the accident… But instead, he was given this annoyingly smug American roommate who became his friend.”

“That’s how he told it, huh?”

“Mhm. What was it like for you?”

“I was angry when I got to Belmont too. But I liked it pretty quickly.” I put an arm behind my head. Being sent away from Fairhaven was a punishment, sure, but I discovered a world of freedom between tightly regulated academic schedules and completely unregulated free time. “Rafe and I argued nonstop for the first few weeks. Then Alex showed up late, this bedraggled Scottish guy who wanted to be kicked out, too. That’s how he and Rafe bonded.”

Nora giggles. “I can see that.”

“Rafe was never truly serious about it, though. Alex was. We discovered him breaking into the headmaster’s residence one night.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. We pulled him out of there and made it look like a raccoon had gotten into the trash. Worst cover-up in history.”

“But he wanted to get caught.”

“Yeah. We told him he was an idiot. I guess he listened, because while he still paid no attention in class, he stuck around us after that. His first few months at Belmont were…” I shake my head. “That’s not my story to tell. But he got better. He’s a genius when it comes to math, do you know that?”

“Math?”

“Yeah. You wouldn’t think it, but he’s smart.”

“When did James join?”