I followed the road up to Nicole’s house, turning into the driveway this time instead of stopping out front like I usually did.
The place looked even more intimidating from inside the property.
The house itself was huge, spread across two floors with wide windows, clean modern lines, and warm lighting that made the whole thing look less like a house and more like something you’d see in a magazine. The landscaping was just as carefully maintained, with trimmed hedges, a neat stone walkway, and enough space around the property that the whole place felt strangely quiet despite being in the middle of the city.
I drove farther in and slowed near the open-front garage.
The Bentley was there, exactly where I’d expected it to be, but there was another car parked beside it: a Mercedes GLE SUV.
Of course she had another car.
I looked at it for a moment, then at the Bentley, before finally killing the engine.
I got out and shut the door behind me, still looking around for a second before I realized Nicole was already a few steps ahead.
When I looked forward again, she had stopped and turned back toward me.
"Come on."
She walked back, reached for my hand, and gave it a small tug as she started pulling me toward the house.
I let her, mostly because I was still trying to process the fact that I was standing in a driveway that was probably bigger than most people’s houses, which ironically made me realize that whatever scale I’d been using to measure Nicole’s wealth was no longer useful.
She pulled me all the way to the front door and opened it, leading me inside before letting go of my hand.
I stepped in and immediately looked around.
The outside had already given me a pretty good idea of what I was dealing with, but apparently I hadn’t learned my lesson yet, because I spent the next few seconds taking in the entryway, the furniture, the lighting, and pretty much everything else I could see before my brain finally caught up and reminded me that I was supposed to be acting like this was a normal house.
It wasn’t. At least not by my standards.
Nicole seemed completely unaffected by my little eye-tour of the place, which honestly made sense. This was probably what normal looked like to her.
She looked over at me with a small smile. "I’m going to take a quick shower and I’ll be right back, okay?"
I looked at her. "Okay."
"There are fruits and snacks in the fridge, so help yourself to anything you want."
She started toward the stairs, then glanced back at me. "And make yourself at home."
"Sure. At home. Got it."
She smiled, apparently satisfied with that, then turned and jogged up the stairs like she hadn’t just dropped me into a house that was making me question every previous assumption I’d ever had about her.
I stood there for another second before remembering that she’d told me to help myself.
I walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, mostly looking for something to drink.
It was full. Not just full in the normal sense, either. There were bottles of water, different kinds of juice, fruit, snacks, containers of food, and enough other things that I couldn’t immediately tell what half of them were.
Even the pineapple looked expensive.
I stared at it for a second before reaching for a bottle of water.
I closed the fridge, walked back into the living room, and dropped onto the couch with the bottle in my hand.
"Wow," I said to no one, because, well... wow.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out, expecting a notification.
Chloe: I got in!!! Camden Hale accepted me for the spring semester!
I smiled as soon as I saw it.
I sat back against the couch, genuinely happy for her. We’d talked about her applying, but seeing the actual message still made it feel different somehow.
I typed back: That’s awesome. Congratulations, CeCe.
The reply came in almost immediately.
Chloe: Thank you 🥰
Chloe: And since my classes don’t start until spring, I can come stay with you for a while and get a feel for the school before I actually start.
I stared at that message for a moment. She had somehow turned getting accepted into an excuse to invade my apartment.
I typed back: No.
There was a brief pause before another message appeared.
Chloe: 🥺
I looked at the emoji for a second, already knowing exactly what she was trying to do.
I smirked and typed back: Still no.
The typing bubble appeared, disappeared, then appeared again before she finally sent another message.
Chloe: 😭
I laughed quietly and shook my head, putting my phone down on the couch beside me.
"She’s something else."
"Who’s something else?"
I looked up.
Nicole was walking down the stairs, one hand resting lightly against the railing as she made her way toward the living room.
"My sister," I said.
Nicole smiled as she continued toward me, and it took me another second to notice what she’d changed into.
A loose white T-shirt, slightly off one shoulder, with black lounge pants that looked like the kind of thing someone would wear when they had absolutely no intention of leaving the house again that night. Her hair was still damp from the shower, and the whole thing looked casual enough that if I said anything about it, she could probably look at me with a completely innocent expression and ask what exactly I thought I was talking about.
Which, knowing her, was probably the point.
I looked away before she could catch me staring.
She didn’t seem particularly interested in giving me the chance to recover, though, because she walked straight over to the couch and sat down beside me, turning herself toward me instead of facing the television.
She folded one leg underneath herself and settled into the corner of the couch, leaving the other leg relaxed in front of her as she looked directly at me.
For a moment, I just stared back.
She was smiling. Not the teasing smile she usually gave me when she knew she’d gotten a reaction out of me; something softer, brighter, like she was genuinely happy that I was sitting there in her living room.
Her eyes looked suspiciously bright.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing."
"You’re staring."
"So are you."
I paused for a second.
Her smile widened a little, and she moved just a little closer, still watching me with that same bright look in her eyes.
I had the distinct feeling that she knew exactly what she was doing.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Oh." She scooted back just a little, putting a small amount of space between us. "There."
I nodded, accepting the extra space she’d given me. "Better."
She pouted slightly. "You’re very demanding."
"I raised an eyebrow."
"Exactly. Very demanding."
I smiled despite myself, staring at her for a moment before finally asking, "So when does the celebration start?"
"Now, apparently." She slowly tilted her head, smiling. "You’re here, aren’t you?"
I smirked, then glanced around the living room. "But seriously, your place is huge."
Nicole’s smile softened. "I was worried you’d feel uncomfortable here."
I paused for a moment, caught slightly off guard by the honesty in her voice. "Then why keep pushing for me to come here if you thought I’d be uncomfortable?"
She shrugged slightly. "Because I know you’d say no if I asked to go to your place."
I stared at her for a moment, once again finding myself with absolutely nothing to say. At this point, I was starting to think that being around Nicole was becoming a running gag where she’d say something I couldn’t argue with, and I’d just stand or sit there, trying to come up with a response.
I pointed at her. "You’re a player, aren’t you?"
"Why?" She tilted her head slightly, a small smile forming. "Are you already falling for me?"
She didn’t look away. She held my eyes without flinching, like she already knew the answer.
My heart seemed to stop for a second. I opened my mouth before realizing I had absolutely no idea what to say. I could probably have come up with some kind of comeback if she’d given me another moment, but I’d already taken too long, and even if I came up with something now, the fact that I’d needed this long to answer had already made it obvious that she’d caught me off guard.
I finally settled on the only response I could find.
"I’m never visiting you again."
Nicole laughed, finally breaking eye contact.
I took another sip of my water, hoping it would give me a second to recover, but my heart still hadn’t quite settled down yet.