Present Day

I shoved my feet in a pair of sneakers and glanced at my watch before going to the room I shared with my brother.

"Have you got everything, Timmy?"

"Yeah." Grinning, Tim crouched down and started to tie the shoelaces on his new pair of sneakers.

"What about your book?"

"In the backpack."

"The jacket?"

Tim stood up and gave me his signature eye-roll. "It's gonna be hot, Liam. You and Aiden never wear jackets."

"That isn't true. We do wear them, Tim. Okay, it's up to you, but don't whine if you're cold later in the afternoon."

Huffing, Tim opened our closet and pulled out a thin jacket which he then stuffed in his backpack.

"Well done, buddy." I ruffled his fair hair and grabbed my gym bag. We were finally ready to leave.

I was grateful that Jeff, my friend, and ex-colleague, suggested that I brought Tim to his and Charlie's gym, where we worked out and played basketball. My best friend, Aiden, and I started to go there together in May, shortly after I met him at work in Fauber Construction.

Today, Aiden was bringing his girl, Ellie. They finally got back together last night, and he was impatient to introduce her to all of us.

"When will I play basketball with you and Aiden?" Tim's question brought me back to the here and now right when we were getting on the train to go to the gym.

"You can play with us, just not the matches," I said, gripping his hand. "You'll be as tall as I am in no time, anyway."

Tim started to ramble about the height of the kids in the summer soccer camp where he'd spent a couple of weeks, and my thoughts drifted to the same worries I'd had for the last few months.

Our father died shortly after I turned eighteen, leaving Tim and me with nothing. I was lucky that Victor, his boss, offered me a job in Paris. I would work in construction the way my dad did and earn decent money.

I agreed to relocate to the capital straight away. It'd been a year and a half of living in the city that gave me an opportunity to start over. Eventually, I started to work at the office, and while I was happy with my new office job, Tim didn't seem to like his school.

I learned that he'd been bullied, and all I got in response to my complaints was a bunch of fake promises nobody was going to keep. The principal told me they were understaffed and didn't have enough resources. I knew it, but it didn't make the situation any better.

I wanted to move to a better neighborhood and find a good school for my brother. The search had been fruitless so far. It wasn't the best time to look for an apartment. The offers were scarce, and the prices too high.

"Liam." Tim tugged at my sleeve. " We're here."

We got off the train and walked to the warehouse where Jeff's gym was. Instead of going inside, we headed straight to the outdoor basketball court.

"You're the first." Grinning, Jeff approached me and gave me a half-hug before high-fiving Tim.

"Hey. Hasn't Aiden arrived yet?"

"He must be on his way." Jeff shrugged. "You'll start as soon as he's here."

"We? What about you?"

 "I fucked up my knee again. No worries; I'll watch you from the bleachers. And speak of the devil." 

Jeff nodded toward the entrance of the gym. Aiden was walking toward us with his arm around his girl's shoulders and a megawatt grin on his face. 

"Hi, Ellie." I kissed Aiden's girlfriend on the cheek when she was next to me.

"This is Liam," Aiden said, seeing the confusion on his girl's face. He'd spoken about her so many times I was positive everyone knew who she was before meeting her in person.

Then, my best friend looked at me. "Liam, she's Sky."

Sky, the girl in question, appeared from behind Ellie and made a step forward. I leaned toward her and pressed my lips to her cheek — a customary greeting, nothing unusual. Something about her called my attention, though, making me miss the rest of the introductions.

She was gorgeous, stunning enough to make me follow her every move with my eyes. I watched her sit in the bleachers with Ellie. Sky took out her camera and started to take pictures of us playing basketball as soon as the match began. 

Later, I saw her laugh with Jeff as she handed him her camera. Then, she followed him into the gym, and I could finally focus on the match.

 ***

At lunchtime, we decided to go to Montmartre and have lunch there. Aiden chose a cozy restaurant, and we took a seat at one of the tables. I let the guy place an order with the waiter. Just like I expected, he did it in French, well enough for Ellie to grin at him.

"Your student made good progress, Liam," she said before kissing Aiden's cheek.

"He did." I nodded. "What about you?"

"I have classes at L'école, and I took an intensive course in summer, but I still feel really awkward when I have to speak."

"That's normal. Aiden did, too. Now he's more comfortable."

"Most of the time." Aiden gave his girl a kiss. Turning his attention to me, he asked, "Any luck with the apartment?"

"None," I said, frowning. "I made lots of calls, but they either ask for too much or the place is far. I want to change for the better, not worse."

"Did you ask Victor?"

"I did, but everything our company has is rented already. It's almost October, the worst time to look for an apartment."

Sky's voice broke the silence. "How much are you paying now?"

"Seven hundred," I replied, wondering why she wanted to know that. The words that left her mouth made me gape at her.

"I'm looking for a roommate."

Was it a joke? I was sure she knew that Tim was my brother. Didn't she realize I was taking care of him? "Sky, thanks, but it's Tim and I," I said.

Sky shrugged. "I have three bedrooms, and I only use one. Ellie and I live in the same building."

Aiden mentioned the area a couple of times. It was way over my budget. "That's in the damn center. I don't think I can afford it."

"You'd pay the same amount as now because that'd be half of what I'm currently paying."

Unable to comprehend why a girl Sky's age would rent something so expensive, I scratched my head. "I don't know. Will you be comfortable sharing your place with two guys?"

Sky rolled her eyes. "Come on, Tim's a kid, and he's adorable."

I didn't argue with her. My brother was a nice kid, but people often forgot that kids weren't quiet and well-behaved all the time. There were tantrums and tears over silly things. As Tim's guardian and his older brother, I was used to dealing with all of it. A gorgeous girl like Sky, who surely loved parties and the rest of the things girls her age did, would hardly be able to understand the responsibility of raising someone.  "Exactly. He's a kid, Sky," I said. "Sometimes, he watches cartoons and makes noises."

"And I know it, okay? I also make noises sometimes, so what? Besides, I'd rather share it with someone I know, as long as you're not messy and don't bring chicks home."

The idea of me dating someone was ridiculous. Dating wasn't on the list of things I would do. My life was complicated enough. "I don't date, Sky, so I won't bring anyone."

"And you'd help me out for real. I've been lying to my folks who still think I'm in the South," Sky said, averting her gaze as if she was ashamed.

I'd only had one girlfriend, and my experience with girls' parents was limited. However, I didn't think Sky's folks would be okay with their daughter sharing an apartment with a guy she barely knew, which made me ask her, "And do you think they'll be thrilled to know you live with a guy?"

"I'd rather explain that than ask them for more money. So, if you want, you can take a look at my place."

"I'm asking this again, are you sure?"

"Jeez, I'm not offering you to share the bed with me," Sky said. 

I did something I hated myself for — I blushed like a complete idiot. 

"Oh, that's not what I..." Sky rushed to say.

"It's okay, Sky, I wasn't thinking about that anyway," I lied. Sharing the bed with Sky was on my mind as soon as she said the words. I was a guy, she was gorgeous, and it'd been too long. Living with her was the worst idea I could've come up with. It was a recipe for disaster I couldn't afford to let into my life.

And yet, I gave in because, judging by the glances Aiden and Ellie were exchanging, I knew I wouldn't live it down if I continued looking for excuses.

"I guess taking a look at the apartment isn't gonna hurt," I said, hoping that for once, my intuition was wrong, and I wouldn't add more complications to my already screwed-up circumstances.

"Awesome!" Sky clapped her hands, smiling. "I'll show the apartment to you today if you want."

"Okay." I nodded, internally praying I was doing the right thing.

***

"This will be your and Tim's bathroom," Sky said, opening another door. She didn't lie when she said her place was huge. "Mine is in my bedroom, so we won't bump into each other. As you can see, the apartment has pretty much everything, but if you need something—"

"Sky, it's okay." I smiled at the girl who was selling me her place better than our sales guys at Fauber Construction would do. "I like it."

Sky blushed slightly as if I said I liked her, and of course, I did. Who wouldn't?

She had the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen, and perfect, plump lips, and don't get me started on her slim body with perfectly shaped legs and... Pretty much everything I saw was perfect. Beautiful. More than enough to make a guy lose his mind. That's why I asked her to give me until Monday to give her an answer, and we exchanged numbers.

Aiden smirked at me from the couch where he was comfortable with his arms around Ellie. If I was right, by the looks they were exchanging, he was already thinking of taking her upstairs to her place and making up for lost time. Not that I blamed him — his girl was gorgeous, and after everything they'd been through, those two deserved the happiness.

We left Sky's place shortly after. Later at night, as I slid under the covers in my too-small bed, Tim spoke to me.

"Liam?"

"What, buddy?"

"Are we going to live with Sky?"

"I don't know, Tim."

There was a pause, and I thought my brother had fallen asleep. I was wrong.

"I like her. She's nice, and Ellie is nice too. And Aiden."

I chuckled at my little brother, whose favorite adjectives to describe people were 'nice' and 'mean.'

I knew that living with Sky would also help Tim go to a better school where he could get a good education far from the mean kids. Pretty much everything I did and didn't do, every decision I made these days was with Tim in mind.

On the other hand, I was scared. I'd never shared a place with another person. Never with a girl. Never with a beautiful girl. Sky seemed easy-going and the kind of girl who wasn't afraid of being herself, and I liked that about her because that was hard to find when so many people pretended to be someone they were not. Despite that, what if it was a mistake? We could argue over stupid domestic shit. She might get tired of having two guys around, and Tim and I would have to look for a different place to live. The number of things that could go wrong was hard to ignore.

I tossed and turned in bed all night, and the following day I voiced my doubts to Aiden, who, of course, gave me his disgustingly sensible advice — baby steps, ground rules, and all that shit. Sometimes I thought they lied to him about his age because that maturity wasn't typical for an eighteen-year-old. He was my best friend, and I trusted his judgment, but I continued doubting right until the late evening when I gave up and texted Sky.

Me: Count me in. 

She sent me a thumbs up and a happy emoji. What was with the girls and the emojis? 

Letting my gaze travel over the cramped space of my tiny apartment, I typed another text to Sky.

Me: Let's meet tomorrow. I'm free at lunch. Text me where and when.

Thoughts about our grumpy boy?