He looked more than pleased with himself. “Guess being able to lift all that weight doesn’t always transfer to practical tasks,” he said to Ransom with a smirk.
“Shut up,” Ransom replied with a laugh.
“Were you just at the gym?” Aamee asked.
“Yeah,” Brody said as if her question were ridiculous. “Were you just talking about an Airbnb? Because I want in. Where we goin’?”
“Not us. Taylor’s ‘friend,’” she said, using air quotes and exaggerated tone when she said the word, “is thinking about getting a lobotomy.”
“No shit?” Brody said. “That’s intense. They still go through the eye sockets for that?”
“No one’s getting a lobotomy,” Sophia said as we all piled into the elevator. “Aamee just…takes things to the extreme sometimes.”
“Well, excuse me for trying to be helpful. Next time any of you are about to remind me what a horrible bitch I am, remember I’m the only one who was willing to help someone get proper medical treatment.” She tucked her blond hair behind her ears and reapplied some lip gloss as she stared at the mirrored wall of the elevator.
The rest of us stared at her too for a moment before I said, “Thanks for helping with the boxes. They’re all for me. I have way more stuff than I realized. I swear I didn’t move in with this much.”
“You definitely did,” Sophia said.
When the elevator stopped on Aamee’s floor, Brody piled his stack of boxes onto the ones Ransom was already holding. “Well, I’m off to take a shower. See you fuckers later.” Then he turned to Ransom and winked. “Well, except for Rans. Right, bro?”
“Date?” I asked when the doors closed again.
He shifted in place, and I almost regretted asking the question because really, I didn’t actually care if Ransom was going out with someone tonight. I was just making small talk, and it seemed like the next logical comment.
“Um, not really. No. More of a party. With lots of people.” He nodded but didn’t make much eye contact with me.
The elevator came to a stop again, and Ransom successfully kept the doors open without causing any sort of accident. He exited last and followed us to our apartment. After setting the boxes down, he asked, “So when’s the big move?”
“Tuesday afternoon,” I said, plopping myself onto the couch so I could lean down to begin putting the boxes together. “Can you toss me the packing tape, Soph?”
“Oh, okay,” he said. “Well, you need any help? I’m done at the camp at three. Not sure if that’s too late, but I’m happy to lend a hand if you need it.”
Most of the crew were going to help since several of us were moving, but I wasn’t going to pass up an extra set of hands—especially ones as strong as Ransom’s. He could probably lift twice as much as Brody.
“Um, sure, if you don’t mind. We’ll probably have my stuff out of here by then, but I’m sure we could use your help at the new place if you wanna meet us there.”
Ransom smiled, appearing almost happy. Moving sucked, so I wasn’t sure why anyone would want to do it if they didn’t have to, but I definitely appreciated his offer.
“Okay,” he said. “Just text me the address when you get a chance, then.”
“Will do,” I told him with a nod that felt too businesslike for a friend.
Ransom gave me a nod back before saying goodbye to Sophia and me and heading to the door.
Once he was gone, Sophia stared at me silently.
“What?”
“‘Will do?’ Really, who says that?”
Chapter Three
R A N S O M
I arrived at the address Taylor had texted me and immediately double-checked that I had the right place. When I’d driven into this part of the city, I thought I’d be driving through it to get to her new neighborhood, but that evidently wasn’t the case.
Squinting at the numbers over the door of the gray brick apartment building, I saw that they matched what she’d sent me. Weird. Since Taylor and Sophia had grown up together, I’d always assumed they came from the same wealthy background, but I obviously shouldn’t have.
Not that this was the worst place in the world. It was just kind of…forgotten. There were a lot of boarded-up businesses with exteriors covered in graffiti, the roads were full of potholes, and a lot of the traffic lights blinked red or yellow instead of actually changing.
I scanned for a parking spot, knowing her building was still a whole lot better than some of the places I’d stayed growing up, but the thought of Taylor in such a depressing place didn’t sit right with me. Not that it mattered how I felt about anything. It was already a minor miracle she’d agreed to let me help her move.
After parallel parking across the street from her building, I jogged over to find the front door open. There was a buzzer system, but someone had propped the door open with a concrete block so the buzzer wasn’t needed—dangerous as hell. I moved the block to the side and let the door close behind me. I hoped the concrete block wasn’t a sign that the door was left open on a regular basis.
Taylor said she was on the fourth floor, so I hit the button for the elevator and waited. I was a little later than I’d anticipated due to an issue with one of the summer campers I worked with at Safe Haven, so I hoped I hadn’t missed the opportunity to be useful. I’d expected to see the gang carting things in and out of the building, but I didn’t see any sign that anyone was moving in.
When the elevator arrived and I got in, I noticed how dingy it was. It was covered in that thick fabric that made it seem like a freight elevator even though it wasn’t. When it arrived at the fourth floor,
