Living With Boys

eight // i like colour

Isabelle: My Will Kennedy problem has been solved! I've realised he might actually be an asshole for what he did, so now I don't want to cry when I see him anymore!

Zara: I've been telling you this for years.

Zara: Oh no, does this mean you want to do him?

Zara: Isabelle?

***

My new bedroom was fucking awesome, and I was probably an unwitting polytheistic god of decorating.

Once the bulk of the room was not consumed by a camping mattress (Kai was quaking in his boots, I'm certain) my space would truly feel like it belonged to me. I may as well have splashed my name in bold font across the walls for how much this room screamed that it was mine mine mine.

My bedframe and mattress wouldn't arrive until tomorrow. Kai and Valerie had apparently picked it while they were browsing, and Kai had bought it without consulting me because he was an evil dictator. Or, if you asked him, because he knew I would refuse to let him pay for it. What a jerk.

It meant I only had one more night left on my trusty camping mattress, which Kai had only been willing to tolerate after extensive debates about the other potential options earlier this afternoon.

"You can take my bed," Will had offered, immediately. "I can sleep on the couch."

"Oh, yes, because that makes sense," I said. "To avoid sleeping on the comfortable camping mattress designed for humans to sleep on, you should curl up on a couch far too small for you. Why did no one else consider this plan?"

"I, personally, have delicate sensibilities and could not possibly survive a night on a couch or a camping mattress," Jamie said, and this was entirely a possibility. If Jamie spent the night on a mattress that didn't cost an entire paycheck, he would probably wither up and die. He tipped his head downwards and peered up at me through his lashes, his expression inviting and mocking generosity. "But, Isabelle, you are very welcome to share my bed. And that's an offer that does not expire with the camping mattress."

Seb made a faint moan of utter disappointment. Will's jaw clenched.

"Absolutely not, and maybe move out," Kai said immediately, throwing a glare at Jameson.

Jamie grinned. "You didn't use to be so testy about this, Delaney. Since when was flirting with Isabelle a punishable offence? Have I offended you in some way?"

"No," Will muttered darkly. "We just used to know you were definitely joking."

Jamie just winked at me when I caught his eye, and I'd had to smother a giggle. I knew that Jameson was still joking, but there was nothing he liked more than an opportunity to rile up Mum and Dad. And no equally surefire way to do it now that I was all grown up and he was well within his rights to take me to bed if he really so pleased. Really, it was funny how easily they rose to the bait.

And so, I was allowed on the camping mattress, which had been a foregone conclusion from the outset. It was as if Kai didn't realise he rarely succeeded in getting his way against me, and twice in once day was far too much for him to ask for.

The mattress had barely mattered. I was awake at dawn to start on the decorating process. I had a vision, a dream, and only one day to bring it all to fruition. By the time dusk was falling, and the faint waft of Will cooking was drifting from the living room, everything was almost entirely in place. I'd done the work of about four people, but the ache in my limbs was suffused by the excitement thrumming through me.

Someone cleared their throat behind me.

Will leaned against the doorframe of my room, taking up more space than any one man had the right to. His dark eyebrows were knitted in a frown, and his fingers tapped absently against the doorknob. He was dressed in little football shorts that exposed the dark expanse of his toned thighs, and a soft grey hoodie emblazoned with a dragon. A duffel bag was thrown over his shoulder, and he looked really good. He'd always been hot, but Zara might be kind of right. The whole asshole of it all was really working for me.