I quickly turn my head to wipe the snot on my shoulder. And now it’s smeared all over my right cheek. Great, just great. But it’s weird . . . I don’t feel embarrassed. The fact that Rex can see me like this and not run away . . . see me like this and still look at me like I’m his everything makes me feel safe . . . and free . . . like I’m home.

“There’s snot all over your shirt,” I say.

“Yeah, it’s all over your cheek, too.”

“I know. I can feel it crusting up on my skin.”

“Damn, you nasty,” Rex says, and gives me a smack on the lips. The kiss is quick, but his lips do indeed touch mine. Yes, where the snot just was. This boy must be into me, like, for-real-for-real.

REX

After a quick stop in the bathroom, I give Carli a tour of the house. Trust, not my idea. But she seems to really be into its design. She’s talking about its clean lines . . . its floor-to-ceiling windows . . . its lack of trim around the doors . . . its sloped ceiling . . . its linear air vents . . . its unadorned walls . . . its minimalism this . . . and modern that . . . and on and on and on.

“I’m glad you like it, but I sure as hell don’t,” I tell her, walking up the stairs.

“Seriously? How could you not? Look at it. There’s so much empty space. Even these floating stairs. I mean, it’s everywhere. I don’t know . . . it makes me feel light and airy. Free in a way.”

“You get all of that from a whole bunch of blank walls and hard-ass furniture?” I ask, stepping off the top step and heading to my room.

“I guess my house is the exact opposite. There’s stuff everywhere you look. And you’ve seen my room, my walls. Looking at so much stuff can get exhausting. Don’t get me wrong; I love my mom’s decorating style and I love everything I put up on my walls. But right now my mind feels so full. I’m just saying some emptiness would be nice.”

I open the door to my room. “Well, you’re not about to get it in here.”

CARLI

Rex wasn’t kidding. Everywhere I look there’s something new for my eyes to land on. Other than the wall straight ahead with the sliding-glass door leading outside, there’s stuff everywhere.

“I’ll grab us some snot-free tees,” Rex says, and laughs.

“You’re never going to let me forget about that, are you?”

“Nope,” he says, and disappears into his walk-in closet to the left.

“I can’t wait until you slip up and do something embarrassing,” I say loudly, walking toward the wall-to-wall shelving unit to the right.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”