The Boyfriend Project by Rachel Hawthorne

seemed discontented. I was predictable. We were predictable.
    Knowing my mom wasn’t happy, I wanted to be the complete opposite of my dad. I wanted Kendall to be happy.
    I probably should have picked the bigger bed. But thenit probably wouldn’t have mattered. We were so close together that we weren’t using all of this one.
    Slowly she opened her eyes. Her mouth curled up. “Hey.”
    Her voice was raspy with sleep, and the sound of it shot straight to my gut. Placing my hand against her throat, I tilted her head up slightly and kissed her. She released a soft sigh. I loved the way she always managed to sigh when we kissed.
    I could stay here forever. Holding her, kissing her. I usually wasn’t a fan of the morning, was a grump until I’d had my first cup of coffee, but Kendall made me glad to be awake. She was better than any dark roast. I became lost in her, lost in the sensations. She was breathing heavily, her breath warming my ear—
    Wait. I broke off the kiss, glanced back, and was greeted with dog breath. “Whoa!” I covered my mouth and nose. “Dog, go lap up some mouthwash or something.”
    Kendall laughed. “Pooh Bear, down.”
    I released a puff of air as the golden leaped onto the bed, straddling me to nudge at Kendall’s shoulder. The dog weighed a ton. Kendall shimmied away from me and got up. The golden jumped from the bed.
    â€œThink she needs to go out,” Kendall said as she clipped up her hair.
    â€œI’ll come with you.” Guess putting on our shoes was a signal because both dogs rushed to the door and slammed against it.
    â€œI’ll meet you by the front door,” Kendall said as she let them out and followed them into the hallway.
    I finished putting on my sandals. When I caught up with them, she already had them leashed. I took the bigger dog. She strained against the leash as we went down the stairs, and immediately did her business once we hit the sand.
    â€œThe sun’s just coming up,” Kendall said. “Why don’t we take a short walk along the beach?”
    â€œSure.” I took her hand. “Even though I shouldn’t reward them for interfering with my moves this morning.”
    â€œIt was nice waking up next to you,” she said. “I wish we were sharing an apartment at college. I don’t know why I thought we should get the full college experience by spending at least a year in the dorm.”
    She’d researched all the dorms and analyzed the campus map before deciding which one we should request for our residence. While we couldn’t share a room, we’d still be near each other. “We’ll have enough adjustments without trying to set up an apartment,” I said.
    â€œI hope we have roommates who don’t hang around much.”
    â€œWe’ll make it work.” We left the dunes and walkedover the packed sand to the water’s edge. The sun’s glow was casting the sea in gold. The sky was streaked with deep blue, orange, and pink.
    â€œSo pretty,” Kendall said.
    â€œLike you.”
    She looked at me. “You’ve never told me I was pretty.”
    â€œHaven’t I?”
    She shook her head. “No, I would have remembered. I mean, I didn’t think you thought I was a troll or anything, but I don’t really think of myself as pretty.”
    â€œYou are. You and your seventeen freckles.”
    With a laugh, she covered her face and peered at me through her fingers. “You counted them?”
    â€œThis morning while you were sleeping.”
    â€œI hate my freckles.”
    â€œThey’re cute.”
    â€œYou can say that because you don’t have any.”
    â€œI can say it because it’s true.” I put my hands on her waist, drew her in—
    And jerked her to the side when Pooh Bear went after a sandpiper and reached the end of her tether. I firmly set my feet so she couldn’t go any