“Do you like Minecraft?” Mr. Leblanc asks.
Mia’s mouth drops open. “You’ve heard of it?”
Mr. Leblanc laughs. “Who hasn’t? What platform is your favorite?”
Ben and Mia exchange a look. “We sneak time on the school computers,” Ben admits.
“My computers are better than the school computers. You won’t have nearly as much lag. Come check them out. I’ve got graphics cards that aren’t even on the market yet.”
The doorman leaves, and Mr. Leblanc takes us inside. Once the door shuts, he gestures into his apartment. “Living room straight ahead. Guest room to the left. My room’s on the right, along with my office. Kitchen’s that way, too. A couple more rooms that aren’t very interesting. The computers are in the guest room.”
Mr. Leblanc’s guest room is actually a guest suite. It has a giant attached bathroom and includes a sitting area. A small desk has been set up in the sitting area. Two laptops. Two chairs. Mia can’t help herself. She darts over to one of the laptops.
“You already had Minecraft on here?” she says to Mr. Leblanc.
A timer beeps somewhere else in the apartment. “Make sure they work for me, okay?”
That’s all the twins need to descend on the laptops. I follow Mr. Leblanc out of the bedroom and down to the kitchen.
“Please tell me you didn’t buy laptops just for the twins.” Except he said the graphics cards aren’t even on the market yet. Which means he did more than buy them—he called in favors with tech companies. It’s the kind of debt I can’t begin to repay, not on top of everything else.
In the kitchen, he turns off the stove timer and opens the oven. He uses the dishcloth to take out a tray of chocolate chip cookies. Grabs a spatula. Slides them onto a cooling rack. Then the tray goes onto the stovetop.
“Do you want something to drink?” he asks.
“Mr. Leblanc.”
“Will.”
Shock. Pure shock. “You want me to call you that?”
“You’re staying with me. In my apartment. Call me Will.” He looks at me over his shoulder as he pulls open the fridge. “It was a lucky guess about Minecraft, okay? Don’t worry about the computers. Those were just sitting around.”
“As inventory?”
“As beta models.”
“Oh my God.”
“The laptops don’t matter.” Mr. Leblanc—Will—hands me a bottled Frappuccino. The kind from Starbucks that you can get at the store. Vanilla flavor. It’s my favorite kind.
“Did you buy these for me?”
“Obviously. You have at least one every day in the office.”
I didn’t think he noticed. The break-room fridge at Summit is filled with expensive stuff like this. I’ve been taking advantage while I can.
My heart is warm. So warm that it spreads out all through my chest. Warm, and painfully curious. Painfully confused. How is he like this?
“Cookies?”
“There’s pizza coming in an hour.”
“The twins will be beside themselves. This is probably the best day of their lives.”
Will smiles, this one smaller. Almost tentative. “It’s the little things.”
“Whoever taught you how to host kids fresh off a week of school must be very proud right now.” The bottle in my hand is cold and perfect. “Was it your mom who made cookies for you growing up?”