Wes had lived next door for a long as I could remember, and our rooms happened to face each other.

Sometimes he left his curtains open, and I’d catch a peek of him doing homework at his desk or looking for something. But most of the time, his curtains stayed closed or he’d be in the next room, hanging out with my brother.

Today, though, his curtains were open.

I lay across my reading chair with Goblet of Fire in my lap. Just when I was reading about the Weasley twins trying to trick the age line Dumbledore had drawn around the goblet of fire, I caught a glance of movement outside my window.

It was Wes.

When I realized he didn’t have a shirt on, my eyes widened. I was pretty sure he was looking for one but not having much luck.

He stepped this way and that, moving stuff and throwing clothes to the side. But what really caught my attention were the smooth contours of his chest, his arms, and his abs.

I closed the Harry Potter book, the Weasley twins long forgotten, and sat straight up.

Then I looked away, my face burning. This was not cool. I could not stare at Wes like some sort of creep, even if he was the one parading around his room shirtless.

I made my way to my window to close my curtains and hopefully get back to my book. Just as I was about to close my curtains, he caught my eye again. Wes waved to me from his room, a sheepish grin on his face.

Sorry, he mouthed. He grabbed a black t-shirt and held it up.

It’s okay, I mouthed back with a smile, holding back a sigh.

I drew the curtains closed and fanned myself on the way back to my chair. That had not been what I was expecting, and it definitely didn’t help me forget about my crush on Wes.

If anything, it was impossible to get back into my book, so I headed downstairs. It was almost time for dinner anyway, and I usually set the table.

I reached the bottom of the stairs, but the sound of the doorbell stopped me in my tracks. My younger brothers were in the living room playing video games, but no way were they going to hit pause to check who was at the door.

“Can you guys get that?” came the sound of my mom’s voice from the kitchen.

I walked over and swung the front door open, only to find Wes staring back at me.

My mouth fell open, and he immediately looked away.

“Hi,” he said with a small wave.

Brushing my hair out of my face and stepping out of the way, I said, “Oh. Hey. Come in.”

He walked in and stood in the living room.

“Do you need me to go get Hugo?” I asked.

“Uh, actually, he invited me over for dinner, and uh, here I am,” he said. “My parents are at a work thing anyway, so…”

Begin awkward pause.

Things weren’t usually so stilted between us, but with that image of his abs still fresh in my mind, it was hard to act cool. And from the looks of it, he was pretty embarrassed too.

Thankfully, dinner went way better than our conversation.

Afterward, though, my parents insisted we all play a game of charades as a family before everyone went back to “those darn devices.” In my case, all I wanted was to run off to my room and my journal, but I knew they wouldn’t budge.

Wes pretty much knew the drill around my parents, so we all settled into the couch. My parents picked teams, and Wes and I ended up together with my dad against Mom, Hugo, and my younger brothers.

My team was the first one up, and I was the lucky person to step to the front of the living room. I’d always been pretty good at charades, but for the first time, I felt kind of nervous.

I had a feeling it had to do with Wes staring up at me from the couch, waiting for me to start along with the rest of my team.

After shuffling the cards, I picked one from the top. I read it.

Washing machine. Great.

Okay. What could I do to make them think washing machine?

I paced the living room, the timer already counting down.

Trying to think quick, I moved my arm in a fast whirlwind motion.

“Tornado!” my dad yelled.

Wes said, “Cyclone!”

I shook my head and tried to think of something better.

So I pretended to take imaginary clothes from an imaginary basket and put them in my imaginary washer, poured in some invisible detergent, shut the door, and pushed some buttons.

They stared back at me clueless.

Wasn’t it obvious?

Then I realized…

MEN. Duh. My mom did the laundry around here, and now that I thought about it, the piles of clothes Wes had rummaged through earlier probably meant he didn’t do much laundry either.

I repeated my gestures, emphasizing every motion clearly, and they finally got it.

With only a few seconds left on the clock, I picked up another card.

Building a snowman.

So my mom had snuck a few Christmas ones in here after all.

I put the card down and immediately began to roll a pretend ball of snow until it was bigger and bigger and I had to push it around with my body.

Wes stood up. “Building a snowman.”

I smiled at him, giving him a high five without thinking about it. “Yes!”

My dad looked at us. “Really? I thought you were trying to make a fire.”

By the next round, Mom’s team was in the lead by just one point.

But this time, Dad was the one front and center. He grabbed a card, and my mom started the timer.

Wes and I sat on the edge of the couch, and I tried not to think about how close he was.

My dad began moving his arms and legs like they were in water.

“Swimming!” Wes said.

It had to be…”Octopus!” I yelled.

He kept going, but his face lit up after octopus. I had to be close.

“Squid!” Wes yelled.

My dad clapped. “That’s it!” He grabbed another card, and Wes turned to me.

“Good one,” I said.

“Thanks to you,” he said with a grin.

We turned back to my dad who now had on a very angry and annoyed expression on his face. I giggled, and tried to guess what in the world he was trying to be.

Wes gave a guess. “Uh, cranky.”

“Toddler,” I tried.

But my dad shook his head. Then he formed a heart over his chest. A tiny one. Then it was expanding, the space between his hands widening…

Back to the angry expression…

“The Grinch!” Wes and I yelled in unison. The timer went off with several beeps.

Which meant we had won just in the nick of time! My dad ran over and wrapped us both in a hug.

“We did it!” he said.

Then we turned and totally rubbed it in Hugo’s, my mom’s, and my brothers’ faces.

Which quickly ensued a roughhousing match between all the guys. My mom laughed from the couch, and I quietly moved toward the stairs.

At the foot of the staircase, Wes caught up to me. “You’re not staying?” he asked, a huge grin still on his face.

I tried not to stare at his wonderfully messy hair. “I, uh, promised my friend I’d help her with something. And then I’m going to a party later.”

“Oh,” he said, the smile mostly gone now.

I wondered what to make of that response. Then something sprang to my mind, and I said it out loud before I could start doubting myself. “You should come,” I said. “I mean, you and Hugo. Should come. The party’s at Tori’s house. Starts at eight.”

Wes smiled again, and the perfection of it lit a fire in my chest. “Okay,” he said, taking a couple steps back toward the living room. “Maybe we will.”

He went back to the roughhousing match, and I headed to my room, but not before stealing one last glance at Wes. He threw one of my younger brothers on the couch with a huge roar before glancing up at me.

My stomach did a flip, but just like that, he was back to playing.

I wasn’t sure how I was going keep my crush for him in check when he had that irresistible smile.

But for now, journaling about it where no one but me would ever know definitely helped.