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I like the low drone of Leo’s voice as he FaceTimes with Georgia in the evenings. I like the sound of the shower running, or the buzz of a razor in the bathroom. When I would start to get overwhelmed with everything, I liked having someone around to talk to, not necessarily about my problems, but just about something.
And I like Rylan being around. It’s only been a few hours, and I already miss him.
But I’m not going to sit around feeling sorry for myself. I’ll get the consoles set up, search through the well-stocked fridge for something to make for dinner, maybe make a little extra effort with my appearance.
I can wear one of those sundresses Rylan seems to like. He hasn’t said anything, but I haven’t missed his appreciative gaze whenever I wear one.
I’m heading for the kitchen when a doorbell sounds, a little screen next to the front door flashing on. A flutter of excitement hits me—have I turned into a teenager waiting for her first date, or what—and I rush over to see who it is. Hopefully Rylan.
But it’s not. It’s a trio of women instead. Since it’s unlikely that a group of strange women broke into the Blade and Arrow building, I’m assuming these are some of Rylan's teammates’ partners.
“Hi, Charlie,” the tallest one says, smiling at the camera. She’s gorgeous, with big blue eyes and long hair that’s a blend of caramel and butterscotch. A thin white scar runs down one cheek, and I immediately realize she’s Georgia—Leo told me one evening the story of how they met and how her stalker had attacked her.
“We hope you don’t mind us stopping by,” says the dark-haired one, beaming at me. She’s also beautiful, kind of like a real-life Snow White, fair-skinned with raven-black hair and dark blue eyes.
The third woman is tiny and cute and has stunning red hair and the coolest eye color I’ve ever seen. She looks at the camera with an earnest expression. “If it’s too much right now, it’s okay. I remember when I came here, I was so overwhelmed. We wanted to welcome you, but if you need more time—”
I hit the talk button on the screen. “No, it’s okay. Let me just figure out all these locks…”
A minute later, after unlatching three complicated locks, the three women come inside. The dark-haired one has a gift bag in her hand, and the red-haired one thrusts a wine bottle at me.
Georgia speaks first. “We won’t stay long. I know Rylan is coming over for dinner, so we don’t want to intrude. But we wanted to introduce ourselves. I’m Georgia, and I’m engaged to Leo, who you know, obviously.”
“I’m so sorry that he was gone so long,” I blurt out, still feeling bad about it.
“It’s fine,” she says kindly. “I’m sure Leo told you, I had to hide out in a safehouse for weeks. It’s their job. I understand when he can’t be around.”
The dark-haired one holds the gift bag out to me. “It’s just some little things to make the apartment feel homier, candles, candy, stuff like that. And I’m Maya. I just got married to Cole last month.”
“And I’m Elle,” the tiny redhead tells me. “I actually stayed in this apartment for a while, back when I was hiding from organ traffickers.” She flushes, laughing. “I know that sounds insane. But I’m engaged to Zane, who you haven’t met yet.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” I’m a little overwhelmed, but they all seem so friendly.
“Once you get settled, we’ll take you out for drinks,” Maya says. “There’s a place in town we always go to, it’s really low key and we can play pool or”—she nudges Elle, snickering—“darts. Elle is an expert at it.”
“Oh stop,” Elle laughs. “I’m very bad at darts, though not as terrible as before.”
“I’m not very good, either,” I reassure Elle, remembering the story Rylan told me about her nearly hitting a stranger’s ass with a dart.
Georgia looks at me, a mischievous smile appearing. “Maybe Rylan can help you. He’s almost as good as Maya, and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”
Maya jabs Georgia with her elbow. “Stop matchmaking, G.”
Georgia jabs her back, laughing. “Sorry. But Rylan is so great. And Charlie did just spend all that time with him.” She pauses, sobering. “I’m not trying to push anything on you. But he really is an amazing guy.”
I meet Georgia’s gaze, wishing for a second that we were friends and I could confess everything. “I know he is.”
Then a familiar rumble comes through the doorway. “Georgia, Maya, Elle, are you overwhelming Charlie already?”
Rylan steps into the apartment, damp-haired and smelling like pine and soap and a hint of peppermint. He immediately comes to my side, looking into my eyes, his gaze appraising. “You doing okay, hun?”
“I’m good,” I reassure him. “Just meeting everyone.”
“And we’ll get out of the way,” Elle says. “Let you guys have dinner. But we definitely need to plan a girls’ night soon.”
Less than a minute later, the three women are gone. Rylan takes my hand and gives it a little squeeze. “You sure that was okay? I would have told them to wait until tomorrow, but they’re eager, as you can see.”
“It’s really fine. It was nice of them to visit.”
