“Yeah.”
“Meet you there.”
Bastian pulled open my door when I parked and helped me out of the car. He wrapped me in a hug so tight I felt myself shake, followed by a purr that had my knees going weak. “Glad you’re here.”
“Me too. Even though I’m exhausted.”
He hummed a low sound against my neck. An acknowledgment and not an action. Which was what I needed. Sometimes I didn’t need anyone to fix it. Just to listen and validate what I felt.
Brooks slid a hand on the back of my neck and tugged me away from his brother. “The faster we get upstairs, the faster you can rest. And eat. Have you eaten today?”
Had I?
I honestly couldn’t remember.
They took all my bags, even my purse from my shoulder, giving me a look when I tried to help. No asking, no feeling like a burden because they didn’treallywant to help. Just action and comfortable silence. I didn’t have to think about it—they simply did it, and I basked in the peace and quiet. If this was even a fraction of what it could be like? To surrender and be taken care of? Yes. This was what I wanted.
“What’s your favorite food?” Brooks asked, pushing through the apartment door.
“Good foods or bad foods?”
Bastian looked surprised. “There are bad foods?”
“For diabetics, yes, but as long as I keep an eye on things, I can eat anything in moderation.”
I closely controlled my diabetes. But it was also the truth that you needed variety for any quality of life. As long as I wasn’t overdoing it, nothing was off-limits.
“Anything particular you want today?”
“I would kill for a grilled cheese sandwich and some tomato soup.”
“No killing necessary,” Theo called from the kitchen. “We’ll make that happen.”
“Are you cooking it?”
He leaned on the counter, his sleeves pushed up and showing off forearms I hadn’t seen yet. Distracting in the best way. “Are you asking if I can cook?”
“Yes.” I settled on a stool near the very large island.
“I can cook,” he said. “But we don’t have all the things for tomato soup. Also, I can’t promise I won’t be so distracted looking at your list that I’ll burn the sandwich and set the building on fire. So this time, we’ll order.”
I laughed. “Good to know my secondary living situation isn’t also going to become uninhabitable.”
He grew serious immediately. “It’s that bad?”
“It’s not good. They’re going to call me if they find something.”
Logan stepped into the kitchen. “Do they have any idea why it happened?”
I opened my mouth and closed it again. “No, not really.”
“Not really?”
“Other than it being a random happenstance, there’s one idea I have, but I don’t want to be wrong, so I’m not saying it out loud yet.”
An amused smile. “You don’t have to be right every time you say something out loud,” Logan said. “But keep your secrets. I’ll get them out of you later.”
“You can try.”
