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I lie, nodding, because how I am doing depends on what I get when I enter that house, when I finally get to speak to my brother.
We finally force ourselves out of the car, Riley carrying the beer ahead of me as I dawdle behind him, dressed in a pair of tight blue jeans and a white shirt I tied at my hip, my hair out and wild with my purse on my shoulder. Riley's dressed in a pair of blue jeans as well, but he's thrown on another red plaid button-up shirt with his sleeves rolled up to reveal some nice forearms.
Riley knocks on the door and we stand there, hearing music from the other side and a bunch of voices talking and laughing cheerfully as we wait. I shuffle my feet, looking nervous and drawing Riley’s eyes to me as he casts me a concerned look.
I shrug when I meet his eyes, but he leans in and whispers, even though there's no one here to hear him, “Any time you wanna go, just give me the safe word.”
I furrow my brow, nodding. “And the safe word is?”
He grins proudly. “Pineapples.”
I chuckle at the random word, hoping I never have to use it, when the front door opens and the noise level rises as it reaches us. I have Ava’s smiling face looking back at me.
“Oh my God, I’m so happy you’re here!” She pulls me into a hug, and I wrap my arms around her, missing this sense of normalcy after everything. Giving me a final squeeze, she pulls back and turns concerned eyes on me as she asks, “How are you doing? Did they find anything on the break-in?”
Giving Riley a side on glance, I shake my head, trying to brush it off like it doesn't worry me or bother me, but it does. I hate that someone has taken everything I owned and cherished and destroyed it. I searched my mind for days on who could and would do this. I have pissed off many people in the past, but most of them had a lot to lose and pulling a stunt like this just doesn't seem worth the effort.
Ava rubs her hands up and down my arms, her eyes softening with compassion as she looks at me. “Well, you know I’m here.”
I smile. “I know.”
Riley clears his throat beside us, holding up the beer awkwardly. “I’m just gonna take this in.”
“Okay, everyone is just outside,” she calls to him as he makes his way into the house before smiling back at me and hooking her arm with mine to lead me through to the sliding door to the backyard.
“Where’s Charlie?” I ask, looking around me and not seeing him.
“Hadley’s holding him,” she says so casually that I almost miss it, and stopping just before we reach the door. I furrow my brow.
“Hadley?”
She blinks, realisation hitting her. “Oh, yeah, she’s Logan and Hunter’s new roommate.”
I raise my brows. “New roommate?”
“Yeah, they had the spare room after Conner left and figured it would help to have someone else there to help with bills.”
“When did they get her? And why did they get a girl?”
Ava chuckles. “You say it like she is a dog. They had a few guys apply for the room, but they all seemed like the kind of guys that would make a suit out of your skin. One day Hadley came in and won them over.”
“And you met her before?”
“Just today. The guys and her came early to help set up and she's had Charlie from the get go. You’ll like her.”
And with a final smile, she opens the sliding back door and leads me out to the back patio, where we are greeted by a chorus of cheers and smiles from those sitting at the outdoor table.
Before me, I see Conner and Riley standing at the BBQ, chatting and laughing with beers in their hands. Logan sits at the table with his hand in a big bowl of potato chips. Lucy, who is Ava’s little sister, looking older than I last saw her, with her dark blonde hair out in soft curls, contrasting with her tanned skin and bright blue eyes. She sits beside Logan at the table, smiling and laughing at something he said with a look of adoration I can’t help but notice and hope Ava does too. That is something she needs to keep an eye on. At the end of the table sits a woman I have never seen before, who I assume is the new roommate Hadley, and she definitely looks different than I was expecting.
Her hair is long with thick curls, dark brown with shades of pinks and purples and blues going throughout, making the colours curl together at the ends as her hair hangs down her back. She wears ripped black jeans and a loose black tank top, which looks like she has cut the arms off. Her dark eyes look darker with the dark makeup and red lips, but I can still see a light smattering of freckles on her nose. All that's missing is a piercing, but upon closer inspection, I notice a beautiful tattoo that stretches down her arm in what looks like a vine with flowers dotting it, some alive and others dying.
It's an odd tattoo, but I can't stop staring at it.
She smiles knowingly at me, giving me a big wave. “Hey, I’m Hadley.”
I smile, surprised at her actually being the first one to speak, and even more surprised at her getting out of her seat and making her way over to me, her big smile still in place.
“You’re Mia, right?” Before I can answer, she envelopes me in a hug and gives me a squeeze before stepping back. “It’s good to finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you from these guys.”
