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"Of course, I'll take you. Your dad, he sounds protective. Should I be worried?"
"Only if he knows what we just did. Don't worry, you should be fine." I fake a smile cause this situation is not ideal. Dad isn't going to be happy if he thinks something is going on here, and it looks sus as hell.
My place is onlya short drive, but neither of us say a thing about the kiss. The car is just filled with awkward tension. As we pull up, the high I was on from finally sharing a kiss with Brad has faded away, and the uneasy feeling comes back. I don't want to enter my own house.
There's a cop car parked in the driveway, along with my dad's SUV. Two officers stand out front of my house talking to Dad. His expression is serious. His attention comes to us, and I feel about five years old. I only saw him just last night, but there is something about my dad that reduces me to a little girl that has me wanting to run to him and be sheltered from the world in his big strong arms.
I jump out of the car and go to him, and he wraps his arms around me in a comforting hug then pulls back to look at me. "Andrea, are you okay? Your mother and I came as soon as your sister told us what happened."
"We're just going to take a look around, get some prints," says the nice-looking female officer, "then we will need to get a statement, Miss Harper."
"Thank you," I say as the two officers disappear inside my house.
I notice my dad's attention shift to Brad who has made his way out of the car and comes up the driveway to where we're standing. He narrows his eyes to me. "Where did you stay last night, Andrea?"
"Dad, this is Brad Swift," I say, changing the subject quickly. "Brad, this is my dad, William.
"I know who he is." My dad holds out his hand to Brad and they exchange a glance between them I don't like the look of.
"Mr. Harper."
"Nice to meet you, Brad. You're a fine soccer player and I hear coach." His words are kind, but the glare he gives Brad has me nervous all over again.
His focus comes back to me. "I'll ask you again, Andrea, where did you stay last night?" His face is so serious, but I know how to play him. I've been doing this shit since I was fourteen.
I smile at him sweetly. "Brad kindly took me in for the night. I was too freaked out to stay here, so I stayed in his spare room. So nice of him, wasn't it, Daddy? I feel so bad I was such an inconvenience on him."
Dad rises a brow, as though he isn't convinced. "Going above and beyond for the girls on your team then, are you, Brad?"
"Mr. Harper, the safety of the girls on my team is very important to me. When Andy called, scared because she was being followed, I was just trying to make sure she got home safely, but when we got back here, well… I'm sure you've seen the state of her room. She couldn't stay here. It was late, and she slept in the spare room." Brad looks like he would get into it with my dad no problem, but he's trying to be on his best behavior.
I need to get these two away from each other before this becomes another problem I have to deal with. "Dad, don't we need to go and talk to the police?"
"Yes, you're right, they need a statement from you. Let's go find them."
I offer a small smile to Brad to say sorry. I thought he would have taken off straight away when he dropped me off, but instead, he follows us inside, where the police have cleared the kitchen and living area.
My mom is standing in the kitchen with Jasmine, both with a cup of tea in hand. I introduce Mom to Brad. She's more impressed than Dad was, but that wouldn't be hard.
Jasmine gives me a knowing look and I know the interrogation from her will come later.
Brad and I both give our statements about what happened last night to the police officers. They want Brad's perspective of what happened as well and need to see the texts on my phone. They spend the better part of an hour taking prints of my room and assure me they will try their best to track this guy down. The rest of the house is totally untouched. Whoever the intruder was, they only went in my room. It's so strange and definitely points to it being some kind of stalker or someone who is just out to mess with me, not a robbery.
Brad has been here the entire time, and he and Mom have been chatting in the kitchen while Dad has been around the house with a locksmith to have all the locks changed and a state-of-the-art security system installed. His main concern and that of the police is that there was no sign of forced entry, so either one of us four girls left a door unlocked and the person took the opportunity… or they had a key.
The security system will monitor the house from the front door and the backyard and is pretty obvious, so it will hopefully deter any further chance of someone breaking in. Dad also organized a cleaner to come and scrub the walls for me. I haven't been able to enter my room again yet. I'm waiting for it to be clean and back to normal before I do. I still keep seeing the image of the red writing on the wall. Yuck.
I sit at the outdoor dining table with my mom, Jasmine, Luna, and Brad. Darcy hasn't made it home yet, must have been a good night for her. Mom made us all lunch, and while I haven't been able to have a second alone with Brad since we got home, just the fact that he has stayed, to be here with me and my family through today, speaks volumes about the type of guy he is.
I'm in deep trouble when it comes to him, I know that much already.
He smiles at me warmly. "I better take off. I have some stuff to organize for tomorrow," he says, standing.
"So nice to meet you, Brad," says Mom, hopping up to offer him a warm hug.
"It was very nice indeed, shame about the circumstances."
"You look out for my girl, won't you?" Mom whispers to him, but loud enough that I hear her.
