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Grayson either wasn’t listening or didn’t care. He followed us into the elevator, his eyes on his phone. Given that he was struggling to concentrate at work, we knew he wouldn’t pay much attention to our scheming, and that worked for us right now.
“I call shotgun!”
Grayson rolled his eyes. “You’re thirty two. You don’t call shotgun anymore.”
I lifted my eyebrows slowly. “You’re just jealous because you didn’t call it.”
The exasperation was almost hilarious. Almost. I hadn’t felt like laughing since Grayson sent Julie home early on the day of her breakup. That was going to change, though. We were going to help her feel better and bring her back, and things would go back to normal.
When we hit the main floor, I ducked around them and hurried to the parking lot so that I could get to the front seat. Bennett was driving, which meant Grayson would end up in the back. He paid less attention back there. I dropped into my seat, covertly plugging in the address I’d taken from Julie’s personnel file into my phone. I set it on my lap and started talking animatedly, using hand gestures to point out the directions for Bennett without Grayson catching on. He obviously wasn’t paying attention because I was basically making stuff up so that I could keep my hands moving and he never noticed.
“He knew I was right here. I mean, it was beyond obvious. It came completely out of left field.”
Bennett bobbed his head, following my directions. Grayson was none the wiser until we were pulling up in front of a tiny apartment complex on the outskirts of the city. He leaned forward between the seats, a suspicious frown on his face.
“I know you haven’t moved recently. Where the hell–”
Our refusal to look at him tipped him off, and he growled. “Absolutely not! You did not just hijack my ride home so we could go bother Julie. I told you to leave her the hell alone!”
Whipping around, I glared at him. “No. You can stay in the car if you want, but I’m done listening to you on this. She’s hurt, she deserves to have a little comfort. If you’re not enough of a friend to offer that to her, then call a damn taxi.”
Bennett pushed his door open, not willing to wait around. I followed him, marching down the small cracked path that led to the front door. We were waiting for her to answer the intercom when Grayson eventually joined us, a deep scowl on his face.
“I’m only coming along to make sure you two don’t pressure her into coming back early. This is wrong on so many levels.”
“Shut up,” I growled. “It’ll be fine.”
Instead of answering the intercom, she buzzed us in instead. We frowned, and I stepped back to look up and see if I saw her peeking through any of the windows, but I didn’t see anyone looking out.
Heading into the old building, I grimaced. It wasn’t the nicest place on the planet. The wallpaper was peeling, and the floor was dingy and gray. I looked down at my phone and the picture I took of her address before looking around.
“It says apartment 115.”
Grayson frowned. “Really?”
Raising an eyebrow, I showed it to him. Concern crossed both our faces. The little sign on the wall said the apartments on the first floor were all 100s. It was really unsafe for a woman living alone to have a ground-floor apartment.
Bennett started down the hall, his frown so deep it looked like it was carved into his face. We followed him, noticing the warped doors and a couple of missing lights in the hall. This place was getting worse by the minute.
When we stopped in front of the apartment and knocked, my hackles were up. There was no way even her douchebag ex would feel comfortable letting her live in a place like this. No one is that heartless.
“Just a second,” she called. Her normally cheery voice was choked and scratchy, like she’d been crying recently. My stomach hurt at the thought of her crying all alone in this shitty ass apartment.
When she opened the door, her eyes were on her purse. “How much do I owe you?”
“Julie?”
Bennett’s quiet voice caught her attention, and she whipped her head up, finally realizing who was standing in front of her. Her mouth fell open, and she looked surprised, but it did nothing to distract me from the fact that her eyes were red rimmed and puffy and her nose was pink. She looked pale and her normally immaculate hair was tossed haphazardly into a messy bun on her head. She was still gorgeous to me, but it was obvious she’d been going through hell.
“Wha– How–”
“You’ll have to excuse the intrusion. They were worried about you and resorted to information theft and kidnapping to get us here,” Grayson said softly.
She looked overwhelmed, and my feet moved without my forethought, putting me directly in front of her. I reached out, cupping her face softly. “You gonna invite us in, darling? I promise we’ll go once we know you’re okay.”
For a split second, her eyes closed, and she leaned into my hand, seeking my comfort. I wanted to pull her into a hug like Bennett had done the other day, but now wasn’t the time. I waited until she pulled away and lifted my eyebrows, tipping my head towards her apartment. She nodded quickly and stepped back.
“Please, come in.”
