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I don't find any guys. The kitchen off to the left is empty, and the living room has blankets and snacks sprawled out. I frown and finally find the person I am looking for. Yet, she’s not what I was expecting.
I feel my shoulders slacken, and my chest expands with a deep inhale of shock. A woman stands with her arms wrapped around her middle, hyperventilating and looking like she's about five seconds away from either running or breaking the fuck down.
"Shit," Jude hisses beside me, his shoulder bumping into mine when we both try to step inside.
The redhead's large eyes widen even more when we attempt to step foot in her home. Her red lips are plump and quivering, making me want to kick my own ass for scaring her this way.
"Oh god. Guys, you need to leave." Gabby puts a hand on each of our chests and nudges us back.
I don't take my eyes away from the shaking woman, who's inching her way closer to the staircase. Her body may radiate fear, but her eyes and jutted out chin show me she's strong.
"Jackson, let's go!" Gabby hisses.
As soon as my feet hit the concrete once more, the woman releases her stomach and clenches her fists. Fear lingers but is overshadowed by a whole lot of fucking power.
Once Gabby has Jude and me outside, she turns her back on us to address her friend. "I'm so sorry, Rylee."
Jude chokes, drawing my attention to his once-tanned face turned pale.What the hell is his deal?
"I didn't know they were coming like this. I swear." Gabby's shoulders relax when Rylee,what a beautiful name, gives her a small nod. "I'll text you. Good night." Gabby’s voice wobbles a little before she closes the door behind her with her flip-flops in hand.
Stuck on the other side of the door with two of the most important people in my life, the events of the last few minutes finally slam into me. "Damn it!" I rage.
"Let's go."
I've never seen my foster sister quite this pissed off and shaken. I think that makes three of us, because Jude looks like he is about to plop his ass down on her doorstep and never leave. Me? I feel absolutely fucking sick to my stomach that I made a woman so fearful she shook and stepped away from me.
The car is silent as I reverse out of the driveway, each of us lost in our thoughts. I replay the way she inched towards the stairs in my mind.
"I'm sorry, Gabby. I didn't mean to scare your friend, but at least her husband was upstairs, right?"Why else would she have been itching to get to the second level?
"You're an idiot. She doesn't have a husband, wife, girlfriend or boyfriend." No matter what I say, I just keep pissing her off. Damn it. "Also, how 'bout you apologize for thinking the worst of me?"
"We are sorry, Sunshine. I think we were both just really worried the worst might happen."
"Wait, back up. The woman, Rylee, she lives alone?" I can feel a vein in my neck throbbing with an awful amount of stress. This night has not gone as planned. I was ready for my little sister to be mad at me, not this.
Beside me, Gabby glares daggers at the side of my face as we pull into the parking lot of her apartment complex. "I don't see how it's any of your business, but no, she doesn’t live alone." With that, she's up and out of my car in a flash. Without a backward glance, she slams the door and stomps into the building.
The car jostles as Jude gets out of the back and into the passenger seat. My phone dings with a text from Gabby, letting me know she is safe inside her studio.
"What the hell does she mean she doesn't live alone? A roommate maybe?" Also, why the fuck do I care? Plenty of women live alone. Gabby, for example. I just can't scrub the image of her terrified face out of my mind. Someone drilled that fear into Rylee, and I want to burn the fucking world down until I figure out who did it.
Just as I go to drive away, a strangled noise comes from Jude. His tongue is never tied, and tonight I have seen him speechless too many times for comfort.
"What?" My muscles bunch to prepare for whatever he's about to say.
Clicking his phone off, he clears his throat. "Remember the woman I told you about yesterday? The one who turned me down?"
I frown, annoyance flaring in my chest. "Yes, but what does that have to—"
"Her name was Rylee, and the woman tonight was the same one I met at the beach." I go to speak, but he continues, "She has a little girl."
I wait for him to elaborate. I'm so confused.
His eyes turn wistful. "I bet she was like five years old. Her blonde curls were going crazy in the wind. She had these cute little buns that didn’t hold all her hair back. They looked like something out of a fucking movie, Jackson." He looks me in the eye. "I thought maybe she turned me down because she was taken, and with an adorable little girl like that, she probably had a happy little family."
I don't understand the way my gut sinks.
