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He wrote:Hey, I’m here. Let me in.
I blinked, unreasonably relieved by those words.
Sure, I knew it had been crappy not to tell him that I wouldn’t be staying at my parents’ tonight, but telling him would’ve meant I expected him to comehere, and I couldn’t allow myself to expect that, even though he’d stayed with me every other night. Some refusals of expectations were just plain self-preservation.
And besides, if he really wanted to find me, he would.
Which apparently, he had.
A knock came on my front door.
Groaning, I flung the covers off me in an aggravated huff, determined to convince myself that I wasirritatedby his sudden appearance, not relieved because I definitely couldn’t be relieved. Relief was way too closely related to expectant.
So yeah, I was indignant. He was acting as if he wasentitledto get a spot in my bed.
I should go out there and let him know he hadnorights to me. Except the scared little girl inside me was sobbing with joy that she wasn’t going to have to be alone anymore.
It was too dangerous to letherout of her cage, though. She tended to fall for idiot men. Like Luke Hamilton. And he was being all heroic lately, as he’d been when I was fourteen, showing up just when I needed someone most. It would be so easy for that little girl to fall for him all over again.
So old, wise, haggard me had to stay around. Becausesheknew better.
Muttering a silent,stuff it, to the inner little-girl me, I stormed to the door, scowling as I flung it open. “What do you think you’re—”
“Yeah, yeah. Save it,” he grumbled, waving aside my complaints as he stepped inside without waiting for an invitation and entered my home, carrying what looked like an overnight bag over his shoulder.
“I really appreciate the call, telling me you came home, by the way. That was nice of you.” Plopping down the bag on a chair, he turned to send me a sour look. “Your mom and dad had an argument, you know. And Pick was banned from their room, so guess who I just crawled into bed with over there?”
My jaw dropped before I was able to collect myself and screech, “Seriously?”
He waited for a beat, but then burst out grinning. “Nah,” he finally relented, swiping out a hand. “But that would’ve made for a funny story, huh?”
I blinked. “So...my mom and dadaren’tfighting?”
“Nope,” he answered cheerfully as he started from my front room and headed toward the kitchen. “I mean, not that I know of. I guess they could be, though I doubt it. They get on strangely well together. But still… It would’ve been nice ifyouhad told me you weren’t staying there anymore. If Pick hadn’t called and warned me, I’d be over there instead and completely freaking the fuck out right now, wondering where you were.”
I followed him to the refrigerator, where he opened the door and started browsing inside.
“So mydadsent you over here?” I demanded, folding my arms moodily over my chest. “Lovely.”
I began to tap my bare toes on the floor as irritation grew inside me. Because, hip-hip-hooray, my own father didn’t think I was strong enough to sleep in my own home alone. Wasn’t that just—
Dammit!
“I don’t need some babysitter, you know,” I started in as Luke came up with a bottle of water in his hand.
“Uh-huh.” Completely unaffected by my raging, he unscrewed the cap and started to drink.
Scowling, I pointed toward the exit. “So you can just turn right back around and tell him I donotneed his little lapdog to—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Luke stopped drinking to wave me quiet. Then he lifted an eyebrow. “Lapdog?”
“Well, what else do you think you are?” I challenged. “Going where he tells you to go. Doing what he tells you to do. Fetching his slippers when he—”
“Okay,one,” Luke broke in again and lifted his index finger. “He didn’ttellme to come here. He mentioned it in passing when he was asking me to give the key to his place back.”
“You had akeyto their house?” I blurted in surprise.
Luke lifted his brows. “How do you think I was able to get in every night that late?”
