“Right. That’s why you’re primping.”
Sawyer spots us and walks over during what looks like a break. “Hey, Alice.”
“Hi. You working tonight?”
“Yeah, overtime. Gotta love festival duty.” He gestures to the other officer. “This is my partner, Chris. Chris, this is Alice.”
Chris turns toward us and flashes that easy grin at me. “Nice to finally meet you. Sawyer talks about you all the time.”
Sawyer gives Chris a warning look, but I’m smiling. “All good things, I hope.”
“Definitely,” Chris says, then his attention shifts to Madison, looking her up and down with obvious interest. “And you are?”
“Madison. Alice’s fun best friend.”
“Madison,” Chris repeats, that grin widening. “I like that name.”
Madison actually blushes, which is rare for her. “Well, the best people are named Madison. At least in my opinion.”
Sawyer rolls his eyes. “Chris, we should probably—”
“Hey, we’re on break for another ten minutes,” Chris says, not taking his eyes off Madison. “Want to grab a drink? I mean, I can’t drink while I’m on the clock, but I could walk you there.”
“Yeah, sure,” Madison says, trying to sound casual but failing.
As they walk away, I shake my head. “That was fast.”
“Chris works fast,” Sawyer agrees. “Just a fair warning—he’s trouble.”
“Then he and Madison should get along just fine.”
We stand there for a moment, watching the band play. There’s something nice about having Sawyer next to me, even if he is technically working. Maybe I'm overthinking everything. Maybe I'm safe here.
“How are you enjoying the festival?”
“It’s fun. I haven’t been to something like this in forever.”
“Well, that’s good to hear.”
“Sawyer!” Chris calls from across the area. “We’ve got a situation by the stage.”
Sawyer sighs. “Duty calls. I’ll be right back.”
I nod, watching him head toward the stage.
I spend the next hour wandering around until Madison finds me. We sample food from different trucks, and I have more drinks than I probably should. The music is good, the atmosphere is relaxed, and for the first time in months, I feel completely carefree.
By the time I see Sawyer again, I’m definitely tipsy. He’s finished dealing with whatever the situation was, and he finds me sitting at a picnic table, giggling at something Madison said.
“Having fun?” he asks, sitting across from me.
“The best time,” I say, probably too enthusiastically. “You’re really good at this whole protecting people thing, you know that?”
“Thanks. How much have you had to drink?”
“Not that much. Just enough to feel good.” I lean forward, studying his face. “You have really nice eyes.”
Sawyer glances at Madison, who shrugs. “She’s been like this for the past twenty minutes.”
