“Two hours ago.”
Everyone stared at him.
Lucky put a hand up. “Are you saying that he has been at home this whole time that we have been looking for him?”
“Wait a second,” Jack said. “Two hours ago, we wereallin the cabin. Even King.”
King frowned. “He wasn’t in our room. It was the first place I looked.”
“But we didn’t check the rest of the house,” Fitz replied with a sigh. “We just assumed he was still out here.”
“Because no one saw him enter the house,” Joker said. “And some of us were in the main living room. He did not walk through that door. The dogs would have lost their furry minds.”
King turned and headed for the door. “Let’s get back and figure this out.”
They all hurried down the main street to the SUVs, got in, and returned to the cabin. As soon as he’d parked, King was out of the vehicle and sprinting inside, everyone else on his heels. The house was silent. The dogs had been asleep by the fireplace before they darted over, tails wagging. Leo was nowhere to be seen. Then again, it was a huge house.
“Everyone split up,” King said. “Colt, Ace, Gio, Joker, Fitz, and I will take the downstairs. Everyone else checks upstairs.”
They split up and started searching every room in the house. Ace had finished checking the main office when he thought he heard something. King had just turned the corner, and Ace put a hand up.
“You hear that?”
King frowned. “Sounds like….” His eyes went wide, and he spun around. They ran to the room at the end of the hall, and King opened the door, hurrying in. He stopped so suddenly that Ace almost slammed into him. Catching himself just in time, he grabbed King’s arm and peered around him.
Leo was on the floor of the movie room, curled up under a big fluffy blanket and fast asleep, one of his favorite Marvel movies playing quietly in the background. The floor was littered with comfy pillows he’d arranged around him like a little nest. Ace knew he’d fallen asleep watching the movie because he was still wearing his glasses.
“You just melted into a puddle of goo, didn’t you?” Ace whispered, knowing whatever King had felt until that moment vanished, replaced with so much love and affection that he practically choked on it. Ace shot a quick text off to the others.
King carefully maneuvered his way around the dozens of pillows. He moved one to the side and sat.
“Sweetheart?”
Leo let out a sigh and turned over. He gradually opened his eyes, blinking away some of his grogginess. When he realized King was there, he smiled wide, sat up, and scrambled to straddle King’s lap. He wrapped himself around King and buried his face in King’s neck, making King chuckle.
“Hey,” King said softly. “We were worried about you.”
Leo sat back. “Why?”
“Because we couldn’t find you.”
Leo blinked at him. “But I was right here.”
“We never saw you come in.”
“Oh. I didn’t come in through the front.” Leo worried his bottom lip. “I peopled a lot today, and I knew everyone was home, so I came in through the mudroom. I thought I would decompress before going downstairs, and I was going to text you, but I guess I fell asleep.” He looked up at Ace and everyone else who’d materialized behind him. “I’m sorry if I worried everyone.”
Before anyone could respond, Fitz stepped forward and spoke up. “It sounds like you had quite the day. Don’t worry about it. We’ll be downstairs. Red made his delicious Southern comfort food.” He turned and ushered everyone out of the room. As soon as they were out, he closed the door behind him.
“Why didn’t you tell him we went all over town looking for him?” Lucky asked. “He worried us to death, not answering our texts and calls.”
“He’ll see that when he checks his phone.” Fitz crossed his arms over his chest and arched an eyebrow at Lucky. “And we won’t mention any of it, Eduardo, because Leo feels bad enough. He knows he worried us. We don’t need to drill home how bad. What would it accomplish? Nothing. Do you want to make him feel bad?”
Lucky shook his head. “No, of course not.”
“Okay then. What matters is that he’s safe and well.” Fitz headed downstairs, and the rest of them followed.
Fitz was right. What was the point of making Leo feel terrible? None of them wanted that. It wasn’t like he’d done it intentionally.
