“Actually,” Sawyer spoke up, causing me to groan out loud, “someone was thinking about visiting home.”
“Seriously?” Did she always speak without thinking first?
“That could be arranged, if you really want to,” Collin said, turning to look at me. “They would love to have you visit, you know.”
“Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t know if I can handle them all.”
“Hey, kiddo,” he said, quickly wrapping his arms around me and pulling me close. “You can handle them. Don’t doubt yourself. If they can’t deal with your personal space, then screw them.”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell her for weeks now!”
“I really like her,” he whispered in my ear. Stepping back, he looked in my eyes. “Do you want to go home?”
“It’s not my home, but yes. I do want to visit them. I haven’t seen Mom or Peyton since I’ve been here.”
“Then you both can tag along tomorrow. Deal?”
“What if she doesn’t want to come back here afterwards?” Sawyer asked, worry filling her voice.
“Oh, she will,” Collin said, turning to wink at her. “She has a life here. One that I can already tell she won’t give up easily.”
“Or maybe you’ll fall in love my family and claim them to be your new obsession,” I joked.
“Hardy har.” She rolled her eyes.
“Oh, they will all just adore you, kid.”
“I’m not a kid!”
“You are to me.”
Sawyer glared at Collin for a moment before breaking out into a huge grin. Yeah, she’d fit in just fine. It was me who wouldn’t.
The apartment was filled with a high-pitch buzzing sound, along with flashing lights above each door to lead to the nearest exit. Sawyer and I both followed a slightly rumpled but more put-together Collin out the door. He held his gun with both hands, looking around each corner. My phone was in my hand, another unread text message, but other than that I had nothing to carry with me.
“Is there a fire?” Sawyer asked through a yawn.
“Don’t worry about it,” Collin said, going around another corner towards the stairs, his gun pointing down towards the floor ahead of him. “Just glad you guys don’t live on the top floor.”
Neither of us girls said another word until we reached the sidewalk, where we joined a few other people who lived in the apartment building. We huddled close together, hands clasped, as Collin went to the nearest police officer while putting his gun away in the sleeve at his hip.
“What’s going on?”
“There’s no smoke.”
“I heard it was an intruder.”
Whispers from the other people around me reached my ears.
“Don’t you dare start thinking it’s your fault we had to be dragged out here,” Sawyer huffed.
“Let’s head across the street. The coffee shop has opened for us. And only us.”
“Do I want to know how you managed that?” I asked.
“Nope.”
“All righty then.”
