But I don’t know if Addie can.
“I’m coming with you,” she tells me when I rush back into her bedroom, looking for clothes.
Her tone is so dead serious.
No-nonsense.
Badass.
Closed off.
“You don’t have to—” I start, but she cuts me off with a curt, “Yes, I do.”
Fuuuuuck.
Justfuck.
Is this it?
Is this when she tells mewe can’t be together because we’re bad for the other people in our lives?
And why is that at the top of my head when Paisley’s calling me in a panic, feeling unsafe somewhere?
I need to get her and make sure she’s safe.
Then I’ll handle everything else.
We’re out the door and in the parking garage in record time.
She doesn’t argue when I tell her I’m driving.
She doesn’t say much of anything at all.
I’m white-knuckling the steering wheel with so much I want to say that I can’t find a place to start.
None of it matters until I have Paisley safe and sound.
I break every traffic law known to man while following my GPS’s instructions to the location Paisley gave me. When we arrive at the house a few blocks off campus, I barely get the SUV in park before I’m charging out of the car.
Addie leaps out too.
There’s a party going on inside the house. Someone in there scared the fuck out of my niece, and I’m going to fucking handle it. I’m halfway to the front door when Addie says my name.
She repeats it before I stop and look back, realizing she’s not keeping up.
And she’s not keeping up because she’s stepped into the shadows and is crouched with an arm around my niece.
“I’m sorry,” Paisley sobs quietly. “I’m so sorry.”
“No, ma’am,” Addie says, equally quiet but so very, very firm. “We donotapologize for needing help or for wanting to feel safe.”
I suck in a breath.
“C’mon,” she adds. “Let’s get in the car.”
Paisley doesn’t hesitate. She’s on her feet faster than Addie is. When she reaches my SUV, she climbs into the back seat, and Addie follows her.
I trail both of them, feeling abnormally useless, but still ready to charge back into that party and solve things.
