“In a hurry?” I ask.
“I’ve been waiting to be free of those fucking people since I turned eighteen, Karson. Let’s get this over with.” She doesn’t look at me as she exits the closet.
Reaching out, I wrap an arm around her waist as she brushes past me and tug her to my chest. She tenses, but her eyes soften at the corners when they meet mine. Sensing I’m about to lose her to her own mind, I gently squeeze her hip.
“I will not let you down, terror. I’ve got you.”
“I know,” she tells me, lifting her chin. “If I don’t hurry, I’ll get stuck. And as nervous as I am about this, I’m ready. No more running.”
A smile spreads across my face.
“Good.”
She lifts on her tiptoes, and slams her lips into mine.
A knock on the door interrupts the moment.
“You’re early,” I grit and turn toward the door.
“You’re welcome.” Cole’s shit eating grin makes me want to rip his head from his shoulders. He steps into the apartment, his laughter echoing off the exposed brick.
Ashlynn smiles at him.
“So, what do you want me to grab?” he asks.
“I only came back for clothes. I don’t care about the rest. Just give me ten minutes,” Ashlynn tells us before escaping my hold, and making her way to the bedroom part of the loft.
She moves quickly, emptying drawers and throwing the contents into a bag without even folding them. Then, she comes back down and slips into the bathroom. When she reappears, a plastic bag full of her shower products hangs from her finger.
“Can we grab anything, doll?” I ask. She inhales deeply, eyes searching the space.
“Anything that might be hanging in that closet. The pictures on the refrigerator. That’s it.”
The three of us move quickly, gathering the last of her things. I carefully pull down each of the pictures from the refrigerator and hand them to her as she stops in front of me.
“Thank you,” she says. She glances around the apartment once more, no emotion, just scanning. Cole drops a bag by the door.
“I think that’s everything,” he announces.
“Good,” she nods. “Let’s go.”
We exit the front door in silence as Parker’s Jeep pulls up along the sidewalk behind Ashlynn’s Audi. She exits the vehicle and meets us on the sidewalk.
“You ready?” she asks Ashylnn, rubbing her shoulder in a comforting manner.
Ashlynn looks up at me, confused.
“Cole and I will take the car and the keys back,” I stroke her cheek. “I told you. Last night was the last time you ever went back there.”
Tears fill her eyes before she quickly blinks them away.
“We have some things to take care of after that, so I figured you might like a girls’ day.”
Layla steps out of Parker’s car and joins us.
“Wine, popcorn, shitty movies. You in?” Layla asks. Ashlynn nods excitedly at her friends. Her bags thud on the sidewalk and she launches herself into my arms, her legs circling my waist. I wrap my arms tightly around her middle and she buries her face in the crook of my neck.
“Thank you, Karson,” she whispers against my ear. My arms rub up and down her back.
