Traitor.
“Umm, I’m looking for my dad. Please.”
“He and my mother forgot some things for dinner, so they ran to the store. They should be back soon.” He gestured inside, and I took the opportunity, moving straight past him to the living room.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I just came to see my dad.”
“You’re pale, shaking, and fidgeting. Please don’t lie to me.”
I glanced around, seeing if any of Dad’s pack was around before I spoke. This was the perfect time to admit I lost the piece of paper with his number on it, but those words didn’t come out of my mouth. “It’s okay, Logan. I get that this situation is unexpectedly awkward, but you don’t have to worry about me.”
His brow creased, and he stepped closer, hands in his pockets. “Is that what you think? That it’s awkward, so we don’t want you?”
My mouth opened and closed without sound. Yes, that is what I had thought. Most men I knew would run screaming at situation like this. And the ones that wouldn’t were already partnered. Like my friends’ packs.
Logan sat on the other end of the couch. Close, but not encroaching. “Today was the deadline. If you hadn’t texted us by the end of the day, we were going to ask either Cecil or Cade for your number tomorrow and make up a reason until we had a more... parent-appropriate story.”
I opened my mouth again to answer, but didn’t get the chance. Thefront door opened, and my father’s voice called, “Rin? You here? I see your car.”
I was on my feet and embracing him in less than a second, forcing him to drop the plastic bags of groceries he held. “Whoa. Hey. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to see you.”
“Growing up hasn’t made you a better liar, honey.”
I took a shaky breath when we separated and wrapped my arms around myself. “When I got home today, my—” I grit my teeth and made a sound of frustration. Not now. My voice couldn’t disappear now. “Someone broke into my apartment.”
“WHAT?” That was Logan, now off the couch and with us again. Then I saw Theo poke his head out of the kitchen. Everyone was coming into the foyer, asking what was happening. Logan and Dad were trying to ask me questions, but all I could hear was noise. Panic crawled up my spine.
Liz stepped out from behind my father and put an arm around my shoulders. She guided me to the kitchen and sat me on one of the high stools near the breakfast bar.
“Here.” A glass of water appeared in front of me. “Would the rest of you like to pull your heads out of your asses and get in here?”
Dad reached me first. “Are you okay?”
“I mean, yeah, I guess. It’s just jarring. Scary.”
“Did they take anything?” Brooks asked.
“I didn’t go through the whole apartment once I saw everything, but yeah. They took my extra set of keys.”
Someone swore.
“You can stay here,” Dad said, “of course.”
“No.” The word was faster than a bullet. “No, that’s okay. I’m sure I can stay with Isolde or Ocean. They’re just busy right now, so they weren’t answering. I’ll be all right.”
“We have room.” The low, rough voice told me it was Bastian.
“Yes. We have a few extra rooms that aren’t being used,” Theo said. “A couple of them, actually. It’s close to the magazine, and I promise no one is going through the four of us.”
I blinked, staring at them.
“Oh, that’s a wonderful idea,” Liz said. “Then you definitely won’t be worried.”
About abreak-in. There were plenty of other things to worry about in that scenario.
