The drive passes quickly, and by the time we make it to my place, I'm excited to see Fefe. It's not often that I spend the night away from her, and I know the little diva will be every bit as excited to see me.
Except when we get out of the car, Ellis stops me before I can go inside. “What's your deal?” I ask.
“I swear to god, you have the situational awareness of a blind koala.”
“Thanks, they’re super cute.”
“It wasn’t a compliment.” He pinches the bridge of his nose as he nods toward the front door. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure you locked it when we were on the phone last night.”
I follow his line of sight and gasp. “What the fuck.” My pastel pink door looks like it’s been kicked in. “Yeah, no, I definitelydidn't leave it like that.” I shiver as an ice-cold ball of dread settles in my stomach.
“You need to let me go in first.”
“What? No way.” I try to push past him, but he grasps my shoulders, holding me in place.
“Do you even hear yourself?” he growls, sounding like an angry caveman. “Someone broke down your door. Sit your ass down and let me check it out first. I’m trying to protect you.”
“I... I don’t want to be alone.” My confession hangs between us, but his hard glare softens.
“Why don't you call Nora and ask her to have Atlas come over?”
I worry my lip between my teeth. “They'll know we lied.”
He nods once. “I think it's time we come clean.”
“Okay.” I swallow roughly.
Ellis backtracks to his truck, only to return with a gun. “Is that necessary?” I ask, a million different worries flitting through my brain. Obviously, he’s trained to use it, but still, I can’t help but fret.
“If whoever kicked in your door is still inside, you bet your sweet ass it's necessary.”
I flinch as goosebumps cover my entire body. “Right. That makes sense.”
He starts toward my house. “Ellis?” I call out to him.
“Yeah, Princess?”
I lick my lips. “Be careful.”
He tips his head my way. “Always.”
My heart pounds in my chest as I watch him walk inside. Once he's out of sight, I move to the far corner of the porch and dial Nora.
“Hey, girl,” she says, clearly surprised to hear from me.
Makes sense, seeing as I'm not big on phone talking. “Hey, um, do you think Atlas could come to my place?”
She hesitates. “I mean, I'm sure he could. Can I ask why?”
“Um, it's a really long story. Ellis is here.”
“Ellis is there.” Those three words hold a boulder’s worth of disbelief.
“Mmhmm.” I nod even though she can't see me. “Yep, he, uh, asked me to call you.” I rock back on my heels. “Um, things with my stalker are a lot more serious than I've let on. And it looks like someone kicked down my door last night. Ellis is inside, scoping it out, and told me to call you and ask Atlas to come over.”
“Atlas, I need you to head to Scar’s. Now.” Redirecting her focus to me, she goes on, “I have a million and one questions. But he's on the way.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, emotion clogging my throat.
