Page 91 of Barefoot Lake

“I know. I just… I thought it was my fault, that maybe he was right. It was embarrassing.”

“You know this says nothing about you and everything about him, right?”

“I do. And I did then, too. But it didn’t make it easier.”

“I’m so sorry, babe.”

We just lay there for a while, holding one another. We eventually pick at food and sip our wine, neither of us is too hungry. Piper puts on Dumbo and has me sit on a pillow on the floor in front of her so she can braid my hair. Our evening becomes a marathon of old Disney movies. We’re about to put on another when Piper suddenly stands, checking her phone. She goes to the door and hits the button that unlocks the door downstairs.

I look at her confused, but she just shrugs, like nothing weird is going on at all.

There’s a knock on her door.

“It’s for you,” she says, even though she’s standing right by the door.

I give her a suspicious look but get up and pass her to open it.

Out of breath from running up five flights of stairs stands Jake.

CHAPTER 35

Jake

The second Alice has the door open far enough for me to fit through, I step forward and sweep her into my arms.

“Jake?” Her voice is muffled by her face pressing into my chest.

I try to pull back, but her arms wrap around my back, and she squeezes me. I look over her shoulder and lock eyes with Piper.

Thank you, I mouth at her.

She gives me a dignified nod before tiptoeing into another room and quietly closing the door.

I slowly scoot myself and Alice further into the apartment so I can close the front door behind me, but I keep her in my arms, willing to hold her as long as she needs. She can be the first one to end this hug.

I press my cheek against her hair and breathe in her smell. I just saw her two days ago, but it already feels like too long, especially with Reid’s ambush.

After a few minutes, she shifts and pulls back. I hold her shoulders and look into her eyes, which hold a deep sadness and exhaustion from more than just physical tiredness. I want to hit Reid again.

One of my hands slides down Alice’s arm to grasp her hand, and she leads me to the couch.

“What are you doing here?” she asks.

“You’ve got to be out of your mind if you thought I would just sit home tonight. I had to see you, to make sure you’re alright. Maybe I was hoping to bump into Reid on my way through the city… with my front bumper.”

She chuckles at that.

“I’m not here to be some overbearing caveman, though, and I can go back right now if you want me to.”

She vigorously shakes her head.

“Or Piper said I could crash on the couch if you’d prefer I stay.”

She nods just as furiously.

“But isn’t this disrupting your life? Work? Something?”

“You’re more important. You were attacked today.”