Pulling aside the old blankets, I point my flashlight at the modified, extra-wide rafters to illuminate my hiding spot, but there’s nothing there.
The Discovery collection is gone.
Levi
It’s been a long fucking day at the end of a long fucking week, and I stand under the shower spray wondering when life turned so chaotic. Can we rewind time? Would anything be different if I’d never touched Ellie? If I’d never admitted how I felt or held her in my arms and promised myself that one day she’d feel the same? If I’d been nothing more than the friend she needed, would we still be here—piecing together a past she can’t remember, secrets she never shared with me?
Nothing makes sense, but a long shower can’t wash away my worries. I keep imagining Ellie back in her house by herself. She promised she’d use the security system, and it should protect her—we made sure to install the best—but I don’t like it.
Fuck it. I walked away tonight because she looked like she needed to process everything, but I can’t do it. I can’t let her stay there alone.
I turn off the shower and grab a towel. I’m going after her. If she refuses to come home with me, then I’ll crash on her couch. I rub the towel over my wet hair then down my arms and legs.
A sharp rap comes from the front door, and I frown. The clock in the bedroom says it’s after ten, so I can assume it’s not a salesman or a neighborhood kid trying to sell me candy bars.
The knock comes again, and I wrap the towel around my waist and head to the front door. Through the window, I see Ellie standing on my front porch, a duffel bag hanging on one shoulder. She has her arms wrapped around herself, and she’s shivering even though it’s a warm night for October.
I unlock the door and pull it open quickly, panic ripping through me. “Are you okay?”
Her bottom lip quivers. “I’m sorry.”
I open my arms, and she dives straight into them. “What happened? Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine. Nothing happened.” She sniffs and shakes with a ragged inhale as her tears wet my bare chest. “I didn’t want to stay there tonight. I didn’t want to bother Ava, and I didn’t know where else to go.”
“Shh.” I press a kiss to the top of her head and stroke her hair, my panic subsiding at the feel of the soft strands beneath my fingers. It feels fucking amazing to have her here. To know she’s safe. To smell her hair. “You’re fine. You can stay here. Before you knocked, I’d just decided I was going to get dressed and come get you. I don’t like the idea of you staying there alone.”
“Do you think Nelson McKinley is dead?” The question is asked in a whisper against my chest, but it sends chills up my spine.
I close my eyes and breathe her in. She’s here. She’s safe. “Yeah. I think he probably is.” Is it just me or do those words melt some of the tension from her shoulders?
“Do you think Colton killed him?”
I don’t know how to answer that. I’ve heard through the grapevine that the police suspect Colton snapped and attacked Ellie in a drug-induced rage, and while I don’t believe that, I could see him hurting his father under the same kind of circumstances. He hated his father more than anything.
“Do you?” Ellie asks. “Tell me the truth.”
“I don’t know, but they would’ve arrested him before he disappeared if they had any evidence.” I realize I’m holding her too tightly and loosen my arms around her. “You can stay here as long as you want. In the meantime, hopefully they’ll figure out who’s responsible for everything.”
She pulls out of my arms, sniffs, and swipes at her cheeks. “Thanks, Levi. You’re a good friend.”
I shake my head. If I were a good friend, I wouldn’t have shut her out when she told me she was taking him back. I would’ve been there to listen when she said she needed help. And then maybe I would’ve been there to protect her the night she got hurt. All I can do now is try to make up for it. “I’ll go get dressed and put some fresh sheets on the guest bed, okay?”
Her eyes flick down to my bare chest before returning to my face. “I can do it myself.”
“Let me. I’ve felt helpless as shit since I got the call saying you were in the hospital. It’ll make me feel better to take care of you while you’re here.”
She nods and treats me to a tentative smile that curves her tempting pink lips. I walk away. I have to or I’ll kiss her. She needs a friend right now. Nothing more.
Ellie
As Levi heads to the back of the house, I catch myself comparing the breadth of his shoulders to his narrow hips. I watch the muscles of his back and imagine what they’d feel like under my hands.
I don’t want to be a weak woman who runs to a man when she’s scared, but the truth—whether I want to admit it to myself or not—is that right now I am weak, both physically and emotionally, and the second Levi opened the door and pulled me into his arms, I felt like I was going to be okay.
Maybe after everything I’ve been through in the past two months, I can give myself a pass for a little weakness while I build up my strength again. Maybe I can allow myself to need protection while I search for answers.
His bedroom door clicks closed, and I grab my phone from my purse to call my mom. It only rings once before she answers. “Hello?”