Page 3 of Liam

My brother gave me the knife, and I don’t leave home without it. Granted, it’s over ten years old, and this is the first time I’ve used it—but still… I’d feel naked without it.

I push one side of the gate open just enough to step through the gap.

“Are we really doing this?” Wyatt asks, and I can sense the uncertainty in his voice.

Half turned to him, I motion to his truck parked just a few feet away. “You can always leave.”

He won’t, though. Given the choice, he’d never leave my side. That’s why he’s been my best friend since the first day of kindergarten. I’ve only seen him a handful of times since we were fourteen. We’re nineteen now. There’s no doubting I’ve changed in those years, but from the short time we’ve spent together, Wyatt is… still Wyatt.

“Or you can wait for me in your truck,” I add, giving him options. I don’t want him doing anything he doesn’t want to do, but at the same time, how much trouble can we possibly get into? Sure, it might look suspicious from the outside, only because it’s midnight, but the trailer isabandonedfor a reason.

Wyatt steps through the threshold with a loud, reluctant sigh, and I smile up at him. “Two minutes,” I tell him. “I just want to check it out.”

“Whatever.”

The trailer is right at the rear of the lot, and so we have to walk across the weed-filled yard to get to it. I don’t know exactly when this place became “abandoned,” but honestly, it was a piece of shit five years ago, and nothing has changed.

I take the few steps up to the front door, and the moment I have my hand on the knob, Wyatt asks, “We’re goinginside?”

My shoulders drop. “Again, you can always leave.”

“I ain’t leaving ya, Addie, and you know that.” There’s sincerity in his words and a protectiveness I’m all too familiar with.

I face him fully and finally let down my guard. “I just want to see what it’s like now…”

“Now?” he asks. “As opposed to…?”

I heave out a breath. “As opposed to when I lived here.”

Wyatt seems confused for all of a millisecond before he puts the pieces together. “Oh.”

My gaze drops. “Yeah…” I don’t know why I kept it a secret from him. Of everyone in my life, Wyatt is, by far, the least judgmental person I know. Especially when it comes to our upbringings. But there were other factors, too. Factors I didn’t want to have to explain to anyone. Even him.

He steps around me now, using the bottom of his shirt as a barrier when he turns the knob. Not surprisingly, the door’s left unlocked.

I stifle my giggle. “Paranoid much?”

“I’mcareful,” he corrects, throwing me the same smile he did when we were kids.

If I were any other girl—a girl who didn’t look at the guy like a brother—that smile would do certain things to me. Things I haven’t felt in years.

He waves a hand toward the door, saying, “Ladies first.”

I use the light on my phone to peer into the trailer, make sure it’s safe, then step inside. A wave of memories flashes through me, and I’m quick to push them away. The place is exactly how I remember it. Exactly how my brother and I were forced to leave it.

“Are we looking for anything in particular?” Wyatt asks, using his own phone to look around. If he’s at all disheartened or even surprised by what he sees, he doesn’t show it.

The truth is, I came here for one thing and one thing only. I make my way through the narrow hallway and into the only bedroom. The butterfly stickers are faded and partially peeling off the walls now, but they’re still there. So is the orange canopy hanging off the ceiling. I don’t pay them much attention. Instead, I go straight for the drawer of the nightstand and yank it open. Then freeze.

“What is it?” Wyatt asks.

Air traps in my lungs, and through watery eyes, I stare at the empty drawer.

“Addie?”

“It’s gone,” I manage to say.

“What is?”

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