Page 144 of You're The One
I crouch on his doorstep, digging through my backpack for the emergency key he gave me—this qualifies as an emergency.
I hope Mia’s here and not at her parents’ place. That’ll be my next stop as soon as Logan gives me their address if she’s not here.
I’m still rummaging when the door swings open.
“Oh.” I stand quickly, the August humidity clinging to me as I wipe sweat from my brow. Yeah. Definitely back in Chicago. “Hey. How’d you know I was here?”
Logan jerks his chin toward the security camera built into the doorbell.
“Right,” I mutter.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he whisper-shouts, keeping the door cracked just wide enough to glare at me.
“Is Mia here?” I move to step inside, but he doesn’t budge. With a groan, I tip my head back.
He grips the edge of the door, knuckles pale against the wood. “What’s it to you?”
What’s it to me?
Everything.
She’severything.
My jaw clenches. “She just left. No warning. No explanation.” I pause, trying to rein it in. “I’m worried about her.”
He seems to be weighing my words, but he’s taking too long to decide. I plant a hand on his chest and step forward, forcing him into the house.
Luckily, this time he relents and moves. When we’re both inside, I shut the door and turn to face him.
“You look like shit,” he states unhelpfully.
“Thanks.” I try to move around him, searching for her, but he blocks my path. “Look, if you want to hit me, I’ll take it. Just let me see her.”
He lets out a huff of annoyance as he scrubs a hand roughly down his face. “What happened between you two?”
I wish I knew. Sure, we fought, and I know I shouldn’t have let her leave with things unresolved, but I never thought she’d run all the way back home. I would’ve stopped her if?—
I shake my head. The would’ve, should’ve doesn’t matter. What matters is fixing it. Fixing us.
“You promised you wouldn’t hurt her, man.” His voice stays even, but there’s a sharp edge to his tone. “And yet she’s been holed up in that room for days.”
His words coil deep in my chest. She’s been holed up. For days.
She’snotokay.
“Is it the bees?” I ask.
“Excuse me… what?”
The fact that he has no idea what I’m talking about makes me more desperate to get to her. She trusted me with a part of herself she hasn’t shared with her family. “Nothing. I’ll figure it out. Now, if you could let me?—”
I step to the left, and he mirrors me again.
“I don’t have time for this.” Frustration drips from my every word.
“And I don’t have time for you to screw things up any more than you already have,” he fires back, not budging.
“I love you like a brother. Hell, not even like, youaremy brother, Lo.” I take a breath. “But Mia… she’smore. She’s my future. And if she’s hurting even a fraction as much as I am being away from her—knowing she’s not okay—it’s fucking killing me. I don’t want her to feel that for another second.”
