Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99494 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
“You’re going to stay next door with me. Bax doesn’t mind.” I tip my head back his way. “Right?”
“I don’t mind,” he says gently.
“Are you sure?” she whispers, looking uncomfortable. Actually, she looks like she might cry, which makes me feel worse than I already do.
“I’m sure.”
“Okay,” she agrees.
Thank God, because if she insisted on staying here, I'd have to stay here too, since there is no possibility I’d leave her in this house by herself.
“How about I help you get your stuff together?” I suggest, stepping toward her and linking my arm with hers, leaving the guys behind.
It doesn’t take very long for her to pack. She just adds some more clothes to her suitcase that is open on the floor in her room from when she came home yesterday. When we’re done, Bax walks the two of us over to his house, then lets us know he’s returning next door to wait while they finish dusting for prints.
I offer for Kourtney to hang with me in the living room, but she insists she’s tired, so I get her settled in Bax’s guest room and then take a seat on the couch with my book.
Before long, Gemma gives up waiting at the door for Bax to come home and joins me as I read. Not that I get much reading done, with my mind constantly drifting to what happened next door. I don’t want to think about what could have happened if I had been there tonight when someone broke in, but it’s in the back of my mind, and the thought is terrifying.
CHAPTER 22
Bax
After putting two bagels in the toaster for Olivia and me, I go to the fridge to get out the cream cheese, then pour each of us a cup of coffee. Our day started later than normal. Both of us slept until nine thirty after going back to bed this morning around five. Before we ever fell asleep, she sent Eva and Holly a text, letting them know what happened and that she wouldn’t be in today. And I messaged both Liam and Talon to let the two of them know they were on their own and that I would fill them in on things this afternoon. I still haven’t made the call to Liam—not that he’d answer, he still hasn’t replied to my text. I did, however, speak to my brother, who was obviously concerned about what happened, especially after finding out that most of the damage was done to personal items of Olivia’s.
“No, she’s not here. She left to go get a new phone but should be back soon,” Olivia says to her mom as I place a cup of coffee in front of her. She looks up at me and mouths, “Thank you.” A moment later, she continues, “Yeah, she has a security company coming by this afternoon to give her a quote for cameras and an alarm system.”
She pauses, obviously listening to her mom, as I slather our bagels with cream cheese. “No, it’s okay. We’re both staying with Bax.” She looks at me and rolls her eyes. “Mom, I’m not going to stay at her house by myself. And no, I don’t want Max to stay with me.” She goes quiet. “Can we talk about that tomorrow at dinner? Yeah, okay, love you too. Tell Dad that I love him, and we’ll talk later. Or if not, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She hangs up and picks up her coffee. “My mom wants me to stay with her and my dad when Kourtney leaves to go back to LA,” she says as I take a seat next to her and pass her the plate of breakfast I made for her.
“I’d rather you stay here with me,” I tell her honestly, and her expression softens.
“I’d rather be here too, but I know this is all a lot, especially when you didn’t exactly plan for me to start staying with you every night.”
“I want you here with me every night. I know it hasn’t been very long, but even before the last few nights, I got used to having you under the same roof as me and waking up to you in the mornings.”
“Me too. It’s just…” She rubs her lips together. “You’ll tell me if you get tired of me, right?”
“I’m not going to get tired of you.” I shake my head as she picks up her bagel but doesn’t take a bite.
“Okay, but promise you’ll tell me if you do if you need some space.”
“Sure,” I agree, even though her request is ridiculous. I’ll likely get tired of breathing before I get tired of her. “When you’re done eating, do you want to head over and start going through your room?”
“Honestly, I kind of just want to shove everything into trash bags and burn it all,” she says quietly, placing her bagel back down like she’s suddenly not hungry. “I don’t know what they did with my stuff, and thinking about any of it on my body again grosses me out.”