Page 52 of Rescued By Midnight

He isn’t looking at me like that now. His gaze is filled with lust, which I never saw before. But it’s also guarded, like he’s hiding a part of himself, holding it back and away.

Something changed in him, while I was gone. I think I might have caused it.

19

LANDON - NOW

Why the fuck aren’t they home yet? I pace the kitchen. Alice said Cody had arrived, then the next thing I knew, the call was dead. And now neither of them is answering their phone.

I open up the LifeFinder app, which Cody jokingly calls the “stalker app,” and search for him.

It says he’s here. Did he leave his phone behind? Thinking back, I distinctly remember seeing it in his hand when he left the apartment.

I look at the app again, and click his icon for more information.

He’s been here for fifteen minutes. I could see a couple minutes in the garage, but fifteen?

I’m about to call him again when the elevator door sounds. Alice and Cody step into the entryway.

Something happened. Something…kinky. I can see it in Alice’s flushed cheeks, and Cody’s satisfied smile.

“Hey, Sprechter.” He gestures to Alice. “I brought her home, safe and sound.”

I’ll deal with him later. “Alice. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Brayden’s a dick. It’s over with him.”

“What happened?”

Some of the smug satisfaction leaves Cody’s brown eyes as he frowns. “Asshole had his hand raised, like he was going to hit her, when I drove up.”

My heart turns to stone in my chest. Thunder fills my head. But I have to keep calm. “Alice. Has he ever hit you before?”

“No.” Her blue eyes are wide. “Never.”

“You can tell us if he did,” Cody says. “We won’t judge you or anything.”

“I promise.” She looks between the two of us. “I’d tell you if he had. I have no reason to defend him anymore.”

I nod. It doesn’t mean I won’t take the first opportunity I have to punch that guy in the face, but at least I don’t have to arrange his death.

What the fuck is wrong with me? I’m supposed to be one of the good guys. That means no killing, nothing shady.

But I’d leave every single one of my morals behind if it means protecting Alice.

“If you’re done with your inquisition,” Alice says with a little smile, “I think I’ll take a shower and go to bed.”

It isn’t late, but no doubt she’s exhausted. And depending on what Cody got up to with her, she might feel embarrassed, or need to think about things. I don’t think he fucked her—I’d like to think he wouldn’t have—but everything he’s been doing lately tells me I don’t know my friend like I thought I did.

As soon as Alice is down the hall and we can hear her shower running, I look Cody directly in the eye.

He scoffs—he knows what I’m thinking—that he’s a piece of shit for touching her, for seducing her. He already has an argument ready, I bet.

To throw him off, I say, “I want to take her back to the foothills. Past Farnton.”

The surprise on Cody’s face is worth the switch in subject. “Past Farnton? Baldwin said that she couldn’t have gone farther than five miles.”

“What if she could have? What if she was running or walking longer than she thought?”