Page 45 of What It Means To Be Found

Or…maybe I was sensitive because he and I shared something personal over FaceTime, and he had willingly dug his heels in for the sake of arguing with me in front of our friends.

“Lo, are you leaving?” Courtney giggled, but I could hear the concern in her tone.

“Yeah, I’m going home.”

I turned around to face the group as I shoved one sneaker on my foot, standing on the other foot awkwardly as I used my index finger to pull the heel over and step into it.

Logan looked concerned, a deep pinch in his brow as he stared at me and made his way to stand up, looking like he was going to come after me. Courtney had stuck her leg out to halt his progress, making him look down at her in confusion.

“Nah, let her go. You fucked up again, so let her be angry.” Courtney shook her head at Logan, like he was just a silly boy. A little sibling she took pity on.

“Are you calling an Uber?” Beck asked, sitting up from Adam’s side.

“Yes, I’ll text you all when I’m home safe.” Because a woman traveling alone was never a safe time, because the world hated women. As Logan had just weirdly proved.

I waved goodbye, glad that my friends were willing to let me leave in a huff.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I was too angry to look at it. I only pulled it out when I needed to confirm that the car driving towards me was my ride, and thankfully the woman driving the vehicle was able to read body language and didn’t try to make chit-chat with me.

Finally, I made it home. Susan was already asleep, and I found myself kicking my shoes off disorderly and running upstairs to my room. Then, after setting my bag down and taking in my surroundings, I realized I didn’t want to go to bed angry or irritated. So, instead, I snuck across the hall to borrow a couple of copies of some romance novels of Courtney’s that I was interested in reading.

Tiptoeing back to my room, I closed the door and locked it, then snuggled under the covers.

***

An hour later I checked the time, and it was about ten o’clock before I pulled my phone out to read my texts. I had managed to send off an “I’m home” text as I was kicking my shoes off, but I didn’t bother reading the others.

I sighed when I saw the ones from Logan.

Logan: Hey, I’m so sorry.

Logan: I thought we were just teasing each other.

Logan: I didn’t mean to undervalue your argument. That was a shit thing for me to do.

I rolled my eyes and tossed my phone on the bed.

I heard the front door downstairs open, and a couple sets of footsteps climb the stairs a few seconds before a gentle knock sounded at my door. The knob jiggled, but I had locked it, so Courtney’s voice called out to me softly, “Lo? Are you good?”

“I’m good,” I called back to her, “I’m just reading.”

“Alright. Josh and I are going to bed.”

“Goodnight.”

“Night.” Then I heard the sound of her bedroom door closing across the hall.

13

ELOISE

Twenty minutes later I heard a tap against my bedroom window, and I glanced quickly over to see if a bird had flown into it. It wasn’t the first time it had happened in my life, but it would be the first time it happened in the townhome.

My phone buzzed again, another text from Logan.

Logan: Are you awake?

I frowned.

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