Page 35 of F*ck You

“Right.” My jaw opened wide for a yawn, one so big that my body was telling me I should have been in bed hours ago. Either that, or all the excitement really wore me out, and I was crashing after so much time with an adrenaline spike.

“We should get you home, it’s been a long day.” Larsen picked up my bag for me and led me toward the door with a hand on my lower back. When I did go pick up a swimsuit, I should probably buy an actual bag that wasn’t a trash bag. “Want to make sure you’re well rested for movie night.”

His words sent a shiver down my back. I had something to legitimately look forward to.

We walked the short distance to my condo. There were only two others between us, plus massive spacing between each one, so it was still a decent enough walk. When we got closer, my footsteps slowed slightly as I stared at the building in the dark. Despite the eerie shadows that were cast from the cloudy starlight, there was something off about it, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was.

“Something isn’t right,” I murmured, voicing my thoughts. Larsen tightened his hold on my hand in response, seeing what I did, and we quickened our pace.

We crossed the rest of the distance, and I gasped when I saw the screen door hanging on its hinge. We rushed up the steps, and Larsen tugged me behind him as we reached the door.

“Wait here,” he whispered.

“Like hell I will.” I brushed past him and grabbed the nearest kitchen knife from the knife block on the counter. Yeah, I probably should have been more careful as I ran to it, but whatever. I clutched the handle and held the knife out in front of me, then grabbed a second one and handed it to Larsen. “Don’t worry, I got you.”

“That would be more adorable if you hadn’t just run into a house with an obvious intruder.” I didn’t blame him for being frustrated with the situation, but I didn’t fail to miss the way the corner of his mouth turned upward. If he really did like me as much as he said he did, he should already know that I wasn’t one to sit back while a half naked knight made sure my home was safe.

We moved through the house, practically glued to each other’s sides. We searched each room, every cabinet, and behind every door. There wasn’t a single hiding space left unchecked and we didn’t find anything. I didn’t have more than an empty suitcase that once held nothing but clothes, so whoever broke in didn’t have much to work with for making a mess.

My clothes that used to be strewn across the bedroom were now spread throughout the entire house. The furniture remained undamaged, and the only real destruction was a broken bottle of tequila that used to be half full. My shoes stuck to the sticky liquid around the bottle. What a waste.

“Did you notice anything missing?” Larsen questioned, as he finished his second search of the rooms.

Bending down to clean up the shards of broken glass, I shook my head. “Everything of mine seems to still be here. The only damage they really did was breaking this bottle of tequila that was sitting on the counter earlier.”

“That’s strange that someone would break in and not do anything.” The trashcan scraped across the floor as he dragged it over, and I deposited the glass shards into it before picking up more. He kneeled down to help me, making sure every piece was picked up.

“Well, I didn’t have much here to begin with. I showed up with only one suitcase and a box of alcohol. I was starting over, and to be honest, I think the only thing I would’ve missed was the alcohol.”

There was silence between us as we got every piece of glass off the floor and then soaked up the liquid with some rags.

“Has Chase talked much with you about his past?” Larsen inquired, breaking the silence.

“Not really. Why? Is there something I should know?”

“No, I was just wondering.”

I raised an eyebrow at him and waited for more, but whatever he was referring to didn’t come.

Larsen changed the subject. “I feel like I’m missing something here, and I don’t want to leave you alone.”

“I’m pretty sure this is simply a random thing that happened. Maybe they heard Miss Morris had left and thought they could see if there was anything to salvage before the next occupant arrived. Or maybe they heard someone else moved in and wanted to try and scare them. Or maybe they were teenagers or something trying to build some street rep.” I ticked off the possibilities on my fingers, really getting into my theories. I had the feeling Larsen wasn’t falling for any of them.

“I don’t have a very good feeling about this. It just seems too…intentional and unnecessary. Maybe someone was trying to scare you. Have you made any enemies?”

I snorted. “Who haven’t I pissed off? I spent every moment with a bottle in my hand when I first arrived here, and I’d be surprised if someone wasn’t holding a grudge about me that I’m not even aware of. I’m not the greatest at making friends. You and Chase are an anomaly.”

“No enemies then?”

I shrugged. “I mean, there is one girl who seems to hate me for some reason, but I’m pretty sure she isn’t a real threat. She doesn’t seem to have the brains to really go up against me. If she tried, she might be more worried about breaking a nail.”

“Some girl, huh? Care to share who she is?”

“Not really sure. She just showed up and let me know she doesn’t like me. She was the one who spilled the pudding.”

He paused. “So, you do have an arch nemesis then?”

I snorted. “I mean, I guess so? I don’t know, I’m pretty sure I let her know not to mess with me.”

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