Page 107 of Not Your Little Girl Anymore

But I know that no matter the outcome of this… I will be OK.

Tyler sticks his head between the driver’s and passenger’s seats. “What do you think is going to happen?”

I roll my eyes, still in disbelief that we all are going.

From my peripheral, I see Samantha slap the top of his head. “Nobody knows what is going to happen, you dimwit.”

I bite back, the laughter rising from my lungs, and look at Alec. He makes a small glance at me with a sliver of a smile before focusing back on the road. “I’m really sorry.”

With slow movements, his hand moves back to the steering wheel, but the imprint of his hand still lingers on my thigh.

“I mean, you could have stayed home.”

He huffs. “Nice try.”

I roll my eyes. “Honestly, the company is rather nice.” There is some truth to my words, but that doesn’t get rid of the anxiety building inside me. In an attempt to ease it, I dig my nails into the palms of my hands to resist the urge of having a mental breakdown. The last thing I want is to ugly cry in front of the entire squad. It only helps a little bit.

Family.

They referred to each other as a family.

One that I’m now a part of.

I focus on that because the best feeling is being accepted into the family they have created.

I hadn’t noticed my good leg started to bounce until Alec placed his hand back on my thigh. We’re almost there, and my stomach twists the closer we get.

The car slows as Alec flicks the blinker on and turns into the parking lot. Chloe is hard to miss. She’s pacing back and forth, tapping her hand against her thigh. Her dark brown hair is neatly pulled back into a high ponytail, swaying with each step she takes. She’s panicking or in just as much skepticism as everyone else.

Once the car stops moving, I swing the door open without a second thought and step out of the car, using the door as leverage to pull myself up. The ace bandage and the aspirin I took helps a little, but the pain remains.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Alec says, rushing out of the car and around to help me.

I lean into him, limping around the car and toward Chloe. She wraps her arms around my neck and gives me a quick once-over.

“What happened to your ankle?” She looks at Alec. “I leave her with you for all of what… two days and you already broke her.”

Alec raises a hand in defense. “That was all her doing.”

I let out a nervous laugh. “It doesn’t matter.”

Chloe looks over my shoulder with furrowed brows. “You seriously brought everyone?”

“It wasn’t up for discussion,” Alec tells her.

She nods without question. “OK.”

I turn around to look at the car and see Tyler stepping out. James and Samantha stay in the back seat. Chloe’s bright smile doesn’t go unnoticed; her cheeks redden when Tyler approaches her and pulls her in for a long hug. The love between them is obvious.

Something in my heart flutters, seeing my best friend since high school happy is warming.

Chloe looks at me. “I suggested meeting here first to go over what exactly is going to happen.”

I pinch my lips together, looking down at the ground. Alec’s arm tightens around my waist as if he sensed the shift in the air. When my eyes meet back with Chloe, I sigh. “I’m going to talk to Allen.”

Chloe knows I’m referring to Officer Brentley, but what she doesn’t know is that he swapped to front desk and doesn’t have much involvement with cases and the police force anymore. He’s our only chance though. He’s loved me like his own since I was just a little girl.

“That’s a good start.” She looks at Alec. “I’ll follow you and we can go from there.”

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