Page 181 of Just This Once

Then we managed to find Foster and slap him on the back for a job well done.

Next to him, Raina hugged Hope goodbye. She’d helped Hope see her dad again just a few weeks ago, and Hope had cried for a full day after that. She couldn’t stop talking about how much she owed Raina now.

Finally ready to go, Hope turned to me, and when those eyes hit me, I drew in a deep breath, suddenly not blaming Alec one bit for being so open and clear about his love.

Sometimes, you just couldn’t help it.

Taking her hand, I led her out the front door, only to remember that I’d had to park two blocks away. “Stay here for a sec. I’ll grab Lucy and pull her up so you don’t have to walk.”

But Hope was having none of my gallantry. “I’m good, Grumpy. See…” She danced off the front steps only to twirl back and offer me a bow. “I can walk perfectly fine all on my own.”

“And still back talk like a pro,” I added, shaking my head with a fond smile as I went to join her.

Taking her hand, I kissed her smart mouth and then started us down the darkened street.

With a happy sigh, she rested her head on my shoulder as we strolled along, contentedly swinging our hands between us.

“Thank you,” she said when we’d been quiet for a good minute.

Shifting my mouth to kiss her hair, I said, “For what?”

“For number four.”

With a chuckle, I shook my head. “I believe I’m the one who should be thankingyoufor that. You changed my life, Trouble. You changed it for the better.”

“Ditto,” she murmured, squeezing my fingers fondly, just as footsteps running up behind us caused us to break apart and whirl around in surprise.

“What the hell?” I demanded when a feminine silhouette streaked through the dark, her shoes slapping rapidly against the concrete sidewalk. “Hey!” I called to flag her down just as she passed under a streetlight.

“Waverly?” Hope gasped in concern and popped forward, gripping the other girl’s arm as soon as she reached us. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

Eyes wide with shock and breathing heavily from her sprint, Waverly gaped between the two of us before pinning me with a desperate stare. “You owe me,” she panted.

My mouth fell open.

Behind her, a shout down the block from where she’d just come made me glance up to see someone else charging this way, chasing her.

Waverly squeaked out her fear and immediately ducked down onto her haunches before disappearing behind a nearby tree.

“I was never here,” she swore.

Puzzled, Hope and I exchanged a questioning glance just before Waverly’s pursuer ran under the streetlamp as well.

“Keene!?” Hope cried, just as shocked as I was.

She and I looked at each other again, silently wondering what the hell was going on, and then we turned back to my friend as he reached us.

Grabbing my arm as he bent slightly to catch his breath, Keene wheezed, “Oh, thank God. It’s you. Jesus. Fuck.” He winced and pressed a hand to his groin before straightening enough to look up at us with a pained cringe. “Did you just—did y’all see someone come through here? Just now. A girl, like…maybe this tall.”

I blinked and turned to Hope, who blinked back at me, equally stumped.

Keene knew who Waverly was. Why was he acting as if he had no idea who he was chasing?

“Uh…” I started, not sure what to say.

But Hope was on top of it.

“She went that way.” Pointing in the opposite direction of the tree that Waverly was currently hiding behind, Hope threw him completely off the scent.

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