Page 77 of Ever With Me

“I didn’t?—”

“Forget it. We’re even at this point. And you apologized.”

But his words fueled her guilt.

She never should have blackmailed him.

Or lied to Naomi.

God, I made such a mess out of things, and I have no idea how to fix it.

She could fix this—couldn’t she?

“You know what? I have an idea.” She grabbed his hand, tugging him down the closest alleyway.

“Where are we going?”

She didn’t want to chicken out. “Almost no one locks their back door around here during the day. The Stricklands keep their storage room in the back, along with their security system, so if we’re lucky?—”

“You’re not seriously suggesting we steal it, are you?” Brooks’s voice belied more of his shock than his face.

“I mean . . . we might not be able to. I don’t know if they’ve switched to something that uploads to an online server. But probably not. Fred isn’t known for being a fan of modernizing. Or change, for that matter. Knowing him, he’s got one that records to an SD card. I think he does. I’ve been in the storage room before.”

Brooks grabbed her by the elbow. “But again. Breaking and entering. And theft.”

Maddie rolled her eyes. “What choice do we have? It’s just an SD card. Hopefully. We can wipe it and return it. No harm done.”

Brooks removed his baseball cap, combing his fingers through his flattened, dark hair. “Jesus, Madison. And people think I’m a sinner. Meanwhile, you’re a temptress who masquerades as an angel.”

She didn’t mind the sound of that. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Are you in or out?” She crossed her arms. “It’s the least risky way to get that video.”

Then again, maybe it was Brooks who made her want to be daring. This was fun.

“And how is it you’ve been in their storage room?”

A slow smile curved on her lips. “One of my high school boyfriends used to work at the ice cream shop, and we used to make out in the storage room. There’s also no security camera in there, which is why we chose that spot.”

“I can’t believe I’m actually considering this,” he muttered.

She grabbed his hand again. “Just . . . don’t overthink it. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“We get caught. They call the cops. I get arrested. Again. Twice in one week would really do me in, you know.”

“They’re not going to catch us,” she said with overconfidence. “Look, I’ll go up to the back door, open it up, and see if anyone’s in there. You can just stay outside. If someone comes, I’ll tap twice on the back door and you walk away. That way, there’s barely any risk to you. But it is slow this time of day. It’s probably just a bored employee sitting in the front scrolling through his phone.”

He reset his cap and crossed his arms. “And you would do that for me?”

His words made her breath catch.Yeah, I guess I would.She nodded.

“Why?”

Why indeed?

Partially because she wasn’t afraid of getting caught. And the bad consequences seemed easy enough to get out of.

But also . . . because he needs it. And he’s never had someone on his team like this.

And after the conversation she’d had with Kayla this morning, she realized just how tough Brooks’s life had been. He’d been a good big brother, one who had always put Kayla, and then Audrey’s needs first. Last night had been a literal nightmare for him, and it was okay to show him some compassion.

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