Chapter 21
Lydia
I waited on the bike and fidgeted with the hair stick in my front pocket. I couldn’t leave it in my hair with the helmet on since it hurt the last time I tried, and with everything that happened, I didn’t want to be without it.
Someone broke into my apartment to mess with my laptop.
Was I at work when it happened or sleeping?
I shuddered at the thought of someone there while I slept in my bedroom.
I had a baseball bat under the bed and knew every object in my apartment that I could use as a weapon if I needed to, but that didn’t mean I’d survive.
Daniel came back with a backpack and his helmet already on.
He walked up to me and put the backpack on me. I wanted to tell him I could do it myself, but I was still kind of frozen in place.
And it felt nice.
He stood beside me for a few seconds before getting back on the bike.
“Jake called, your apartment is clean.”
“Because he cleaned it or because there was nothing there.”
“Nothing there.”
“That he could find.”
“If he couldn’t find it, it’s not there.”
I didn’t answer him. I wanted to go home, and I had to trust Daniel that Jake knew what he was doing. I felt him touch my thigh and instinctively held on to him tighter. I was too lost in my thoughts to notice if there was a bump or if he sped up.
He came up with me to my apartment, where Jake was waiting, drinking a beer on my couch. “Hope you don’t mind,” he said kind of sheepishly.
“Of course.”
It’s the least I can do after you spent the last two hours checking my apartment for bugs and cameras.
I grabbed another two out of the fridge and gave one to Daniel.
He sat next to Jake, and I sat on the coffee table in front of them.
There was barely room for both of them to sit on my couch without their shoulders touching.
They looked like giants on miniature furniture.
Surprisingly, though, they didn’t look uncomfortable or awkward.
I took two big gulps of beer and frowned. I was drinking with two men in my apartment at night. I had only gotten used to drinking barely one beer with Becca when I went out with her.
Maybe it was because it was my apartment or because I’d become more comfortable around Daniel, but I felt safe. It was nice having human giants on my side for once.
“What do you play?” Jake nodded toward the console and TV.
“Oh. All kinds, I guess. Platforms and open world games.”
I got up before he could ask anything else to put a tray of lasagna in the oven.
I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. I also didn’t really want to answer questions about the console.
I liked a lot of different games, but I had never talked about them with people.
I wasn’t excited about them, nor did I consider myself a gamer—I just sometimes enjoyed playing them to take my mind off of things.
I heard them talking about what Terry was doing with my laptop and phone, and zoned out, coming back to reality when the oven pinged.
I cut two giant squares of lasagna and one normal portion and put them on three plates. I felt like I should have tridents instead of forks for them.
This feels awkward. I shrugged and walked back to them, handing them their plates and then sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the coffee table to eat.
They both froze and stared at me for a few seconds, but seemed to relax when I started eating and ignored them. They continued to talk while they ate.
“-it wasn’t us or SEALS,” Jake said.
“Delta?”
“Maybe, or a joint task force. Comms were compromised, two killed.”
“How’d you find out?”
“Cole. Didn’t ask how he knew.”
“And the op?”
“Don’t know. Still working on that.”
“There’s more in kitchen,” I offered, when they put their empty plates on the coffee table.
Jake smiled and stood up, forcing me to lean back on the floor to look at him. “I’m good, thanks. It was delicious.”
I shrugged and picked up our plates, taking them to the kitchen sink before walking them both to the door. Jake bent down to hug me, and I hoped he didn’t notice me flinch. I didn’t feel as comfortable with him as I did with Daniel.
“See ya, Lydia.”
I was going to turn to Daniel to say ‘bye,’ but Jake left, and Daniel closed the door, staying inside.
He turned to me and smiled nervously. “It really was good, the lasagna.”
Something unpleasant tingled down my spine, and I really didn’t want to address it, so I busied myself in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes, freezing boxes of lasagna, and leaving some in the fridge for tomorrow. Daniel still stood a few steps away from the door, watching me.
Guess I had to address the giant boss in the room.
“Daniel, not to sound ungrateful for everything today, but why are you still here?”
His nervousness seemed to go away as he walked up to me. “I’m staying here. I packed, remember?” He nodded toward his backpack on the floor near the door, the one he put on my back outside his building.
My heart pounded loudly in my ears and it felt like the air didn’t want to go into my lungs. I wasn’t safe if he was insisting on staying.
“I… I need to… This is—”
“You need to breathe. Look at me.” He stood too close to me.
“Lydia, look at me.” He touched my chin and lifted it gently. I looked up and stared at his brown eyes.
It’s fine. You’re safe. Let the air in. Now out. Again.
I blinked and felt my body relax. His hands were still on my shoulders.
“I’m sorry. I’m okay now.”
“I’m still staying.” His voice was soft and low.
“What about—”
“You don’t have any options, Lydia. A hotel isn’t secure, so you can stay here, my place, Jake’s, or Becca’s. Either way, Jake or I would stay with you.”
I sighed, knowing there was no way to win this. “This wouldn’t have happened if I stayed in HR,” I mumbled and went to the closet in the hallway to grab sheets and a blanket.
“You’re right. I’m sorry.”
I shrugged and went to change the sheets in my bedroom.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Changing the sheets so you can sleep in the bed.”