Then I felt her grab my arm from behind, and I swung around as I heard the ping of the elevator.

“It isn’t what you think,” she tried to explain.

“Isn’t that supposed to be Luka’s line?” I asked bitterly.

“No, really. Come back inside,” she asked while pulling on my arm.

“Not a chance in fucking hell. Here’s what I think. I don’t know you because nobody has ever introduced us. Like my boyfriend. Who you clearly know well enough to be in his apartment when I’m not there and he’s taking a shower,” I answered.

“But—” she started, and I held my hand up to signal that I needed her to shut the fuck up.

“No. I’m not done yet. I’ve also seen you in the building before. Many, many times. Always in passing, so it’s pretty damn clear that you’re only here when I’m not. And there isn’t a single explanation that I can think of right now that I want to hear. So let go of my fucking arm before I make you let go,” I growled.

She stared at me with a sad look in her eyes for a moment before dropping her hand. I turned around and kept my back to her until the elevator doors closed me inside. And then I fucking lost my shit, sobbing hysterically. I rushed out the elevator as soon as the doors opened on the ground floor and ran smack-dab into Lexi.

“What the hell, Aubrey?” she exclaimed before she got a look at my face. “Holy shit. C’mon.”

She dragged me to her car and shoved me in the passenger’s seat as my cell began to ring. I glanced down and wasn’t surprised to see that it was Luka. The temptation to answer was incredibly strong. I stuffed my fist into my mouth and bit down on my knuckles in the hopes that it would help me from picking up.

“Jesus Christ,” Lexi muttered as she grabbed my phone from my other hand. The voicemail message alert went off, quickly followed by one letting me know that I’d received a new text. “Motherfucker.”

I watched with tears rolling down my cheeks as Lexi powered my phone down and started the engine. She looked towards the building’s door and shook her head before pulling out of the parking lot. We drove around town for about an hour before she seemed to make her mind up and we headed towards her dad’s house. Lexi drove her car into the garage, something she almost never did since she preferred to park in the driveway. She pulled her phone from her pocket and punched in some numbers, staring me in the eyes while she did it.

“Hey, Dad. I wanted to let you know I’m at home with Aubrey. I’m not sure what went down with her and Luka today, but she needs somewhere safe to go. I didn’t want you to worry in case you came home tonight to find us passed out upstairs,” she explained.

I couldn’t hear her dad’s response.

“No, that’s actually perfect. We’ll be fine with the place to ourselves.” There was another moment of silence before she said anything else. “Yeah, I’ll make sure her parents know she’s okay, too. I learned my lesson when Drake and I had our fight last year. I won’t let them worry about her like you did me back then.”

I sighed deeply, relieved at the knowledge that Lexi had everything covered and I could just be.

“Love you too, Dad,” she said before ending the call.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“No,” she growled. “You don’t thank me for this. You’ve got my back and I’ve got yours. This is just us. No thanks needed. Now, let’s get you inside and you can tell me what happened.”

We made our way into the house and up to her room. I absentmindedly noticed that Lexi left all the lights off downstairs and made sure the door was locked. Her room faced the back, so if anyone drove by, it would look like nobody was home. I couldn’t help but think that she had done that in case Luka came here looking for me. I didn’t think he would, but I guess stranger things happened.

Lexi tossed me some pajamas from her dresser so I changed out of my clothes and climbed into her bed, pulling the covers over my head.

“Here. Drink this,” I heard a few minutes later. I’d tuned everything out and hadn’t even realized that Lexi had gone downstairs, but here she was now, handing me a glass of wine.

“Thanks,” I whispered before I gulped down about half the glass.

When I raised my eyes, Lexi was staring at me, sitting cross-legged on the edge of her bed, dressed in pajamas while sipping her wine. We sat in silence for a bit, long enough for me to finish mine and for Lexi to fill my glass back up.

“You ready to tell me what happened?” she asked.