“Can you look out for Yin? He ran out of the house when my uncle started threatening us and told him to leave or he was going to call the police. He left his phone here. So he may just be walking home, and it’s freezing outside. It was snowing before.” He sniffled again. “He was so freaked out when he left, I’m scared he’ll get hurt.”

Fuck.

“Okay. We’ll keep an eye out for him. See you soon.”

Only after ending the call with Ari did I realize that I’d said we. I quickly tried to think of a time that I’d used a plural pronoun to refer to someone other than the guys or my mom. I could not come up with a single one.

“What happened?” Easton asked, his voice alert and worried.

When I turned, I saw him standing there ready to go, coat, hat and scarf already on. His keys and my gear in his hand.

My instinct very much called for me to handle this myself, but I pushed it down and let myself be glad that Easton was here right now. I took my coat from him and explained as I quickly shrugged it on.

“His uncle caught him and Yin, and apparently kicked him out of the house,” I said, my voice tight with frustration.

“Shit. Is there anyone you want me to call? How can I help?”

There it was, no hesitation. Something was happening and he was here to help.

“Thanks,” I said, gripping his hand for a second as we walked to the elevator. “Actually, could we go in separate cars?”

He tensed at my words and I could tell he thought I didn’t want him with me. “It’s just, Ari’s worried about Yin. He ran off so fast when the uncle came that he left his phone. There’s no bus route or anything around there and Yin doesn’t drive.”

I could see the tension around his eyes ease as I told him the reason. A look of determination replacing the doubt that had been there a second ago.

“Of course. I’ll follow you, but I’ll go a bit slower so I can look out for him,” he answered as the elevator’s doors opened. “If anything comes up, just call me.”

As we got to the garage and we were about to head to our cars, I had to stop and grab his hand. “Thank you.”