Adrian’s buddies in the car laugh along with him.

Lucky swears profusely and starts to lunge for the car, but I grab his arm.

“Keep talking like that,” I tell Adrian, hoping I sound braver than I feel, “and I’ll make sure to remind Evie what kind of an asshole you are, and how she made the absolute right decision to stay away from you.”

Adrian glares at me for a moment and then lazily points his water bottle at Lucky. “Haven’t forgotten about you. Gonna get you back for that window, grease monkey. Eye for an eye …”

Signaling his buddies in the front seat, Adrian gives up on us, and the car peels away from the curb—causing a lone SUV on the otherwise empty road to slam on its brakes and honk when they cut in front of it without looking. Then they speed down the block and disappear into the night.

“Goldens … entitled pricks,” Lucky grumbles. “You okay?”

I nod, feeling mildly creeped out. It was probably just boozy talk, nothing more. He won’t remember it tomorrow. Still. It weirds me out that we’re here alone. Maybe it shows on my face, because Lucky asks, “Hey. Do you want me to stick around, or … ?”

I shake my head. “We’ve got a security alarm. I’ll lock the door and set it. And I’ll text Mom. She’ll come home.”

“You sure?” he asks, wavering.

“Yeah,” I say, hoping I sound more confident than I feel. “She could be on her way back any minute, so I should probably head up.”

I need to check on Evie. Make sure Adrian isn’t harassing her via texts.

“I’m only a few minutes away, if you get freaked out or need backup, or whatever. Not that you can’t handle it yourself. But … you know.”

“Thanks,” I say, meaning it and hoping he knows it.

“And maybe you could let me know when your mom gets home? I’ll be up for a while.”

“Yeah, no problem. I will,” I say, then gesture upstairs. “I’m gonna …”

“Yep.”

“Good night.”

“G’night,” he says, still sounding concerned.

Everything I wanted to tell him from earlier gets lost under all this new worry. For a moment, I even worry that some of this is my fault—that maybe Adrian wouldn’t have even stopped and threatened us right now if it weren’t for me breaking the Summers & Co Department Store window. But I guess that’s not true; he would’ve come to see Evie regardless.

After Lucky revs his Superhawk’s engine a few times—his eyes on the street, as if he really wasn’t quite sure Adrian was gone—he finally straps on his helmet and drives away from the curb.