“Fine,” I relent. “We’ll pick them up dinner—I’m paying—tell them whatever you want, and then we’ll go back to my apartment.”

“Should I grab clothes from mine first?”

“There’s a good chance they could be waiting for you there.”

Perry scrunches up his face. “Well, wouldn’t you also think they’d be waiting for you at yours?”

That’s also a good point.

“Fuck. Okay. Maybe Colin’s?”

“That still feels risky.”

Thankfully, Lars takes that moment to get back. He closes the door and locks it behind him, then tosses Perry his backpack.

I watch as Perry sinks to sit on the floor and tugs the zipper open before rifling through whatever the hell he has in there.

“We were just talking about where we should go next,” I tell Lars. “Both of our apartments probably aren’t safe, and I thought maybe Colin’s, but what if they’re watching that too?”

He rubs his short beard, thinking. “We can’t stay here?”

“And what? Sleep on the floor? Besides, you’d think if someone was looking for me, this would be one of the first places they’d go.”

Not for the first time, an unsettling feeling slides down my spine. Being watched, hunted, whatever, it’s not a great way to exist. I’m refusing to give in to the fear, and do well ignoring it most of the time, but there are moments, like this one, where it sneaks in and throws me for a second. It’s sort of hard to let things roll off you when you realize you have literally nowhere to go.

The seconds stretch on without any of us speaking.

Then Perry’s voice cuts through the room.

“Hello, favoritest sister of mine.”

I glance up and am shocked to see him on the fucking phone.

His upbeat tone dims a little. “Why do you always think I’m up to something?”

That pulls a smile from me. I’m with Perry’s sister. If he called up and immediately gave me a compliment, I’d be suspicious of him too.

“I’m still coming tonight,” he assures. “But I kinda sorta need a favor. Not, like, a big favor. More of a medium-big favor.”

I have no idea what she’s saying, but Perry pulls the phone away from his ear and covers the speaker. “Sorry,” he tells us. “She does this. Needs to get the ranty out, then we’ll move on to fixing the problem.”

“Ranty?” explodes from the phone.

Perry cringes, and Lars lets out a full-blown laugh.

“Ah … I love you very much, and I’ll see you soon,” he says quickly before hanging up. “Phew. By the time I get there, she should have worked off some of her irritation.”

“Or built it up ready to unleash on you.”

That makes him pause. “Well. Guess we’re about to find out.”