“I thought I was the best way to start the day?” I whisper, winking at her, which brings a little blush to her face. Just a hint of pink but enough for me to notice and make me smile.

“What am I missing out on?” Cherie asks.

“Oh, sister, you need to get on to this shit. It’s the best comedy relief you will ever get.” Elouise shows Cherie her phone to point it out to her.

“Yeah, you too can listen to stories about some man who thought avocado was the best lube he could get,” I throw out there, and poor Nic, who had just taken a mouthful of coffee, starts to choke.

“What the actual fuck are you girls listening to? Baby, are you on this too?” Flynn turns to Felisha who has a smirk on her face.

“When I get time, it’s hilarious,” she replies to him, while Tori is still thumping Nic on the back to settle his coughing from choking on his coffee.

“Sorry, buddy,” I call across the table to Nic, when I see Rem pick up his phone off the table, and his eyes fix on me in a way that I know means there’s trouble. The slight chin lift tells me to follow him inside as he excuses himself from the table to take the call.

“I’m just going to bathroom,” I quietly say to Harper. She nods that she heard me and continues the conversation with the girls, and I can hear Flynn asking plenty of questions. He will regret it when they start giving him the answers.

“Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with this guy. It’s like he just won’t let it go,” I hear Rem saying, and I know without asking that it’s about Harper.

It was stupid of us to think he would leave her alone with how hard he has been searching for her.

There is silence while Rem is listening, and I want him to put the call on speaker, but I know we can’t risk Harper or any of the girls hearing the call. It’s Harper’s birthday and I want it to be perfect for her.

“Like we told you when you were here, we will pay whatever it takes to have eyes on this guy 24/7. There is no way we are letting anything happen to her, or her family.” Rem stops talking, but his body language is stiff, and I don’t like that at all. “Yeah, she’s still living with Forrest. And that won’t be changing anytime soon, if ever.”

Too fucking right. If I have my way, she won’t spend another night away from me. I don’t care where we live, her newly renovated apartment or mine. I just want her in my bed at night and letting me feed her breakfast every morning.