But I knew there was nothing actually wrong with me.

One of those hands went up to his head and he smoothed it over the curve of his skull before letting out a deep breath and saying, calmly, “Get in. Cooper made an appointment for you yesterday for eight in the morning today.”

Mr. Cooper had done that?

I didn’t even need to think about it then. If Mr. Cooper wanted me to go, then… that made this whole thing different. He was only trying to get me to go because he cared about me.

I would have traded anything to have a father who cared about me when I’d been younger. I’d take it now.

“Fine,” I agreed, trying not to sound all put out about it, because I wasn’t, especially now that I knew the entire story. Plus, the only reason I hadn’t gone yesterday was because Jason had almost screwed up, and I didn’t trust leaving him alone. He really was like a little kid I constantly had to babysit, except he wasn’t cute, curious or had the excuse of being a kid.

If he was feeling smug about it, Rip didn’t say anything. What he did do was point at the inside of the truck.

I pointed too, just to give him a hard time. “Give me a boost?”

I didn’t miss his cheek twitching. I also didn’t miss his response, because there wasn’t one. All he did was lower my bag to the ground, come right up behind me, and just straight-up lift me like he had the day before until I could reach the running boards. I got in and watched him put my things on the floor by my feet before going around to the other side and getting in too.

We had barely gotten out of the driveway when Rip asked, “You’re not pissed?”

I glanced at him, taking in the thick ink I could see along the side of his neck that almost looked like… flames? Huh. “What would I be pissed over?”

“The appointment.”

I was pretty sure those were definitely a skull and flames. Kind of artsy looking flames but flames. “No. I would never get mad over someone worrying about me.” The words were barely out of my mouth when I realized how pathetic they sounded.

Oh well.

“You’re sure you don’t need to get checked out just to be on the safe side?” I asked him, just to mess with him.

His snicker wasn’t a surprise at all. “No.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure,” he insisted, the tiniest trace of amusement in his tone.

I smiled only because I knew he wouldn’t see it. “I can call and make an appointment for you if you want,” I kept going.

“Anybody ever told you that you’re a pain in the ass?” he asked, as he kept his attention forward on the drive.

I smirked just as my phone vibrated from my lap. There was a message from my little sister Lily.

Lily: Morning. Got a breakfast shift today. Miss you so much.

I loved that girl.

Me: Miss you so much too, sugar lumps. Have a great day at work. Make some tip money.

I hesitated then typed up another message before I could talk myself out of it.

Me: I love you

Thirty seconds might have passed before I got a response.

Lily: I LOVE YOU SO MUCH <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

“Good news?”

I moved my eyes toward him.

“You got a big smile on your face,” he said as an explanation.

Oh. “Just a good morning message from my little sister.” I thought about it, then thought about his comment about his mom yesterday. Then, before I could think twice about what I was about to ask, I went for it. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

His “no” was immediate. Then he tipped his head to the side and kept talking. “My mom wanted to have more, but it never happened. Don’t know why, but it’s only me.”

Only him. I wasn’t sure why that made me sad, but it did. His mom was gone. He didn’t have any siblings, and I had no clue what was going on with his dad.

If he’d even known him.

It wasn’t like I had known my mom. Or wanted to know my dad after a certain point.

But I wasn’t going to bring up that subject. Nope. So I stuck to a safe one. “Did you want any?”

He thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. “No.” Before I could get another question out, he beat me to it. “You talk to your sister again?”

“Which one?” I asked, even though I had an idea who he was referring to.

“The one in Dallas.”

I’d been right. “Just yesterday.” I bit my cheek and didn’t understand why I kept talking. “But that’s been the first time since we went… to see her. It’s not unlike her though. She never calls me—” unless she needs something, but instead, I told him, “—during the workday unless it’s an emergency.”

His “hmm” sounded loaded enough to grab my attention.

“What?” I couldn’t help but ask.

Rip didn’t drag it out. “You get a good vibe from her?”

That had me instantly getting defensive. “What do you mean?”

He must have sensed something because he slid me a look. “I’m not talking shit about your sister, Luna,” he stated calmly. “All I’m saying is that there’s some fishy shit going on with her, and you know there is.”

So I hadn’t been the only one imagining it. “What do you mean by fishy?”

He made a face. “You’re not gonna get all pissed off, are you?”

“No,” I answered, sounding like I was lying, but I wasn’t. Because I wasn’t going to get mad. There was nothing to get mad about. He said he wasn’t talking shit about my sister. So…

“Look, I didn’t wanna say anything, but some shit with her just doesn’t add up.” He shot me a look that was like a dare for me to contradict him.

I wouldn’t, because his comment had something inside of me perking up. “What doesn’t?”

He blew out a breath that should have been a warning I might not like what he was going to say next. But in true Rip fashion, he didn’t hold back. “You didn’t notice when we went to her apartment that there was nothing wrong with her front door?”

What?

“Her front door,” he repeated, like I’d literally asked the question out loud. “She said her place got broken into, but there was nothing wrong with it. I’ve seen places that got broken into, Luna; it didn’t look like anybody had fucked with her shit. The doorframe was intact. She had an alarm system, for fucking sake.”

It took me a second to process his words. To think.

But when it came down to it… he was right.

There hadn’t been anything wrong with the front door. I had rung the doorbell. I had knocked on it. Banged on it. And she lived on the third floor. How would they have gotten in unless they went all Spiderman and climbed up the balconies, but for what though? To get in through the sliding door? All that effort to steal a thousand-dollar laptop, which I didn’t even think was that expensive in the first place? Wouldn’t they have broken into more apartments to make it worth it?

Rip grumbled out as I sat there. “I’m just sayin’. It doesn’t add up.”

Huh.

Huh.

He had a point.

And that point made my ears buzz. Because something hadn’t felt right about the entire thing, but I hadn’t been able to pinpoint what or why. I had just thought it was Thea acting weird, but it wasn’t.

Or maybe I just wanted to assume that was it.

I didn’t expect her to be my best friend, but I hadn’t taken her to lie to me either, not after everything we had been through together. But she had. For whatever reason, she had started lying to me from the moment she had moved out of her place and not told me.

…maybe even before.

That betrayal felt worse than anything else. Why would she make something like that up? Had someone broken into her place after all?

I wondered if Kyra knew something was weird with Thea. I doubted Lily did.

For once, I didn’t know what to say. All I could do was… think about it.

And feel disappointment.

It was that disappointment that robbed the words from my throat for a long time after that.