“He can come with us, honey,” JJ says, placing her hand against my cheek and gaining my attention. Looking back at Evan, he nods at me then takes my hands from his shirt, kissing both before helping me up.

JJ’s house is a completely different layout from mine. Her living room opens up to the kitchen, and all of the bedrooms are down a hall in the back of the house—two on one side with a bathroom in-between, and one on the other. Leading me into the master bedroom with Evan at my back, I follow her into the closet.

“Take your pick, honey, then come back out front. I’m gonna make sure Brew doesn’t scare the cops away.”

“Thanks,” I whisper, and her hand comes up once more, holding my cheek, then she’s gone, leaving Evan and me in her closet.

Finding a pair of sweats on one of the shelves, I hold them out in front of me shakily. “Let me,” Evan mutters, taking them from my hands, dropping to his knees in front of me, and holding them open like a parent would for a child.

Placing my hand on his shoulder, he slips them up my legs under the towel, ties the waist tight, and then stands. I grab the biggest sweatshirt I can find—regardless of the fact that even being after eight, the night air is humid and hot—because I want to be covered. Taking the towel from around me, he holds the sweatshirt over my head, using the same parental technique, helping me put my arms through the sleeves.

Once I’m dressed, his fingers slide under my chin and he puts pressure there until my eyes meet his. He looks at me for a long time then leans in, running his nose across mine before dropping his mouth briefly and touching his lips to mine. “I’ll be with you.” Swallowing, I nod and drop my eyes to the ground. “Tell me he didn’t touch you,” he rumbles quietly, and my eyes fly up to meet his. His are pissed and anguished as they hold mine.

“He didn’t. He didn’t do anything. I… I don’t… I don’t… He just stared at me. I don’t… don’t even know what he was doing there,” I tell him, placing my hand against his chest. His heart is beating so hard that I can feel it against my palm, even as it trembles.

“Did you get a look at his face?”

“No, he had a mask on.” I swallow, closing my eyes. His green eyes are burned into my brain. “He had green eyes, unusual green eye—”

“June!” is roared, cutting me off, and I step out of the closet, feeling Evan at my back. My eyes slide to the door as my dad barrels into the room. The second he sees me, relief flashes across his face.

“Dad,” I whisper as his arms engulf me.

“June Bug,” he whispers, sounding pained as his arms squeeze me.

“I’m okay,” I assure him quietly.

“What the fuck happened?” he asks, pulling back to look at me.

“Let’s let her tell the cops. You can listen in while she does it so she doesn’t have to repeat it,” Evan says, and my dad’s eyes move from me to him and his lips press tight.

Shit.

“There a reason you’re here?” Dad asks Evan, and I feel my muscles tense.

“Yeah,” Evan mutters but doesn’t continue as he holds my dad’s gaze.

“Dad, I should—”

“You wanna tell me what that reason is?” Dad asks, ignoring me, and I look at Evan, willing him to leave it.

“Me and June are seeing each other,” he says, ignoring my look. My dad’s eyes come to me then back to Evan’s when he speaks. “We don’t have time to do this right now. June needs to speak with the cops and then she needs to rest. She’s shook up.”

My dad’s face flashes with something, but he turns, muttering over his shoulder, “Come on out. Your mom needs to see for herself that you’re okay, and you need to talk to the cops, so let’s get this done.”

He’s gone before I can say anything to him.

“Evan—”

“Not now, baby. Later. Right now, you need to tell the cops what happened.”

Clenching my teeth, I let out a breath then nod. Taking my hand, he leads me out of JJ’s room and down the hall.

“What the fuck, June Bug?” my dad asks, stepping out onto his back porch and sliding the door closed behind him.

I knew this was coming, but I was honestly trying to put it off. Which is why, as soon as we got into my parents house, I went out the back door hoping to have some time to come up with an explanation.

Earlier, Evan walked me to the living room, where three uniformed police officers greeted us along with my mom, who was more freaked than I was. I took a seat on JJ’s couch with Evan sitting close, his arm wrapped around my waist, and told the cops what happened. It didn’t take long, and not surprisingly, there is nothing they could do. My jewelry box was missing, along with my laptop, but my door wasn’t locked, and whoever came in did just that, walked right in and took my stuff.

My dad growled when he heard I didn’t lock the door or set the alarm, and Evan had much the same response, except his arm got super tight—so tight that I knew I would have five small bruises at my ribcage from his fingers. When the cops left, JJ and Brew, who had been kind enough to let us use their house, offered everyone a beer. To my surprise, my dad and mom both accepted their offer, while Evan left behind the cops, telling me he would be back and kissing me softly before he went.

I couldn’t tell you how long we were there before Evan, Jax, and Sage came inside, and when they did, I didn’t get the vibe that they were happy. That’s when Evan told my dad straight out to take me home with him, and that he would be by in the morning to pick me up to take me home then to work.