Birdie is sound asleep in her favorite chair.
Maz is on the couch.
It’s good to see Birdie actually sleeping.
I have no idea what happens next for her.
At least our version of justice was properly served.
Our version.
I shiver.
This place is far too much like home to me now.
Outside, I stand in the cold air and I hug myself and shiver.
I’m in a thick hoodie with the hood up.
I should have brought a blanket.
A short while later I hear the sound of a golf cart.
Here comes Cullen.
He jumps out of the golf cart as it stops and races toward me.
The first thing he does is peel back the hood of my hoodie.
“It’s really me,” I say.
“I was just making sure you’re okay. That text was fake. Something happened.”
“You can read between the lines, huh?”
“It’s what I do. What did Archer do to you?”
Cullen looks enraged.
I reach up and pull his hands away from my face.
“Cullen, he did what I asked.”
Cullen steps back. “It’s done then. For real.”
“For real.”
“How…”
“Cullen.”
He looks up and exhales a deep breath. “Holy fuck, love. You shouldn’t have seen a thing.”
“I didn’t want to.”
“He forced you?” Cullen asks.
“No. Birdie insisted.”