Page 69 of I Don't Need Your Protection

Julie’s face completely transforms into pure joy as she cries out happily and gathers me in her arms. “I’ve missed you so much, sweetie.” She kisses the side of my face. “The house is so quiet without you.”

“Your mom has taken up cooking foreign foods to fill the void,” Jonathon says with a chuckle as he, too, pulls me into his arms. “Most of them have been failures. My stomach cannot take it.” He groans as he pats his stomach.

Using everything I have, I force myself not to break down in front of them. Pushing a smile onto my lips, I say, “You have no idea how much I missed you, too! I was so miserablemy first few days here.”

“Aw, honey.” Julie hugs me again.

“I guess I’ll show you my room,” I say.

As soon as we leave the main building, we come face-to-face with Carly, who’s hugging a tall guy with the same red hair as her. After they break apart, she playfully whacks the back of his head. Then she notices me and beams, waving me over.

“Do you want to say hi to my friend?” I ask my parents.

After they confirm that they do, we head to Carly. She throws her arms around me and then introduces her parents, her brother, Blake, and his best friend, Ryder.

“Pay no attention to the cretin and his lackey,” she tells me. “They’re just here for the free food.”

“How do you know it’s not because I missed you?” her brother asks.

“Because you brought that one with you just to annoy me.” She nods toward Ryder.

Ryder chuckles as he shakes his head, causing his blond hair to fall away from his brown eyes. “Why do you think the whole world revolves around you?”

She puts her hands on her hips. “Why else would you be here?” She stops when she remembers my parents and her cheeks grow pink. “Uh, sorry. Hi, I’m Carly. You must be Addie’s parents.” She shakes their hands. “Addie is the best person in the world.”

Julie and Jonathon smile. “She sure is.”

“These are my parents.”

We exchange hellos and handshakes with her parents. Bothof them have red hair, too. It’s so cute that her whole family are redheads.

As the parents talk and the boys run off to check the football field, since they play football at their high school, I poke Carly. “What’s up between you and Ryder?”

She raises both brows. “Why would there be anything between us?”

“The way you were bickering. I kind of got the vibe that there might be something between you.”

She grabs hold of her throat and makes retching sounds.

I laugh. “Do you hate him that much?”

“That guy is the bane of my existence. The day he was born was the day the world turned evil.”

I laugh again. “I’m sure he’s not that bad.”

“He purposely destroyed my Lego when I was six. It was a castle and I spent two days on it. Then he just kicked it with his foot and it got destroyed within seconds.Seconds!”

“You still hold a grudge for something he did ten years ago?”

“Yes, because he is the same monster.”

I shake my head as I continue laughing. There is definitely a vibe between them.

“Your parents seem cool,” Carly says. “But did you get into an argument with them?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, but something feels off. Like you’re distant or something. I hope you didn’t get into a fight. It sucks to fight with your parents right before they leave and you won’tsee them for another few months.”