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Shine picked Thario up on the way to Sharp's place. They were having pizza and movie night while Danika and Nichole were spending the night at Jay's place. He was glad all the guys wanted to get together. Frog had his head hung over the seat, his nose up against Thario's neck.

“Your dog is a riot.”

“Yeah, he’s fairly attuned to me now.”

“You still upset over what that woman said?”

Thario blew out a breath. “I know I shouldn’t be, but it hit hard.”

“Well, it’s her loss. You’re a good person.”

Thario shrugged. It was going to take a lot to get Thario out of his head. Shine was up for it, though. He would make sure his buddy didn't fall through the cracks. Too many guys were lost to the demon within. He didn't want that for Thario.

Apple was the last to arrive. He seemed down about something but didn't seem to want to talk about it. If Apple wasn't back to his usual self on Monday, Shine would talk to him .

“What movie are we watching?” Apple asked as he grabbed two slices of pizza.

"That horror flick, the latest by Jordan Peele, is out. I thought we could watch that," Sharp said.

Griz popped down on the couch. “Nice.”

Shine grabbed some pizza and a beer and sat on the beanbag. With the couch, and a few beanbags, there was almost enough room for everyone. Frog stretched out next to Thario who was at the end of the couch. They needed more space, but housing in this area was expensive. Few guys had space to host a big get together. At least they were all friends so being piled in so close wasn’t bad.

Midway through the movie, Sharp stopped it so they could all get up and get more pizza and beer. Thario seemed to be in a better mood. It was good to see Frog watching him from across the room instead of being right underneath Thario's feet as they refueled. When Thario sat down, Frog put his head on Thario's thigh and sighed. Shine felt that sigh. If Rowan came home, he would sit on the floor at her feet and do the same thing.

By the end of the movie, everyone was much more relaxed. It could have been the beer or just hanging out together. Sharp had another movie queued up for them, but they were waiting to start it until after they all got more food and drink.

Thario was having a deep conversation with Squat, which was good to see. The guys weren't pandering to Thario, either. They were genuinely interested in their buddy.

“Hey,” Sharp came up behind him. “What’s up?”

Shine shrugged. “Just worried about Thario. He had a bad experience with a woman at a bar.”

Sharp grunted. “I get why you are worried. I’ll check in on him later in the week. He’s a big boy and knows he was a total shit before the accident.”

Shine gave a chin lift. “Yeah, he said that. I just don’t want him to get too depressed.”

“We’ll make sure he’s okay.”

“Thanks.”

They finished with the second movie and Shine had stopped drinking so he felt good enough to drive home. Apple had started downing tequila shots, so he was crashing on Sharp’s couch. Jay was staying because Danika was sleeping at his house, but the rest of the guys were heading home.

Shine wondered what it would be like to really have Rowan in his life. When she got home from this retreat, they would need to have a serious conversation about moving forward with their relationship. He hoped she still wanted a relationship.

It would suck if she wanted to end it. He hoped she came home ready to commit to moving forward with whatever they were doing. Losing her would be awful.

After dropping off Thario and Frog, Shine decided to swing by Rowan's old place and see if anything looked suspicious. He pulled up out front of her place and glanced around, not seeing anyone acting weird. After a moment, he got out of his car and headed up to her door. The doorbell camera he'd installed the night before was working and caught him on the walkway. He moved around to the left side of the house, then the back, and finally to the other side. That was when he noticed a window screen had been removed.

His phone rang, and he saw it was Thario calling. “Yo, everything okay over there?”

“I thought it was at first. But I just found a screen that was removed. I don’t know if they got in. Let me try the window.”

“Okay.”

Shine pushed up on the window, trying to raise it, but the lock was still engaged, so he couldn't push it up.

“I don’t think they were able to get in.”

“I haven’t gotten any alerts,” Thario said.

“Maybe one camera isn’t enough.”

“Before we add more, you might want to check where she wants to live.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I don’t know that she would ever feel comfortable there.”

“Hey,” someone yelled from the front yard. “What are you doing?”

Shine turned to see someone standing in the front yard. They didn’t look like the police. “Hold on, Thario.” Shine moved toward the front of the house. “I’m checking my friend's place. She was having some trouble.”

“Oh, she hasn’t been around. Do you know where she is? I saw someone the other day at that window.”

“I just noticed it. Did they get in?”

The guy was young, probably twenty at the oldest. “Nope. I came out with my dad and ran them off. Is she okay?”

Shine held up one finger. "Hold on." He said goodbye to Thario, promising to text him in a minute before he turned his attention back to the kid. "Yes. She's in a good place now. I was just checking on the house to make sure no one got in."

“Well, that guy was trying, but he couldn’t pop the lock. I chased him off. My window is right here.”

Shine realized the seriousness of this situation. This guy was young, like a kid young. He wasn’t military based on his long hair and scraggly beard. Only special forces got to ignore that rule some of the times, and this guy wasn’t old enough to be special forces.

"Listen, this guy is dangerous. He isn't someone to be messed with. If you hear something out here again, do me a favor and call the police. He's wanted for kidnapping and some other stuff. He's bad news, and he probably wouldn't hesitate to shoot you."

The guy’s eyes grew wider. “Wow.”

“He’s a bad person and needs to be locked up.”

“Okay, I’ll call if he comes back.”

“Thank you. And stay safe. This guy is really bad.”

Shine could tell that the kid was sizing him up. He had the muscles, and the look of a badass which gave him some credibility. It was easy to see in the guy’s eyes that he respected Shine because how he looked. He would use that for his benefit.

“Listen. If that guy comes around again, could you call me on my number?”

“Sure. Let me enter your number into my contacts.”

Shine gave the kid a number that would ring Thario's computer, which would be answered by a voicemail box. He'd learned early on not to give out his number to random people. It was just easier that way.

After the kid was inside, Shine texted Thario the gist of the conversation. The drive home was lonely. He missed Rowan and wanted her home, but she needed this time away to get her head on straight.

Once home, he pulled out one of her shirts and sniffed. It still smelled like her, and he closed his eyes, praying she would come back to him. Hopefully, this wouldn't spook her so much that she took off to live in another part of the country.