Page 114 of Knot Convenient

I rolled my eyes, fighting a grin. “Soon. Our mothers are probably teaching her how to swindle a poker table.”

My phone started buzzing.

I looked over at my cell on the coffee table and picked it up, checking to see who was calling. What the…

Callie.

The agent who had helped Summer through the matching process was calling. That was odd. Personally, though, I was very thankful to have Summer in our lives, so I would take her call, no matter what.

“Hello,” I greeted.

“Marshall! Is everything okay?” Callie spoke a mile a minute, and there was no mistaking the panic in her voice.

“Yes,” I said, suspicion rising, “why do you ask?”

“Well, if everything is fine, why did Summer call me yesterday to ask if there were any legal ways out of the bond?” She was clearly upset, and it took me a moment to actually put meaning to her words.

When they finally sank in, my stomach dropped so violently, it was a miracle I was still standing.

Summer wanted out of the bond?

How? Why?

Just two nights ago, we had been snuggled up on the couch, and now…

“N-no. She can’t?”

“It’s not impossible, which is why I felt like I had to call. What on earth have you boys done to make her feel like she needed to leave?”

“I-I don’t know.” The world was moving too fast, spinning and taking my stomach with it. “But I’m going to find out.”

I hung up without another word, standing because I didn’t know what else to do. My head already ached, and the panic drilled down on me like I was in the mother of all dentist chairs. This was wrong. Summer couldn’t…I was going to fix this.

No matter what.

“What did Callie mean, Summer wants to leave? Like…on vacation or for a break or something?” Tobias asked, having overheard the call. His nerves were as noticeable as mine.

“I’m sorry, what?” Noah stood up with me, his eyes wide as hell.

“That was Callie, she said—Fuck.” I shoved a hand through my hair, barely able to say the words. “She said that Summer reached out about getting out of the bond.”

“Did we do something?” Emmett asked, face so damn distraught.

“Well, we fucking must’ve. Why else would she say that?” I was pacing and then at the door, grabbing my keys. “We need to do something.”

“So, what? We’re just going to run over there?” Emmett said, his expression a mess of confusion and anxiety.

“Do you have a better idea?” I raised my brows at him, Noah and Tobias meeting me by the door in seconds, already on board. “We need to talk to her, to figure out what’s going on.”

Emmett sucked in a breath and then nodded. “You’re right. Let’s go.”

The typically five-minute drive took us two, and then all four of us were running into the B&B at top speed.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” Summer stammered, eyes wide as we barged into the small dining room.

“We want to know why the hell you’re trying to leave!” I growled, the words out too fast for me to soften them.

She sagged in her seat. “I-I don’t know⁠—”