As soon as Reid’s cabin came into view, his phone vibrated against his leg. He halted his step and yanked the cell from his pocket. Unknown number.
“Hold up, Jace.” Reid put the phone to his ear. “Hello.”
Silence for a few seconds then: “Reid?”
His shoulders sank with relief. “Brynn, look, we need to talk. I’m sorry about everything. I know I should’ve told you. I was wrong. Just please, give me a chance to—”
“Reid, stop,” she said, her voice shaking a bit. “I don’t want to talk about it right now, okay?”
He frowned. Was that… road noise in the background? “Where the hell are you?”
A long pause. “I’m on my way home. I—I, uh, called a cab. I couldn’t find Kelsey. I don’t think she’s at the resort after all, so I’m going home.”
“You called a cab?” He started pacing, and Jace stepped out of his path. “What the hell, Brynn? You know I would’ve driven you home.”
“Don’t you get it? I don’t want to be around you right now. And I don’t exactly have ruby slippers to click my way home. So yeah, a cab.”
“Brynn—”
“Good-bye, Reid.”
The line went silent.
“Son of a bitch!” he yelled to no one in general.
Jace winced. “She bailed?”
Reid kicked a nearby shrub, sending leaves flying. “She’s on her way home. Called a goddamned cab.”
“I’m sorry, man. That sucks,” Jace said, wisely keeping his distance. “Maybe she just needs a little space to cool off.”
“Screw space. The minute Brynn gets back into her little world, she’s going to talk herself out of everything that happened this weekend. She’ll put me back in that little I-hate-you box she keeps me in.”
“You’ll never catch up with her.”
Reid cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Uh-oh, why are you giving me that look?”
Reid flashed his teeth. “No, not in my car.”
Jace’s crossed his arms over his chest. “No way, you’re out of your fucking mind. Only my hands touch the steering wheel of my baby. I’ve seen the dings on your car.”
“You either give me the keys or come with me,” Reid said, staring his friend down.
Jace sighed and pulled his keys out of his pocket. “Come on, but I’m driving and if my car ends up with so much as a scratch, I’m posting the cell phone pictures I took of you tonight on the Internet.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You didn’t take pictures.”
His lip curled. “Never underestimate my penchant for blackmail.”
The purr of the engine filled the car as Jace’s Dodge Viper devoured the open highway in front of them. Reid punched Brynn’s number into his phone again, hoping his persistence or at least her annoyance would make her pick up the phone. But all he got was the same voice mail greeting he’d heard the last three times. He hung up without leaving a message and barely resisted the urge to bang the phone into pieces against the dashboard. “We should’ve caught up to her by now.”
Jace had been driving like a Nascar champion since they’d left The Ranch, but so far, they’d only passed a handful of cars on the pitch-black road—and no cab. His friend frowned, but didn’t take his eyes off the highway. “Maybe they stopped at a gas station or something and we passed them.”
“The two stations we’ve passed so far looked empty. Maybe you just need to go faster.”
Jace shot him a you-gotta-be-fucking-kidding-me look. “Any faster and we’re going to break the sound barrier. I’m trying to get you to Brynn with all our limbs still intact.”