“Actually, I was probably late. I lost track of time looking for Camille.”
“Your brother’s name is Camille?”
She huffed out an annoyed breath. “My brother’s name is Ethan. Camille is my friend. The one who ditched me.” Before I could say anything else, she turned to the lady at the ticket counter. “Have you seen a kid, male, blond hair, twelve years old, about this tall.” She held her hand up to her shoulders and once again, my eyes landed on her breasts.
It was like I’d never seen tits before. I’d been drowning in two sets of them last night. What I should be thinking about was studying and getting some damn sleep tonight. But that went out the window the moment I slammed into the girl I hoped would keep me up all night long.
The woman blew her off. Said she’d seen dozens of kids matching that description and to call the cops if she was all that worried.
I watched as she looked up at the sky as if searching for answers.
“You can use my phone to call him,” I offered.
“My brother doesn’t have a phone,” she said, successfully confusing me. “I was planning to use the group app for his baseball team to message the mom of the kid he’s with,” she clarified. “But my phone is completely dead. It won’t even turn back on.”
Well, there was only one solution for that. “If you have an iPhone, I have a charger back at my place. It’s not far from here.”
It didn’t sound as creepy in my head, but she side-eyed me warily.
“Yeah, I bet you do.” Before I formerly introduced myself to put her at ease, she tilted her head and recognition sparked in her suspicious eyes. “Wait, do I know you? Do you take art history at Southeastern?”
Finally. My ego was beginning to feel seriously bruised.
I nodded. “Yeah. Aiden Singleton.” I reached out to shake her hand. She took mine tentatively with the softest skin I’d ever felt. “You’re in my class, I think.”
Okay, so I didn’t think. I knew. She sat in the third row, middle seat, right in front of me. No need to show all my cards so soon. I’d already weirded her out once.
“I’m Emersyn. Um, Tyler.” She bit her lip once more, and I almost forget why the hell I came here.
“It’s nice to formally meet you, Emersyn, um, Tyler. I just ran up here to get some food.” I pointed to where the food trucks were parked beside the carnival entrance. “I could help you look for your brother, and if we don’t find him, you can come by my place and charge your phone. I’ll give you mine while you wait so you can call for help if I’m a psycho stalker.”
Her eyebrows rose in unison. “The fact that you’re mentioning it is disconcerting. Isn’t that what stalkers do? Try and make you feel at ease?”
Shrugging, I put my hands in my pockets. “Not sure. I’m new at this.”
She smiled. “Guess I’ll have to risk it. For my brother’s sake.”
“Let’s check the food trucks,” I suggested, figuring that was the most likely spot to find a growing twelve-year-old boy. “I need to head over there anyway, and boys like to eat.” Just as we neared the Patty Wagon, arguably the best food truck here, Emersyn turned and pointed at a kid in line.
“Ethan Blane Tyler, I am going to kill you.”
Who’s the crazy one now? I glanced up and saw a kid’s face turning bright red. Next to a girl about his age.
I leaned close enough to get a whiff of her sexy floral scent once more. “Don’t embarrass him, Sis. He’s with a chick. And there’s gel in his hair. You know there’s a sibling code,” I said under my breath.
“It’s mousse.” Emersyn glared at me. She sucked in a breath then stepped over to him and his friend.
I followed because I was too invested now not to.
“Sorry, Em,” the kid said, his eyes casting downward. “I told Caleb we had to meet you, so he went to find his mom. Me and Hailee wanted to get some cheese fries while we waited for them.”
Hailee was blushing, too, looking nervous in her yellow sundress and matching ribbon in her long auburn hair.
“Their cheese fries are pretty awesome,” I agreed.
Emersyn sighed. “I was worried sick. My phone died.”
“Are you mad? Does this mean I can’t sleep over at Caleb’s?”