CHAPTER SEVEN
Emily
Bryce’s walls were firmly in place after he talked to Chase. I wished I knew what he was thinking. We had been talking comfortably and we had gotten close. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought he was going to kiss me.
But that couldn’t be right. I was just his childhood friend. Even if he had a crush on me at the time, that didn’t mean that was the case now.
But as I got on the motorcycle behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, I couldn’t help but think about what it would mean to be his Little. To dress up in overalls and puffy dresses while he took care of me and kept me safe and happy. How would it feel for him to punish me when I disobeyed him or praise me when I was a good girl? Just the thought of him calling me a good girl made my pussy wet.
The truth was the book about DDLG we found all those years ago awakened something inside me as well. Even though I had never dared to seek out a Daddy, there were plenty of lonely nights when I imagined falling asleep safe and sound in my Daddy’s arms. When I first ran away, it had been really scary. I managed to get a bus ticket out of town and then I lived in youth shelters while scraping some money together while doing odd jobs. Eventually, I managed to scrape enough money together to get a bike and I started doing deliveries as a bike messenger.
It wasn’t until three years after I ran away that I was able to move into a tiny apartment with several roommates, which was the first shred of real security I had felt since leaving. But in those first three years, more than anything I wanted a Daddy to come and take care of me and spoil me. And if I was being honest, I had always pictured Bryce as that Daddy.
I was shaken out of my thoughts as we arrived at the apartment building on Main Street where Evan lived. I had only met him a couple of times even though Julie had dated him for over a year. She had been forbidden to date, so she met up with Evan in secret, calling him a study partner to my parents. They were both on the debate team and the student council, so my parents allowed it.
I felt nervous as we ascended the steps. What would I even find when I talked to him? Would he even remember me or Julie? It had been over a decade.
I took a deep breath as we reached his apartment and I knocked on his door. A man answered immediately. He was a lot older of course, but I knew he was Evan. He looked between me and Bryce. “Hello, can I help you?”
“Hi,” I said. “I’m not sure if you remember me, but I’m Emily. You went to school with my sister.”
He looked at me, surprised. “You’re Julie’s sister,” he said. “I remember you. Come in, both of you.”
He stepped aside and let us in. Bryce leaned against the wall near the entrance while Evan gestured for me to sit at the kitchen table, which was right next to the door. He was staring at me for a second before Bryce cleared his throat. Evan shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. “I’m sorry, where are my manners? Do you want some water or tea or anything?”
“I just want you to tell me about my sister if you don’t mind,” I said.
“You don’t know?” He looked genuinely surprised. “I mean, I wasn’t allowed to talk about it to you or anyone else. Julie made me promise. But she said you left a note.”
I bit my lip. “My parents hid it from me,” I said. “I only found it recently.”
Evan nodded grimly as he sat down. “Of course,” he said. “We should have thought of that.” His voice was tinged with regret.
“What happened?” I asked. “Where is she? The note said she was with you.”
“She was,” he said. He rubbed the back of his neck, grimacing. “I don’t know how much you know because she tried to hide a lot of the negative emotions from you. But Julie wasn’t doing well emotionally. The high expectations from your parents had messed her up in a bad way. She was having panic attacks almost daily. Every night she would text me because she woke up from a nightmare. She was terrified of failing a test or doing poorly in her extracurriculars. Eventually, it came to a point where she couldn’t take it anymore.” His jaw clenched. “She got a bottle of sleeping pills and tried to end it. I found her and made her spit them out. I told her I would get her away from her parents.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “The police don’t question it when pretty women go missing in Newbury because we all know where they end up. One morning, she got ready for school as usual, but she left a note under your pillow. I picked her up to take her to school but instead of taking her to the school, we drove out of town.”
“Where did you take her?” Bryce asked from the corner.
He glanced at Bryce before looking back at me. “I had an aunt who lived out of state. She was willing to take Julie in until Julie turned 18. So, I dropped her off with my aunt. We kept in touch a little, but I haven’t seen her since then.”
“Her parents must have talked to you,” said Bryce. “They found the letter after all.”
“Oh, they tried,” Evan said grimly. “But my parents told them off. My mother was a journalist and she said she would ruin their reputation if they tried to harass me again. It was an empty threat, but it scared them off.” He looked at me. “I expected you to find me a lot sooner than this, honestly. Even though Julie promised me not to approach you about it to make sure your parents didn’t know, I thought you would find me. I would have gotten you out too.”
I shook my head. I felt a little empty inside about all of this. Even though I knew what had happened, it all felt a little anticlimactic. “I ended up running away anyway. Thank you for getting her out.”
“I’m glad you got out of there,” he said. “I have my aunt’s contact information if you want. She probably knows where Julie is now.”
“Yes, please. Thank you.”
I watched numbly as Evan got up to scribble something on a piece of paper and then he handed it to me. After that, Bryce and I thanked him and left.
“She really is okay,” I said. “All this time I thought she was dead.”
“I’m sorry,” Bryce said. “I wish you were able to go with her.”
I shook my head. “It’s okay. I don’t want to dwell on that. We both got out of a bad situation which is what matters.” I grabbed his hand and leaned against his arm. I suddenly felt tired. “Let’s go home.”