We both collapse onto thebed.
“Cindy, fuck,” he breathes, running his fingers up and down my back. “That was fuckingamazing.”
“I know,” I whisper as I smile up at him. “I’m really glad I left that stupidparty.”
“Me too, babe. You’re spending the night withme.”
He flips me over and kisses me and my eyes widen when he slides inside me. I bite my lip as he grabs my hands and puts them over my head, crushing his lips to mine in a possessive, dirtykiss.
9
Eli
When I wake up,she isn’t next to me. The bed is cold. I push the sheetsaway.
“Hey, Cindy?” I call out. I check thebathroom.
She wouldn’t have left without saying goodbye. That’s…not her. I go back to the bedroom and grab my phone. There’s a text fromher.
I had to go to class. I’m sorry I didn’t say goodbye. Please text me to let me know when your flight is. I’d love to see youoff.
I blow out a breath and scrub a hand through my hair as I call her. I’m not texting her to tell her when I’m leaving. I want to see her again. Now. I’m not going towait.
There’s no answer and it goes to voicemail. I don’t leave a voicemail. I run out to my car as I dial her again. I hear a phone ringing as I look around. It’s muffled but I don’t see anyone else out here. It’s before eight. These kids have early classes,apparently.
Then I see it. Fuck. She dropped her purse. I grab it and pull her phone out. Two missed calls. Both from me. I try to unlock the phone. Passcode…passcode…
1-2-3-4.
Nothing. She wouldn’t make her passcode something like that. I punch in her dad’s birthday. Still nothing. Mom’s birthday?Nope.
I punch in my own birthday and hold my breath, silently vowing that if her passcode is my birthday I am forcing her onto the plane with me whether she likes it ornot.
I laugh at my own arrogance. Nope. Not my birthday. I don’t know where the hell she is. I remember from when visited her a couple of years ago that there are two campuses and I don’t know which one she’s on, where her apartment is, nothing. I dig into her purse, looking for another clue and pull out theflier.
It’s astart.
* * *
My tires screech as I pull into the parkinglot.
Okay, this looks familiar from when I visited with Larry when she was a freshman. I grab the crumpled flier from my back pocket and smooth it out. A row of apartments. She said the party was on a narrow block at the end of a row of apartments. I spot a sign at the juncture of two paths and check the flier. Yes. This is where I need to be. I’m gettingcloser.
I must look crazy. I’m darting up the road and checking house numbers, squinting and getting out of breath as my heart pounds in my chest. Some of the house numbers are rubbed off. The first thing I’m going to do when I get the chance is I’m going to buy a bunch of new house numbers from Larry’s store and put them up on these houses, because this isn’t cuttingit.
Twenty-two…twenty-four…I shield the sun from my eyes as I spot two girls up ahead walking toward me on the wide path winding between the apartments with tall palm trees swayingoverhead.
“Ohhh,” the short brunette with the curly hair says to her friend, twisting a stand of hair around her finger, “is that your father coming to pick us up to take us out tolunch?”
I roll my eyes as I keep checking apartmentnumbers.
“No,” the tall blond girl says as she bites her lip and gives me a sultry look. “That’s not my father. That’s mydaddy.”
“Please, girls, just get to class,” I say as I jog pastthem.
“Whatever you say,professor.”
I leave their giggles behind. It’s not cute and I don’t likeit.