Rain pelts my windows as I work on packing up my bag to take to Mom’s. I should have been there hours ago, but I ended up staying later than I had planned at the hospital last night and slept for a few hours in an on-call room so I could continue to assist this morning. It would have been prudent to pack my stuff days ago too, but I had other things on my mind at the time—mostly Gabe.
I almost wish Savage and Gabe were coming to Mom’s, so I could just tell Savage what’s been going on with me and Gabe. The more I thought about it over the last two days, the more I’m confident that despite what Gabe said, and as fucking pissed as I am, if I just tell Savage and get everything out in the open, it will spur Gabe into action.
He will come back to me and take what he wants. I have to believe that.
Waiting for the storm to pass is probably the smartest game plan. But I won’t wait any longer than that. The moment it’s safe, I’m telling him.
Gabe loves me, and not just the kind of love someone has for someone who’s been part of their life for a long time. No, he loves me loves me. He just can’t or won’t acknowledge it.
Fucking men.
The knock on the door startles me momentarily, but then my blood pressure jumps thinking it might be Gabe. Maybe he changed his mind and decided we should hunker down for the storm together. It would certainly be more fun than doing it with Mom…assuming he’s changed his mind.
Hope makes you do stupid shit, like open the door without checking the peephole first.
“Skye…”
“Oh, hi Lucas. What are you doing here?”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“I didn’t like how things ended at the bar the other day, and I wanted to check on you and make sure you were okay. This storm looks like it may be bad.”
Aww, well, that’s actually really sweet of him to come check on me. The anger he had seems to have dissipated. Maybe he can be an adult about this whole thing, and we can somehow manage to be friends.
It would certainly make work a lot less awkward.
“I really appreciate you stopping by, Lucas, but I’m fine. I’m just about to head out to my mom’s.”
He frowns slightly. “The roads are really bad already, lots of flooding. Why don’t you let me drive you over there? There’s no way you’ll get there in your car.”
Fair point.
While practical for getting around town, my Corolla isn’t exactly designed to deal with flooded out streets and high winds. The drive back here from the hospital two hours ago was already a little precarious, and it’s been pouring non-stop since then. Lucas’ Jeep is a much better option for getting across town to Mom’s house.
“Okay, thanks. Come on in while I finish getting my stuff together.” I step back, and he follows me into the apartment, shutting the door behind him.
It’s weird to be in my apartment alone with him when the last time we were here he was fucking me and I was screaming Gabe’s name. Awkward is quickly becoming the word to describe all my experiences with men lately.
I walk through my bedroom to my bathroom to grab my necessities. Lucas follows me, and I watch in the mirror as he drops down onto the bed.
My skin prickles. Gabe was in that bed. It probably still smells like him…it sure did Sunday when I came home from his place utterly devastated. Sleeping in the on-call room at the hospital last night was a respite from being immersed in Gabe’s scent. I don’t know if I could have made it through another night alone in that bed with the smell of him, of us, lingering there.
Shit. Did I ever pick up the condom wrappers from the floor?
What a crappy time to remember I’m a terrible housekeeper. If I ever move into a real house, I’ll have to spend twenty-five percent of my income on a maid just to not end up on an episode of Hoarders.
I better wrap this up quickly and get him, and me, the fuck out of here.
His eyes meet mine in the mirror, and he grins at me. That mouth used to give me orgasms. Now, it makes me cringe. Not because he wasn’t amazing in bed and to me, but because there’s only one mouth I want on me and the thought of any other is appalling at this point.
It probably isn’t fair of me to have him in here. I should have rejected his offer. I know he’s in love with me. This is basically abuse, but I can’t turn him down now.
“I’m all set.” I drop my toiletries in my duffel bag on the floor and hike it up over my shoulder.
Lucas jumps off the bed and invades my personal space.
Shit, is he going to kiss me?
I step back, but he just moves in closer and pulls the bag from me with a smile. “I got it.”
Whew.
He follows me to the door. I can actually feel his eyes on me the whole time. I shudder. I’ve never felt this uncomfortable with Lucas before. I never realized my feelings for Gabe would make me react so differently to someone I spent so much intimate time with. It feels like being with a stranger now.
We pause just inside the door to the complex. The wind whips the driving rain practically sideways. I’m surprised the trees in front of my building haven’t snapped in half yet.
There’s no way we’ll make it to his Jeep without getting drenched.
When we step outside, I can see why Lucas suggested he drive me. The road in front of my apartment building already has several inches of standing water, and there’s a car stuck in even deeper water where the road passes under the railroad tracks further down.
“Damn, I didn’t realize it was this bad already.” Things are even worse than when I came home from the hospital only a couple hours ago.
Lucas places his hand on my lower back and ushers me toward his Jeep parked several spots down from my building. “I know, and it’s only going to get worse.”
Where the hell is she?
Skye hasn’t answered any of my five calls today. I got a short text from her around noon telling me she was leaving the hospital. But since then, nothing.
The weather’s getting worse and phone reception has been spotty, at best. That’s just what I fucking need—to be completely cut off from Skye and everyone else during a fucking hurricane.
I know she’s not at her mom’s. Neither her mom, Storm, nor Savage had heard from her when I was able to get through to them earlier. Maybe she hasn’t left for her mother’s yet, but if she thinks she’s driving there herself, she’s insane. The roads are atrocious, and her car will sink in the first big puddle she hits.
We’ll just have to hang tight at my place and pray to God Savage doesn’t notice the sexual tension between us and the animosity she’s sure to be throwing my way.
I try calling her one more time as I turn down the already-flooded road to her apartment. The same error message telling me to try my call again later rings in my ears. Her car is still parked out front. At least she wasn’t dumb enough to try to drive herself.
She better be ready to go, if we wait any longer, we may get stuck here, and she doesn’t have a generator like Savage and I do. I park in front of her building and race through the rain to the front door, which is thankfully unlocked.
I climb the stairs to the second floor two at a time and make my way down the hallway to her apartment.
My pounding on her door garners no response so I try to call her again.
Nothing.
Something is not right.
Skye doesn’t go dark. Even after Star died. Even when she’s at her worst, she’s always in contact with someone.
She’s pissed at me, and she has every right to be, but with the hurricane bearing down on us, I doubt she would willfully ignore my calls and text messages. One thing Skye is not is stupid.
So, where the fuck is she?
Is she with that guy?
No, Skye wouldn’t go to him. Not after what she said about him at my place. She called him “obsessed,” and remembering that word coming from her lips sends a shiver down my spine.
Obsession can make people do really fucked up things.
Like sleep with your best friend’s little sister.
Fuck.
I don’t care, her landlord will just have to bill me.
With one swift front kick, her door breaks away from the frame, and I push my way in. I make a mental note to talk to her landlord about installing stronger door frames and better locks. That was way too easy.
Everything seems normal but it’s eerily quiet except for the sound of the storm raging outside. She’s not here. One glance in her bedroom and bathroom tells me she already packed up too.
So where did she go, and how the fuck did she get there?
“Fuck!” My bellow echoes in her apartment, and there’s a yelp from the hallway.
An elderly woman with wide eyes sticks her head around the doorjamb. When she sees me, she yelps again and disappears.
“Wait!” I run to the door and find her shuffling down the hallway away from me as fast as her short legs and walker can take her. “Ma’am, please stop.”
I get a quick, frightened look from over her shoulder.
“Ma’am, I just need a minute.” I catch up with her and move to block her path. The poor woman is probably scared shitless. A broken door and a big, unknown man screaming profanities in the middle of the apartment. “Do you know Skye Hawke, the woman who lives in that apartment?”
The old lady examines me slowly and nods.
“Okay, great. Look, I’m a friend of hers, and I can’t find or reach her. Do you know where she went? She’s not home, and her car’s still here. I’m worried about her.”
She considers me for a moment and reaches a hand into a bag attached to the side of the walker. “You broke into her apartment.” I see her small hand close around something in an aerosol container.
Mace.
Can’t say I blame her for being leery.
I step back and hold my hands up in a non-threatening manner.
“I told you, I’ve been trying to get in touch with her all day, and no one in her family has heard from her. She’s not where she’s supposed to be riding the storm out, so I came looking.” I glance back at the busted door and then return my attention to the old lady. “I’m going to pay to have that repaired. Please, just tell me if you know where she is.”
Her narrowed eyes open slightly, and she pinches her lips together before she gives me a sad smile. “She left about half an hour ago with her boyfriend.”
Her boyfriend?
My blood runs cold, and I clench my fists together to keep from punching the wall and further terrifying the poor creature.
“If he’s her boyfriend, who are you?”
Fair question.
“Just a friend. A friend who’s worried.” I try my best to appear completely sincere and not show her the rage simmering just below the surface.
With a knowing look, she gives me a half smile. “Good luck.”
I step to the side to permit her to pass, and she shuffles around me toward the apartment at the end of the hallway.
If Skye left with Lucas, it couldn’t have been unwillingly.
Neighborhood watch lady seems the type to have called the cops or at least told me if she thought Skye were in any danger. But why the fuck would she be with Lucas? And where the hell did they go?
Maybe Savage has heard from her by now. I call him as I try to put her apartment door back in place. I manage to get it back in the frame but if anyone bothers to try pushing it, gaining entry would be simple.
Shit.
I hope no one steals anything, but I don’t have the time to locate the super and, with the storm, I doubt he would fix it immediately anyway. My call to Savage fails.
Fuck.
The drive to my building takes twice as long as normal with the awful roads. My stomach twists with each passing block. By the time I push open the door to Savage and Dani’s, I’m almost doubled-over with the pain. Princess charges me, yapping and jumping against my leg to get me to pick her up.
“Down, girl.”
Dani emerges from the hallway, her hand placed protectively on her protruding belly. “Gabe? What’s wrong?”
“Have you or Savage heard from Skye recently?”
Savage appears next to her. “No, I haven’t spoken with her since the last time you called to ask.”
“Fucking shit!” I kick the end table next to the couch and the metal reverberates. Dani flinches and moves closer to Savage. He turns his head and kisses her belly, and then moves toward me, concern etched in his features.
“Gabe, what the hell is going on?”
This isn’t going to end well.
“Skye is missing. I haven’t heard from her since noon when she said she was leaving the hospital. She was supposed to go home and grab her bag then head to your mom’s. Since then, she hasn’t answered my calls or texts. She’s not at your mom’s, and she wasn’t at her apartment. Apparently, according to one of her neighbors, she left with that douchebag, Lucas.”
Dani comes over to us and rests her hand on Savage’s shoulder. “Are you sure you’re not overreacting? So what if she left with Lucas. Isn’t she dating the guy? Maybe he decided to go to Mom’s with her.”
I growl and stomp my foot. “You aren’t listening to me. Something is wrong. She would have responded to my texts or answered my calls if she could have.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “Why are you so worried about where Skye is, or who she’s with?”
Savage is never going to believe she’s in trouble unless I tell him the truth.
Christ, here it goes.
“Because we’ve been sleeping together.”