Page 73 of Double Dared
I blinked, then closed my mouth and pursed my lips. It was true that she needed me. And it was true that, after knowing her for so long, I was desperate to offer her what comfort I could. But.
“I thought about this a lot,” he said casually. “And I think it will work for the best. If you show up now, she’ll know you’d never leave her side.” Taylor’s voice was determined, almost feverish with certainty. “She’ll know you’d never do something like that to her. Right? And you’ll smooth out the whole thing in no time.”
Except, I didn’t want to smooth it out. I just wanted to make sure she was okay. And then…
And then.
What then?
“You should say something,” Taylor said. “And smile. You should smile.”
“But what about…this?” I asked. He understood whatthiswas, even though my arms had turned to stone, and I couldn’t even gesture at the space between us.
Taylor tucked his hands into his pockets and tookanother step away from me. “This was all for her, Harrison.”
Was it, though? Was it all for her? Because I’d hardly thought of her in weeks. But Taylor was moving away from me, smiling, relieved, and relaxed. He reached the kitchen door, walking backward.
“Get the girl,” he said. “Like we planned.”
“Taylor,” I said.
He shrugged, though I didn’t know what he was responding to. It was a quick, not-so-casual shrug. Involuntary. In a quiet voice, he added, “I think she needs a friend, Harrison. Badly.”
Worry spiked through me, overriding all my other instincts. And Taylor, pulling away, creating this empty space, practically ending things. Ending what? We’d never started it. Not officially. Not really. It had just been a mirage, apparently.
He turned away before I could move. And as he walked away, my feet finally broke free of the ice that glued them to the tiles. I walked after him, but as I reached the kitchen door, the front door shut behind him, and I saw his keys resting on the dresser.
What had just happened? Too many things were swirling around me, wrapping tighter around my heart, threatening to slice it into shreds. I had to go after Taylor, had to see what the hell he was talking about. Was this really it? Was all this really just a way to pass the time? Was it all really just for Emma?
And Emma.
I took my phone from my pocket and called her.But the call went straight to voicemail. I tried again, then left her a short message to call me. Except, after hanging up, I paced around the apartment.
Where to go? What to do? What the hell was going on?
I called Taylor then. We needed to sort this out. I needed him to tell me plainly what it was that he wanted. Except, he didn’t pick up either.
I hurried out of the apartment, down the stairs, and walked on foot to campus, following the path we usually took between my place and his. He had a five-minute head start, but I walked faster. Despite walking so fast, I didn’t catch up with him, so I went to the Bel House and found Jason, Bennet, and Peanut on the front lawn. “Has he come back?” I asked.
Jason frowned. “Taylor?”
“Yeah, is he back? He left my place fifteen minutes ago, and he’s not picking up his phone,” I said, frustration and fear mixing together, coiling into a heated wire that cut and cauterized everything it touched.
Jason exchanged a look with Bennet, then shook his head. “No, he left here an hour ago. Not even.”
“Fuck,” I spat, then thanked them as I rushed back to my apartment. I called Taylor, then called Emma, then wanted to scream with frustration. Neither picked up my phone calls. He was ignoring them, and Emma’s phone was totally off.
Just out of fear, out of blinding, devastating anxiety, I got into my car and drove to Emma’s place. It was the only place I could even hope to find her.I didn’t know where to look for Taylor now, not until he was back at the Bel House. And if Emma wasn’t home, I would freak out.
I pulled up in front of her building and rang her doorbell furiously until the speakerphone crackled. “Yeah? Who is it?” Emma’s voice rasped through the old speaker.
“It’s me,” I said. “Need to see you.”
Silence. It lasted a moment or two, but it felt like minutes. The door buzzed, and I barged in, rushing up the stairs instead of waiting for the old elevator and risking getting stuck in it.
I raised my fist to knock on Emma’s door when it opened. She stood in the doorway, curly hair wild around her head and shoulders, eyes a little tired, but her lips, despite traces of tightness around them, stretched into a smile. “So, you’ve heard the news.”
“Can I come in?” I asked.
