Page 77 of Never Let Me Go

“What room number did you say she was in?” I ask, my heart pounding in my chest. She loves me? I mean, I knew there was something there but hearing the words out loud makes everything fall into focus and I have no clue why the fuck I’m still down in this bar. Mercedes laughs.

“Three-oh-nine.”

Nodding, I jump off the stool before turning back to her. “One more question… she mentioned her net worth earlier… how much money are we talking?”

“Does it matter?” she asks, arching a brow. I nod.

“Is it enough that someone might want to hurt her?”

Her eyes widen. “Yes.”

Shit.

I turn, determined to get to my girl.

“Wait,” Mercedes calls after me. “You really think she’s in trouble?”

“Yes. I’ll fill you in later,” I call over my shoulder as I march out of the bar to the elevators. As I smash my thumb into the up button, I sigh and turn to look up at which floor it’s currently on before shaking my head. “Come on…”

Time seems to slow and the numbers barely move as I cross my arms over my chest and tilt my head back, sighing. Another second passes by, feeling like a whole damn minute, and I turn away from the elevator. The door for the stairs catches my attention and I consider just running up three flights of stairs when the elevator dings. The door slides open as I whirl back toward them and I rush into the car, ignoring the annoyed looks of the two men getting off, and smash the button to make the doors close. As it starts rising, I pray that no one else stops it as I stare up at the numbers ticking off each floor we pass. When we finally get to the third floor, I breathe a sigh of relief and march down the hallway toward the room number Mercedes gave me.

Three-oh-six.

Three-oh-seven

Three-oh-eight.

“Finally,” I breathe as I stop in front of her door and lift my hand to knock. My heart races and I suck in a breath as I tap my knuckles against the wood. Silence greets me on the other side of the door and I knock again, harder this time.

Open the door, baby…

I’m just about to knock again when the door swings open and she squints up at me with a confused look.

“Sawyer?”

“Can we talk?” I ask and she nods as she yawns and takes a step back. “Sorry for interrupting your nap.”

She shakes her head as she closes the door behind me. “It’s okay. Where is Mercedes?”

“Down in the bar.” I scrub my hand over the back of my head. “She kind of ripped me a new one.”

“Of course she did,” she whispers, shaking her head as she sits on the couch and hugs her legs to her chest. “Are you here to break up with me?”

I shake my head. “No.”

“Then why are you here?” she asks. I can see her fighting back the hope that maybe I’m here for her and it breaks my heart that she thinks so little of my feelings for her. From the moment I met this girl, she threw me off balance and challenged me but I don’t know how I would go on without her. Even though we haven’t even known each other for two weeks, she fucking owns me. I open my mouth to tell her just that but it doesn’t feel like enough. My words pale in comparison to the things she makes me feel. Dropping my gaze to her lips, I do the only thing I can - pull her into my lap and kiss her senseless.

She gasps as she settles on my lap and grips my t-shirt in her fists like she never wants to let me go again. That’s good because someone will have to kill me and pry my cold dead hands off her before I’ll ever let her walk out of my life. She gasps as she tears her lips from mine and shakes her head, staring at me with tears in her eyes.

“What does this mean?”

I smile and reach up, cupping her cheek in my hand. “It means I’m an idiot and I love you.”

“You love me?” she whispers, her voice barely audible as her eyes widen and I nod.

“I do.”

A side smile stretches across her face and a tear streaks down her cheek. “I love you, too.”