Page 40 of Finding Us
I tiptoe across the main room, past the kitchen, and down the corridor that leads to the bedrooms. My stomach drops when I see light coming from underneath my door. Does my brother know I went home with a guy? Is he waiting to confront me? My poor heart can’t take any more excitement today.
I pause for a moment before I reach for the handle. I open the door just enough to stick my head inside, only to find Cassie sitting cross-legged in the middle of my bed eating ice cream straight from the tub.
“What the hell, Cass,” I angry whisper as I slip into the room and close the door behind me. The last thing I want to do is wake up Connor.
“Jaz! Thank God.” She puts the ice cream tub to the side and leaps off the bed. After pulling me into a crushing hug, she bursts into tears.
“Oh, no. What happened?”
My first thought is something went awry with the guys we’d been with, but she then goes into a crazy rant. I’m not even sure if she takes a breath during her spiel.
“After I left you at the club, I suffered from a severe case of mummy guilt … I mean, as much as I wanted you to hand over your ‘V’ card, I never really planned on making you go through with it, but then that sexy beast appeared and I could tell you were into him by the way you acted, and he was definitely into you. I started asking him all these ridiculous questions and the more he answered the more perfect he became. I’m not sure if it was the cocktails I’d consumed prior or just a moment of insanity, but I put a plan into action and there was no going back from there. I even left the club knowing full well you’d try to get out of it, hence why I fled, leaving you with no choice but to go with him.
“By the time we arrived at the other club, I was an emotional wreck. I was having serious doubts about leaving you, so I jumped in a cab and headed back to the Ivy, but when I got there you were gone. It’s safe to say I was freaking the fuck out by then, so I ordered an Uber and came back here first, to see if you were home. When you weren’t here, I was going to head to that ridiculously hot guy’s house and save you, but that’s when everything went to shit.”
“Why, what happened when you got back here?”Please don’t mention my brother’s name.
“You weren’t here that’s what, and neither was Connor. I went to order another Uber to come find you, but that’s when I realised that I’d left my phone on the back seat of the last one. Normally, I wouldn’t have cared because I could’ve just bought a new one today, but all that hottie’s info was on the one I’d lost.
“I didn’t know what to do, so I ended up knocking on the neighbour’s door and woke them up. They weren’t very pleased with me by the way, but that’s a whole other story. Thankfully, when I told them it was a matter of life or death and that you’d possibly been kidnapped and were in danger of being sex trafficked, they took pity on me and decided not to slam the door in my face.”
“You woke up the neighbours in the middle of the night? Which ones?”
“Number nineteen.”
“Shit, Cass. The sweet old couple?”
“Yeah. They ended up letting me use their landline to call the police.”
My eyes widen. “You called the police?”
“I mean … what else could I do, Jaz? I had no idea if you were okay.”
“Maybe you should’ve thought of that before you ditched me.”
“I know … I’m sorry. The police were no help anyway. I didn’t have a name or address, and I couldn’t identify any distinctive tattoos from your kidnapper.”
“I wasn’t kidnapped.”
“How was I supposed to know that? Anyway,” she says, flicking her wrist, “I described him as best I could: Really tall … over six foot, extremely good-looking, panty-melting smile, brown hair, brown eyes, rocking body, but the dispatcher said my description was too generalised and vague. Like please,” she says, rolling her eyes. “How many guys do you see in real life that are that hot?”
“Exactly,” I say, agreeing with her, because she has a point.
“I even offered to sit down with a police sketch artist, but he just told me to call back in twenty-four hours if you still hadn’t returned. Can you believe it? In twenty-four hours, you could’ve been smuggled across numerous state lines … or decomposing in a ditch while wild animals picked away at your flesh.” She bows her head. “I’m the worst BFF ever and I wouldn’t blame you if you never spoke to me again. I mean, it’s some ungodly hour in the morning, but I’ll pack up my things and head to the airport right now if you want me gone.”
“I had planned on coming home to smother you with a pillow.”
She gasps, placing her hand on her chest. “Well, that’s a little dramatic, but I suppose I deserve it.”
“Relax, I’m not going to murder you.”
“Thanks … I guess.”
“I actually should be the one saying thank you.”
Her mouth gapes open when I say that. “Oh, my God … did you go through with it?” When I nod my head and smile, she throws her hands in the air and squeals so loud my ears ring. “Did you have an ‘O’?”
“Three.”
