Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
The girl had been waiting, watching us until that moment. She held her hand out. “Hi, I’m Lauren. I was at the bar last night.”
She had dark brown skin and was wearing a shirt that hugged her curves. Her jeans had paint splotches on them, but the kind where it could’ve been because she was a painter or because she bought them that way since they looked trendy at the same time. Big bright eyes that were skirting between Cris and me, as she was trying to hold back a grin. Her dreadlocks were pulled back with a hair band so they fell down her back.
I shook her hand, but also felt weird about shaking her hand. What college student shakes hands with another student? But it seemed normal to her.
“You were at the bar?”
She nodded, eager. “I went with Mac.”
I stilled. “You know Mac?”
“We had a class together last year and we got to talking yesterday. You came up in conversation.”
I tried taking a step backwards, but Cris was there and his arms tightened. “I came up? How’d I come up?”
Some of her slight grin faded. “We were talking about roommates and she mentioned your boyfriend’s name. I have a friend who’s obsessed with Hell Skate.”
That was Jude’s band.
“Oh.” Some of the tension faded, until the other part of her statement clicked. It took a nosedive. “Mac saw me like that?” My voice broke.
I missed my roommate. I really missed her.
What had I been doing the last few months?
Lauren and Cris were quiet, letting me process.
“I need to talk to her.” An urgent feeling came over me. I needed to see Mac. I needed to talk to Mac now. I started to leave as if I could track her down by myself.
Cris got in front of me. His hands lifted, falling to my shoulders. “Wait. Hold up.”
“Cris,” I managed. My throat swelled up, growing thick. “I have to see her. I have to explain—” Explain what?
There was a reason I stopped seeing Cris.
There was a reason I began hanging out with other people. A different crowd. It’d been a conscious decision.
But, fuck.
It was affecting me that Mac saw me last night, saw how I was. I hadn’t been expecting this to hit me how it was, and panic slithered through me.
“Hey, uh.” Lauren gentled her voice. “I’m not sure what’s all going on, but if you’re worried about her thinking a certain way about you, you don’t need to worry about that.”
“What do you mean?”
“She was just worried about you.”
That made my anxiety worse. “I know. Mac doesn’t judge people she cares about. She shouldn’t have seen me like that…” The unspoken statement was that I shouldn’t have been in that state for her to see me.
It was my fault.
I let out a sigh, making a decision that I should’ve made months ago.
“I need to find my stuff.” Then I’d call Mac, and I’d find her, talk to her. Things were ridiculously distant between us and I couldn’t lose Mac.
Cris nodded slowly. “Okay.”
“I need to check the back of your truck. My phone might’ve fallen out of my pocket or something.”
He gave me a guarded look before stepping back, his hands falling from my shoulders. “We can check, but we should check Lauren’s car.” He motioned to her. “She gave us a ride home.”
I glanced her way. “You gave us a ride back?”
She nodded, both were studying me so intently, as if reading something that I wasn’t aware was on my face. She said, “Yeah, and we can check, but I don’t think anything fell out of your pocket. I was looking all over my car this morning for my supplies and I never came across a phone.”
“What about keys?”
Her face shuddered. “Nothing that wasn’t mine, but we should still check.”
There was nothing in the back of Cris’ truck. Nothing in Lauren’s car either.
“Shit.”
Lauren and Cris shared a look before Cris asked, “Where to now?”
I glanced up, seeing both watching me. “My purse is at Troy’s place. We can go and see if somehow I left everything inside my purse?”
“Let’s go.” Cris tossed his keys in the air, catching them as he started back to his vehicle.
Lauren lingered, a hesitant look on her face.
I waited, frowning a little.
“Do you mind if I tag along?”
I shrugged. “Sure. You don’t have classes?”
She shook her head. “I was going to spend the entire day in the art studio, but honestly, that can wait. I’m kinda invested now, since I’m the reason any of this is happening.”
“What do you mean?”
“I knew Hell Skate was playing at Disco Digs last night. I mentioned it to Mackenzie.”
“Oh.” But, I shrugged. “I should be thanking you then.”
Her eyebrows both went high and her head leaned back an inch. “Wh—huh?”
I gave her a slight grin, but only a slight one because my insides were still in turmoil. “A lot of shit’s going on in my head right now, but one thing’s obvious. I need to connect with Mac again. I don’t like not knowing what’s going on with her. I shouldn’t have let us fade so much. So, thank you.”