“You’ll figure it out,” she said.
“And what if I can’t find it?” I sounded panicked. I couldn’t help it. I was ripping myself open for her to see.
Could she see how much I loved her?
Where the fuck had that come from?
It came from the deepest parts of me. Where she would always stay.
Damn, drunk Mitch was a total cheese ball.
“I’ll help you find it,” she swore and I let out a noisy breath.
“You promise?”
“I promise,” she replied.
“I’ve missed talking to you like this.” Deep breath. Don’t say it.
“Actually I miss everything about you.” Of course I said it. Stupid mouth to brain malfunction.
“I miss you too,” she murmured and I felt like I was falling off a really steep cliff. Gracie could make me feel so out of control.
And then I crashed to Earth.
There was a creak on the stairs and I looked up to see Sophie standing at the landing. “Who are you talking to? It’s late. You need to get some sleep,” she called down.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” I told her. Sophie stared at me for a moment longer and then turned and went back to my bedroom.
Gracie was quiet on the other end and I wondered if she had hung up.
“You still there?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’m here,” she said after a beat. “It sounds like you’re being summoned.” Her voice was tight, her earlier warmth gone.
“Gracie, I—” What was I going to say? I would never know because she didn’t let me finish.
“Thanks for the warning about Cole and Vivian. I’ll see you around.” She was cold. I could get frostbite from here.
“Sure thing. Thanks for the pep talk. See ya.”
I hung up. Before either of us could say anything else.
I sat there staring at nothing. My head full of her.
Then I climbed the stairs and went to my room. I got under the covers and lay next to my girlfriend.
And went to sleep hating myself.
I woke up grouchy. It was one of the worst nights sleep I could remember having in a long time.
And it had nothing to do with the crashing and moaning from Vivian’s room.
It had to do with Mitch and his stupid Chunky Monkey.
“Whoa. Who pissed in your cornflakes?” Vivian asked as I stomped into the kitchen, dressed and ready for work.
“Don’t talk. Give me coffee,” I ordered, holding out my hand. Vivian obliged by handing me a full mug. I sipped on it and felt a little more human.
“You look horrible. You should use some of my skin toner. The bags under your eyes are awful!” she exclaimed. Vivian of course looked perfect for having been up the entire night fucking her boyfriend.
“Well, I would have slept better if it wasn’t for the five rounds of sexylmpics you had going on in your bedroom,” I harrumphed, sitting down at the kitchen table and rubbing my temples.
“Are you sure it didn’t have anything to do with your late night phone call?” Vivian asked and I gaped at her.
“How in the world did you hear me on the phone when you had all that going on?” I waved my hand around.
Vivian rolled her eyes. “Who called then? There are only so many things a late night call can be about. A family tragedy, a drunk friend needing a ride home. Or a booty call. Given your general cranktastic demeanor, I would say the latter is off the table. So what was it? Is everything okay?”
“You forgot to add random drunk dialing to that list,” I said.
Vivian’s eyes widened. “Who drunk dialed you? Was it Mitch? Because he was pretty lit up when we left.”
I took another fortifying sip of coffee before answering her. “Give the lady a gold star.”
Vivian frowned. “But Sophie was there. What the hell is he playing?”
“Well she interrupted towards the end, telling him to come to bed. So I have no idea.”