Page 14 of Dare You to Love Me

Like I could conquer the fucking world single handedly?

Nope, don’t think—

That’s when everything from the night before crashes back to me.

We might not have had sex, but it was the single hottest experience of my life.

And it happened with Stella!

Somehow, I just knew it would be like this between us.

We’ve always been best friends and the sexual chemistry we were able to generate was off the charts. Is there a reason we can’t turn this into something long term?

Something permanent?

We both had a good time. Adding a physical aspect to our relationship will only strengthen it.

Decision made, I roll over, more than ready for a repeat performance.

Except…

The bed is empty.

I slide my hand over the sheets. The cotton is cool to the touch. It’s almost enough to make me wonder if I dreamed the entire episode.

Is it possible she slipped away to use the bathroom?

I sit up and glance around the room, searching for clues to her whereabouts. My gaze settles on the corner where she’d dropped her duffle yesterday afternoon only to find it missing.

That’s all it takes for the good vibes humming beneath my skin to vanish into thin air. I swear under my breath before whipping off the covers and rolling from the bed. My mind cartwheels as I stalk to the dresser and grab joggers and a T-shirt, along with a sweatshirt before rushing through the door and down the staircase.

I find Hayes in the kitchen, leaning against the counter. His messy, golden-brown hair is all over the place as he dips his spoon into a massive bowl before shoving cereal into his mouth.

“Sup,” he says with a chin lift.

I don’t bother with pleasantries. “Have you seen Stella?”

He continues to chew all the while eyeing me up. “Yeah. She lit out of here like her ass was on fire about thirty minutes ago.”

I drag a hand through my hair and pull the cell from my pocket before hitting her number. A second or two later it goes straight to voicemail. A scowl morphs across my face.

Is she seriously going to ignore my call?

That’s a fucking first.

Left without any other recourse, I fire off a text and wait impatiently for a response.

Sixty seconds slowly tick by.

Then another minute passes.

By the third one, it becomes glaringly apparent that she has zero intention of responding. What scares me more than anything is that I might have fucked up our friendship.

It’s tempting to go out and look for her, but I can’t. We have practice in less than an hour.

Maybe the best thing I can do is give her a little bit of space to clear her head.

But that’s all she gets.

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