Page 139 of Foreplay on Words

Chase

Boston

The next morning, I woke up with a headache and a dead phone battery. Pounding on the suite door woke me, and I saw the time. I had fifteen minutes until I needed to be packed to meet the car service.

“Shit.” I had no idea if they’d found Evan, but he obviously wasn’t there. The pounding started again, and I dragged myself out of the bed.

“I’m coming. Calm down,” I groaned as I pulled the door open.

Kristine was standing there looking relaxed for travel. She held a drink carrier with insulated cups in one hand and her suitcase handle in the other. “Oh, come on. Get your ass dressed, and I’ll pack up your suitcase. Isobel is on the war path because we’re running late.”

“Did they find Evan?”

She bit her lip and shook her head slightly. “I have no idea. Emory’s phone keeps going to voicemail, and I don’t know how to contact Nathan. All I know is that he’s not here.”

I swallowed hard and tried to keep the tears building in my eyes from falling. Worried didn’t even begin to describe what I was feeling for Evan. I hoped he was alright. It wasn’t like him to fall off the grid, but with a dead phone battery, I had no idea who may have tried to contact me.

“Which one is mine?” I asked as I surveyed the cups. If I was even going to attempt to adult today, especially leaving my boyfriend behind missing in the city, I needed caffeine.

“The one in the front. Caramel macchiato with two extra shots of espresso.”

“At least something is going my way this morning.” I sipped the coffee, stepped back into the room, and headed for my suitcase. Comfort was my motivation for my travel wardrobe. The press event wasn’t until 4:00 pm, and we’d be getting into Chicago around 10:00 am local time. I didn’t even want to go but I knew Is would murder me, and it’d probably screw over Evan’s and my career, if I missed it.

What I really wanted to do was punch that bitch Simone in the face again. Talia had told me about Simone confronting Evan in front of the hotel and then him fleeing. He had to be so traumatized by the whole thing. He never told me everything, but she seemed a toxic part of his past.

Evan had moved to a different state and secluded himself because the thought of running into her gave him crippling anxiety. Then she had to go and show up unannounced somewhere that he was already on edge.

“Plotting ways to kill the she-bitch?” Kristine asked, startling me out of my racing thoughts.

“How did you know?” I laughed as I put my toiletries back into the suitcase and zipped it up.

“Cause I’ve been plotting revenge since I woke up this morning. She crossed way too many lines. Cunt-muffin isn’t getting off easy with this one.”

Kristine eyed the second suitcase sitting next to the bed. “What are we doing with that?”

“I don’t know,” I shook my head as my eyes started to burn again. “I need to check out. Do you think they’d keep it at the desk? I don’t want to take it with us. He may have something in there he needs.”

I sat down heavily on the end of the bed and wiped at the few tears that slipped out.

“I think Mr. Blithe will do anything we ask him to.”

“Who is Mr. Blithe?” I asked curiously. I didn’t remember meeting anyone yesterday with that name, not that I was paying attention.

“The general manager. We’re tight. I might have threatened to sic the press on him if he didn’t cooperate with us last night.”

“They’ve still got Evan’s phone?” I didn’t see it anywhere around the room this morning.

“Nathan took it,” Kristine reminded me.

“Can you try calling it?”

She tapped on her screen a few times and then held it to her ear. A frown appeared as she pulled it away and shook her head.

Kristine looked thoughtful for a moment and sent off a text. “I texted Sam. He’s pretty tech-savvy. He may be able to send him a push alert that’ll come up once he turns it back on.”

“Can’t you call him?” she asked as she nodded at my phone on the bed.

“Dead battery.” I held up the blank screen, and she nodded.

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