Page 100 of Wish You Would

Fuck, she had to still be here.

Halle’s face showed none of the doubt I knew was written all over mine. Her eyes narrowed into determined slits. “Nope,” she said, loud enough to be heard over the beat of the filler music The Ledge was playing between bands. “This isn’t over.”

Her grip was tight on my wrist as she pulled me forward. “What was she wearing?”

“Cat dress,” I yelled. “Black and white.”

Halle smiled—maybe it was a laugh, but I couldn’t hear it—and nodded. “Got it.” Stopping on the outskirts of the crowd, she faced me. “We should split up. You take the left side, I’ll take the right. Meet up in the middle.”

I nodded, and something on my face must have indicated the panic in my mind, because Halle gave my shoulder a squeeze. “This isn’t the end,” she said. “Even if she’s not here, if we don’t find her, she showed up. That means something.” Her eyes skated over my face, fierce and determined. “And this right here? What you’re feeling? That means something, too.”

My lungs eased up a bit, letting me draw in a breath. She was right. This was not the end.

Not if I had anything to say about it.

“Okay,” I said. “I take left, you take right.”

We parted ways, and for the next twenty minutes, I frantically sifted through the crowd, looking for a glimpse of that dress, a flutter of the skirt or a flash of the buttons. For twenty minutes, I searched for my heart beating outside my body.

I came up empty.

Spotting Halle near the back of the crowd, I headed her way. She hadn’t found Parker, either.

“Sorry,” she said when I reached her. “No sign of kittens.”

My gut sank to the beer-sticky floor. Halle threw her arm over my shoulders and squeezed me tight. “Just means you have time to think up the perfect way to fix your fuckup.”

I ducked from under her arm and faced her. “What makes you think it was my fuckup?”

“Please,” a new voice said and we both turned to find Luke standing there. “Of course it was your fuck up, Georgia.”

I glared at him. He grinned. “Great show, by the way.”

“Thanks,” Halle said, returning his grin with a sunshine-y one of her own. “I’m Halle.”

Interest sparked in Luke’s eyes and his grin went from patronizing to charming. Before he could come in with some cringy pickup line, I stepped between them. “Gay,” I said. “Very gay.”

Behind me, Halle laughed. Luke sighed in exaggerated disappointment. I rolled my eyes. “Sorry about my friend here,” I said over my shoulder. “He’s a man.”

Halle nodded knowingly. “No further explanation needed.”

“Right?” I faced her. “But he looked so pitiful and all alone that I had to take him in, you know? Poor little guy had no one else.”

Luke folded his arms over his chest, waiting as Halle and I went back and forth for a couple more rounds. “Are you done?” he asked when we reached a lull in the jokes. “Because I’m sure in the time you spent comparing me to a stray dog, Parker has actually left the building.”

That got my attention. “Wait.” I grabbed his arm. “You saw Parker?”

“Yeah, she and her friend were with her sister.” He tilted his head upward. “On the balcony.”

“Shit, the balcony.” I looked at Halle. “We forgot about the balcony.”

Her eyes widened. Giving me a shake, she turned me toward the staircase and shoved. “Go, go, go!”

I took the stairs two at a time, lungs burning, heart racing, until I reached the top. Spotting Anya was easy enough. She was a beacon in the sea of people with her violet hair. I wove through the swaying bodies, smiling my thanks at anyone who recognized me from the show, until I broke through on the other side. Then, I slid to a stop, slamming heart sinking.

Anya and Vaughn saw me at the same time, and, judging by the looks on their faces, I was too late. Shoulders sagging, I closed the remaining space. “How long ago?” I asked when I was within hearing distance.

“Five minutes,” Anya said. “If that.”

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