Page 74 of Claimed By the Cowboys

Ice spreads through my veins. “What?”

“Her clothes. Most of ‘em. They’re gone.”

I gulp. “Dalton…”

“See you,” he snaps.

The phone goes dead. I stare at it for a second.

It’s my first instinct to call Piper. I want to ask her what’s going on, but what would I say?Dalton says that your shit is gone? Are you leaving?

It makes no sense. Piper wouldn’t just… leave and go back to her house. We’ve been working well together. We’ve been having a good time. Haven’t we?

I groan out loud. Fuck me. I hate all the uncertainty. This is exactly why I didn’t want to change anything.

Losing Piper is the worst possible outcome. I literally could not think of a worse one. Did we lose her without meaning to?Did I fuck this up again?

I gently tap Sam’s side, urging him back. We have about an hour to ride to get back to the house. And dinner is still even more hours away. Fuck me.

Sam, for once in his life, seems to sense my urgency. He breaks into a fast trot, and I don’t even try to stop him.

I need to figure out what the hell is going on. I need to find Piper. And I need to fucking fix it. If I can.

The three of us get to the bar at around the same time. It feels stupid, to be looking at Dalton and Tate without Piper here. It already feels like we’re missing something.

Dalton is mindlessly pacing. I look at him. “Dude. Seriously. Calm the fuck down.”

“Why are you acting like someone shit in your cereal?” Tate asks.

Dalton looks at him. “Piper.”

“Yes? She’s meeting us here?” Tate’s eyebrows rise in confusion.

Dalton shakes his head. “No. She’s… her shit was gone.”

“Gone?”

“Clothes. Gone.”

Tate frowns. “Okay. First of all, weird that you went looking for her stuff.”

“Had a feeling,” Dalton grunts.

I sigh. “What he means is that Piper’s been kind of withdrawn for the past week. I’ve noticed it. Dalton noticed it. You, and your goddamn terrible sense for danger, have not noticed it.”

“Maybe there’s just no danger? Did you think of that?”

“Tate,” I snap. “She’s been quiet and hasn’t been nearly as bubbly. Didn’t you notice?”

“I did. But also, isn’t it coming up on like, a time where she’s super quiet, anyway? I mean, remember last month she cried at that commercial for the animal cruelty campaign for like thirty minutes.”

Shit. Tate’s right.

I turn to Dalton. “That could be.”

“No. Fuck no. I’m telling you. Shit’s not right.”

Goddamn it. “Dalton. You need to get yourself together. And Tate, you need to be a less shitty friend.”

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