Page 148 of Their Greatest Strength

He drops to a crouch and pokes me in the forehead. “What happened with Blakely?”

“What?”

The sun shining through the cracks in the curtains has me flipping over to check the other side of the bed. The lack of weight on my chest should have been the first thing I noticed, but I guess finding someone hovering over you first thing in the morning can distract a guy.

Blakely’s spot is empty. A first since she started sleeping in my room. There’s a reason I slide my pillow beneath her arm every morning, and it isn’t just because she looks so adorable squeezing it to death.

“Where is she?” I ask, already shoving the blankets off.

Nate steps to the side so I can get up and grab the jeans lying on the floor. The pile of clothes that were on the dresser when Icame upstairs last night is gone, and I rip open the first dresser drawer as fear claws at my chest.

“Fuck,” I curse, staring down her clothes still mixed in with mine. The sight of her clothes only relaxes me so much. “What’s going on, Nate?”

“That’s what I’m asking you. She woke me up this morning way too early and was asking me weird questions.”

“Like what? How long ago was this?”

He frowns. “Like twenty minutes. She asked if I thought she did a good job looking out for me. I think she was trying not to cry the entire time.”

“Something must have happened yesterday.”

It was obvious last night. She wasn’t the same from the moment we picked her up from the stadium. Her behaviour was off, but I thought it was because of me. That I’d annoyed her by texting her too often at work and then overstepped with the jerseys. I assumed us having sex instead of talking about everything was her way of telling me that she still wanted me, but not quite that much yet. I let her shut down and close me out without a fight because I assumed she needed some time to collect her thoughts without me breathing down her neck.

That was the wrong move. One I won’t make again.

She cut herself off before telling me she loved me, and it hurt. Still, I was serious when I told her I wanted her for keeps. Whatever she’s gone off to do now is something we’ll handle together. Those tears in her eyes in the shower weren’t enough to push me away. All they did was make me surer that I want to be the only one to dry them from now on.

My gut reaction is that all of this has something to do with her mother. Blakely might have been able to do a great job of pretending the run-in with her didn’t happen, but I doubt it was a coincidence that the woman who abandoned her kids just so happened to show up after I’d dragged her daughter into the public eye.

“I think she took the bus too,” Nate says.

I bite back a smile. “Of course she did.”

“Do you know where she went?”

“I’ve got a spot to check, but you’re going to school. She wouldn’t want you to miss class for this.”

His groan is oh so very teenager. “Actually?”

“Yeah, actually. I can’t be the cool guy right now.”

“Well, if you don’t find her, can you come get me so I can help?”

“Fine. If I don’t find her by lunchtime, then I’ll come get you. But you’ve got to have my back if we get her together and she yells at me for letting you skip school,” I barter.

“Deal.”

“Alright. Go finish getting ready. We leave in—” I check my watch and nearly crap my pants at the time. “Ten minutes.”

He’s quick to jog out of the room and stomp down the stairs. I get dressed and join him. Half an hour later, he’s at school with money for lunch in his backpack, and I’m turning into the player and employee lot at the stadium.

It’s empty this early, with only the same few cars that are always here, most of which belong to security. The place is guarded like a fortress, and today, that plays in my favour. One of the guards must have noticed something going on yesterday.

I park quickly and head up to the stadium doors. The construction happening a couple of blocks over hides any voices nearby, but noises don’t disguise the sight of a security guard lingering at the doors with a rigid jaw and his hands cupped in front of him.

My instincts have me abandoning the doors and going to the guard. I recognize him the second he turns, noticing me.

“What’s going on, Jake?” I ask stiffly.

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