Page 73 of The 21-Day Boyfriend
“Your sister?” he asks.
“She’s gone. Disappeared.”
I hear noises in the background, the clattering of plates or something, replaced suddenly by street noise.
He must have stepped outside.
“Where are you?”
“I’m at Bella Vita. On Camden Street. I don’t know what to do, I…”
“Don’t move. I’ll be right there.”
* * *
AFTER I’VE SPENT about halfan hour trying to calm down Ethan, I step back outside just as his car pulls up along the road. Eric climbs out and walks over to me.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have called you…” His hands are on my arms, his pressure stopping me, his eyes in search of mine.
“Don’t be stupid. Any news?”
I shake my head vigorously.
“Do you have any idea where she could’ve gone or why she left?”
“I should’ve known.”
“What?”
“That something was wrong. It’s all my fault.”
I stroke my forehead and I sigh. Eric lets me go, takes off his jacket, and wraps it around my shoulders.
“What are you…?”
“You’re frozen,” he says, his voice soft and dangerously intimate. “You’re only in a shirt.”
“Oh, I… I can’t remember where I put my coat… Maybe it’s inside, at the table, or on the coat rack…”
“We’ll get it later. Now try to concentrate, think about where she could’ve gone. Somewhere familiar to her, maybe.”
I think for a moment. “I know one of her friends. She sometimes stays with her when she wants to get away.”
“Okay, that’s a good start. We’ll try there.”
“We?” I ask, confused.
Eric smiles at me. “We’ll look everywhere, all night, if we need to. And we’ll find her.”
I tamp down my instinct to launch myself at him and nod instead.
“Trust me.”
I would’ve.
I would’ve trusted you even if you hadn’t asked.
“Thank you.”
