Page 165 of Alive At Night

So I stayed. I stayed at an uncomfortable table surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the rest of the office, trying to get anything done that I could without letting my thoughts drift back to the beautiful brunette sitting next to my desk—who only a few hours ago I had bent overmydesk.

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

I gave up a little after five o’clock. I’d managed to get something done, though it wasn’t much. An afternoon free of meetings was so rare, and I wasted most of it. But I gave it my best. And now I’d get to spend the rest of the night with—

I spun in a circle like a dog chasing his tail, looking for Juniper inside our office. But she was gone. Her computer was gone, her coat was gone, she was gone.

How did I not see her leaving? How did she not seemeand stop to say something?

More of the familiar dread sank low in my gut. After fumbling with my phone, I found Juniper’s contact and hit Dial. And thank fucking God, she picked up on the second ring.

“Hello?”

“Juni baby,” I said, my stomach tangling in knots. I’d fumbled everything this afternoon; I knew I did. Hurting her had never been my intention, but I was still so bad at this—so bad at juggling everyone who needed me. “Did you leave already?”

“Yeah,” she replied, her voice sounding strangled.

There was a pause where the background noise seeped in through the speaker. She was definitely somewhere busy, somewhere crowded. Somewhere that had clinking glasses and loud laughter. But I tried to pay close attention to her voice, to the tone and her words. But they weren’t at all the ones I had been expecting.

“Do you…” She took another brief pause. “Do you have any chocolate cookie dough ice cream in your freezer? I could use some right about now.”

The question caught me off guard, and I froze, standing in the middle of our office, the phone smashed against my face as if I could somehow get closer to Juniper that way. And as soon as I ran her words back through my head, my entire body tensed even tighter.

Valentine’s Day in high school. Juniper hiding at my house from Kennedy. Me telling her we always had ice cream if she ever needed to come over for some more, for if she ever needed to escape Kennedy again.

“Always, Juniper,” I breathed, trying to keep the tension from my voice. “Where are you?”

“I’m getting a drink at—”

The line cut off right before the sentence finished, and a curse ripped from my lips.

What thehell?

I didn’t understand how Juniper had gone from sitting next to me in our office to sitting somewhere with Greg Kennedy, but I was almost positive that was what she had just told me. Kennedy or some other ex or asshole bothering her. And she clearly didn’t want to be obvious about it, otherwise she would have said it outright.

Fear swallowed my already tense body.

Ifanyonefucking touched her…

I wasn’t planning on breaking more fingers tonight, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t. Fuck, I should have done more about Greg a long time ago. How he showed up unannounced when Juniper was back at her parents and kept trying relentlessly to worm back into her life was a huge red flag that I should have taken more seriously.

My phone chimed, and hope rose back up until it was immediately crushed when I saw the text was from Gemma.

GEMS: Are you the reason Juni begged to get a drink after work? What the hell did you do this time?

I ignored the guilt and pang of annoyance at my sister for both assuming it was my fault and also being right about it. Instead, I focused on the first part of what she’d said.

Are you with her?

GEMS: No, I’m on my way to meet her.

Where is she?

Staring at my phone, I held my breath while waiting for a reply. But when Gemma didn’t immediately answer, I gave up and called her.

“Are you calling to confess your wrongdoings?” she questioned as soon as she picked up.

“Where is she, Gemma?” I said lowly, cutting to the chase. Grabbing my wallet and keys, I left the rest of my stuff for tomorrow and headed toward the lobby doors. I had a feeling about where Juni was, but if Gemma could confirm it for me, that would be best. I didn’t want to waste a single minute.

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