“My God, I don’t have to tell you everything, Mr. Blythe,” Rory said and he backed off, putting his hands up.

“So? Anything?” she asked after I shut the door. Lucah busied himself with the dishes.

“No. I just sent him a text to make sure he was okay. All he has to do is text back and that will be it.” I stared down at my phone and waited.

Nothing.

“Maybe he’s busy?” Rory said, but things were starting to look not so good. If he was anyone else, I would have said he might have lost his phone. But Ryder was unpredictable. And he’d just gotten sober.

“I have to go check on him if he doesn’t answer. I just have this feeling that something’s not right.” I couldn’t explain it. I didn’t consider myself clairvoyant in the least, but there was something in the back of my head that sent up a red flag. A warning.

“Well, let’s just wait and see if he answers. If he doesn’t, then maybe Lucah can text him. I think we need to tell him you’re concerned. He might be mad, but it’s better to know sooner if Ryder is in trouble and needs help.” Rory joining in my concerns just made me start to freak out even more. Waves of hot and cold panic rushed through my body. I didn’t even care about the stupid ultimatum.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Rory said, remembering that she should probably try and reassure me. Usually I was the one doing that in our relationship.

“I’m sure he is. I’m probably making something out of nothing.” Deep down, I knew I wasn’t. Something was wrong.

~*~*~

Lucah and Rory went back to their apartment, and I waited. And waited. And waited. When ten o’clock rolled around, I headed down the hall and knocked on the door. Lucah answered.

“So, I had a little chat with your brother last night, and I gave him an ultimatum. I told him to call me and we’d sort things out, or come see me, but he hasn’t. I texted him earlier and he hasn’t answered back. I’m sure it’s nothing, but could you please text him and ask him if he’s okay?” I didn’t tell him about the kiss, and I didn’t tell him about my feelings of doom.

His eyebrows drew together and he got a serious look on his face. He didn’t tell me I was just imagining things.

“Yeah, come on in,” he said, and held the door open.

Rory was there with a cup of chamomile tea. She always gave me tea when there was a tense situation. As a result, I now associated tea with tense situations.

Lucah sent a message and then followed it up with a phone call. We all waited as the other line rang.

Nothing. Ryder’s voicemail clicked on and Lucah left a message.

“Ryder, this is Lucah. Please call me back. Thanks.” His voice was commanding, and I could feel the tension in the room starting to ramp up.

Lucah watched the phone in his hand as if it were going to magically morph into Ryder.

“If he doesn’t call back in an hour, I’m going to his place,” Lucah said, setting the phone on the counter.

“I’m going with you,” I said.

Lucah shook his head. “No, that’s okay. I can deal with this. God, I thought we were done with his drama.” He dragged his hand through his hair, and Rory gave him a hug.

“It’s going to be fine,” she said, and started making more tea. We soon had enough of it to satisfy all of the UK. Rory didn’t really know what to do in a crisis, but I loved her anyway.

The hour while we waited was tense. I just kept chugging tea, knowing it was only going to make me pee. Rory paced, as she always did when she was stressed, and Lucah stayed still, staring at his phone.

“That’s it,” he said at 11:05. He grabbed his coat and Rory got hers, despite his protests.

“We’re all going with you. If this is bad, then you’re going to need backup,” she said, and he didn’t argue. Instead of walking down the street to the garage where Rory and Lucah kept their cars, we took a cab since it was faster.

It was quite a drive to Ryder’s place, and I wondered how he was able to walk back and forth all the time.

The cab eventually stopped but felt like it took forever. I was one of the first out of the car. It had started to rain, but I ignored the water.

“Which apartment?” I asked Lucah as we stared up at the disgusting excuse for a building. Not only did it look like it was a moment away from falling down, it was also dirty. The steps were falling apart and the front door had several shades of peeling paint.

“This is it?” I asked.

Tags: Chelsea M. Cameron Erotic
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