Loved it when he kissed the back of my head. Loved it more when he started leaving dizzying trails of kisses down the side of my neck, nipping at the corner of my jaw, his cock growing thick against my bottom.
Oh.
He was undoing me.
My phone rang from within my purse, and I held back the groan at the interruption.
He set me back on my feet.
“Don’t think just because you have a phone call that you get a free pass. I’ll be waiting for you.”
I glanced at him from over my shoulder, putting an extra sway into my steps when I moved toward my purse, grinning wide. “Is that a promise?”
“Oh, Harley Hope, you are in so, so much trouble.”
I was.
I already knew it.
And I loved that, too.
I was grinning when I dug into the side pocket and found my phone. I glanced at the screen. A frown pulled across my brow when I saw Chanda’s name.
Quickly, I answered it, sure it was nothing.
But it took only the flash of a second before I knew it was something.
Dread curled through my insides when I heard her voice coming through the line. Frantic. Words so rushed, I couldn’t make out what she was saying.
“Evan . . . breath . . . hurry.”
My insides trembled. Panic blew through me. Pummeling and beating.
A gale force.
“What?” I asked, eyes pinching shut as my fingers drove into my hair, yanking, struggling to process what she’d said. “What are you saying? Where are you? What happened? Slow down and tell me what’s happening.”
Chanda sucked in a breath. Trying to calm herself. “We’re just pulling up at the ER. The boys were tossing the football with Richard. The same as they always do. He was fine, Hope, he was fine, and then all of a sudden, Evan said he couldn’t breathe.”
A hand landed on my shoulder, grabbing hold, maybe holding me up.
Tension wound tight. Round and round and round.
“Is he okay?” I didn’t know if she could hear me, the words choked where they locked in my throat, not prepared for what she might say.
“I think so. I think so,” she rambled. Frazzled. Frenzied.
Or maybe all that frenzy belonged to me. Because I could feel it shaking through my system.
Speeding through my veins.
Seeping into my spirit.
Penetrating to my bones.
“Okay, we’re here. We’re here. I’ll call you back,” she said.
The line went dead and dread pressed down on my chest.
Too heavy.
Too much.
I couldn’t move.
Frozen.
Kale spun me around and pried the phone from my hand, setting both of his on my shoulders. He gave me a tiny shake, trying to snap me out of the daze. “Hope, what is going on? Who was that? Tell me what’s happening.”
“Evan.”
His name.
It was a plea.
A prayer.
Kale’s face blanched.
White as a ghost.
Or maybe I could only see what was reflected in me.
Tremors rolled beneath my skin, my muscles trembling as the freeze finally thawed.
It gave way to a raging river. Sweeping me away. Taking me with it and shooting me into action.
I fumbled into my shoes, grabbed my purse, and jerked open the door.
I could sense the torment of the presence behind me. The anguish in his silence. And maybe I did understand him better. His walls higher than mine. Why he couldn’t do this with me.
I didn’t pause to look back when I floundered with the latch and flew out the door.
The only thing I knew was I needed to get to my son.
19
Kale
The door slammed closed behind her.
I gripped fistfuls of my hair, staring at the spot where she’d just been.
Air gone, my lungs squeezed tight.
What the fuck was I supposed to do?
Fear spiraled. Slammed and howled. It beat against this overwhelming sensation that welled.
Growing bigger—more powerful—than anything else. Constricting my chest and shattering every reserve.
I was moving before I let myself think through the consequences. Because the consequence of standing there like a worthless piece of shit were so much greater than going after what had just fled out my door.
Bolting into the living room, I nabbed my shirt from the rug. I was pulling it over my head at the same time as I was grabbing my keys and wallet from the entry table. Not wanting to take the time to go to my room, I shoved my feet into some ripped-up Vans and then went racing out.
I didn’t bother with the elevator.
I pounded down the stairs, taking them three at a time. I blew through the big metal back door and flew out into the lot.
Twilight had taken hostage of the sky, the heavens streaked with darkened clouds, a single star blinking on the horizon above the copse of trees.
My eyes hunted.
Immediately, they landed on Hope. She was across the lot, stumbling through her panic as she tried to run in her heels.
She jerked at the door handle of her big SUV, fumbling and shaking as she struggled to get inside.