“You know they’re going to charge you,” Alec says with laughter in his voice.
I swivel around and step close to him. “Maybe tomorrow when you get home I can work on paying off some of it…”
Chase snorts. “Alec isn’t the one who charges you. It’s the city.”
“Shut up,” I quip, making Alec grin.
I take another step toward Alec, until we’re so close our bodies are flush against each other. “While you’re here,” I whisper, “you think we can go to our room and—”
“No,” Chase says, cutting me off. “And FYI: you suck at whispering almost as badly as you suck at baking. Stop trying to do both.”
The guys chuckle, and I glare. “Careful,” I warn him. “You might come home and find out you’re homeless.”
Georgia snorts out a laugh, and Alec encloses his arms around me. “I have to get going,” he says. “Thank you for the brownies.” He kisses me, and the guys all groan.
“Do you realize you just thanked your fiancée for brownies she burned?” Chase asks. “You are so fucking pussy-whipped.”
“Hey,” Alec says, pulling away from our kiss. “Don’t be talking about my woman’s pussy.”
Chase raises his hands in surrender, then heads out the door with the other guys.
Once they’re gone, Alec says, “I’ll see you in the morning. No more baking. I appreciate the thought, but next time, maybe buy them…”
“Yeah, yeah.” I roll my eyes. “Ricco texted me he’s heading to the beach. I might meet him there to get some more waves in.”
“All right, baby,” he says, kissing my cheek. “Have fun and be safe.”
Alec
- Hey baby
- Lex?
- You still at the beach? Text me when you get this.
- Lex, I’m getting worried. I haven’t heard from you in a while.
I stare at my phone, confused and worried. I’m probably overreacting, but any time I text Lexi, she texts me back. If she’s surfing, it may take a little while, but not hours.
I pull up Georgia’s name and hit call.
“Don’t worry, she hasn’t attempted to bake anything else,” she says with a laugh.
“She’s at home?” I ask, getting straight to the point.
“No, she went surfing. I haven’t seen her all afternoon.”
“It’s dark out.”
“It won’t be the first or last time she’s surfed after the sun went down.”
“She agreed she wouldn’t,” I say, feeling like an overprotective crazy asshole. “With her jeep being vandalized and Jason starting shit…” My heart pumps harder. Maybe it’s nothing, maybe I am overacting, but something feels wrong…
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Georgia responds, her tone no longer light and carefree. “She’s probably hanging out with her friends. You know she spends more time at the beach than home. She probably has her phone on silent and lost track of the time.”
“Can you call your brother and get Ricco’s number? She said she was meeting him at the beach.”
“Yeah, don’t worry, though. I’m sure she just got caught up in the waves.”
We hang up and I try calling Lexi several more times, each time getting no answer.
I’m grabbing my keys to drive over to the beach to look for her when Georgia calls back. “He was there with her and then left with Max. Last time he saw her was hours ago.”
“Fuck. I’m heading to the beach to look for her. Call your parents and anyone she might be with.”
“Okay, will do.”
“Where’re you going?” Chase asks, walking up next to me.
“I’m going to the beach to see if Lexi is there. She’s not answering or returning my calls. I’m worried something’s happened to her.”
Chase opens his mouth, I’m sure to make a smartass comment, but when his eyes meet mine, he nods in understanding. “I’ll come with you.”
The drive to the beach is filled with silence. Georgia calls me and lets me know nobody has seen or heard from Lexi, and she hasn’t posted anything on any social media platform.
“It shows she’s at the beach,” Tristan says when I answer his call. “I have a tracker for all my kids. It shows she’s been at the beach for the last eight hours.” I’m assuming Georgia or Max told their dad I’m looking for her.
“Thank you.”
“Keep me updated.”
“Will do.”
We hang up as I’m pulling into the parking lot for the beach. I immediately spot her jeep and drive over to it. I glance inside, but it’s empty.
“She must still be surfing.”
“Yeah, but it’s not like her to go this long without texting or calling me.”
We head down the sidewalk and onto the beach. I go straight for the area where she usually surfs, but she isn’t there. It’s late now and the beach is dark and empty.
“Maybe she’s eating on the pier,” Chase suggests.
“Maybe… Can you go check? I’m going to walk down the beach, see if she’s somewhere else.” My eyes land on the dark area under the pier. It’s a long shot even getting Aiden to talk, but maybe he’s seen her and can at least tell me that much.