Addicted

"Dammit." I dialed her number and opened the door for the stairwell. Taking my time, I walked down the three flights of stairs between my floor and Easton's. Having called Casey twice, I decided to leave another message, this time no different than the last.

I reached my room and walked in, calling out to my best friend and getting no reply. If she wasn't back in the morning, I would call the police and start searching for her. She was known to pull shit like this all the time when we were younger, but over the years she seemed to chill out a little, or enough because she knew what it did to me.

There weren't any guys at the club that I saw that she would even be interested in. She was the kind of girl who went way above her league where men were concerned. If the guy wasn't model or movie star material, she wasn't interested.

After stripping down, I got into a hot shower and let my mind move back to sex with Easton. It wasn't good to leave him the way I did, but I was worried about Case. The idea of her needing me, or stumbling into the room drunk and perhaps sick, and being alone was too much to bear.

I pulled out my phone as it dinged, hoping like hell it was my best friend.

Easton: You make it back to your room okay?

Me: Yeah, but she's still not here. I'm worried.

Easton: Let's go look for her. Get dressed and I'll come get you.

Me: No. She does this all the time. I'm just going to stay here and try to get some sleep. I'm exhausted.

Easton: Being sexy will do that to you.

Me: You should know. You're blistering hot.

Easton: You're making me blush.

Me: This I gotta see.

Easton: Let me come down. We can just

watch TV and order some food. You don't need to be alone after we made love. It just doesn't feel right.

I pressed my fingers to my lips, trying to think through my response. I wanted him to come down, but I knew better. My heart already longed for something that wasn't likely to happen between us. I didn't have to be a bitch like I'd planned to be at the start of the night, but I had to protect myself. No one else was going to do it for me.

Me: I'm really tired, but we can get together tomorrow. I'll call you in the morning. You can snuggle me up with one of your great hugs.

Easton: Alright. Sweet dreams, beautiful. Mine will be filled with you.

Tears burned my eyes as I dropped my phone on the bed and walked to the bathroom, removing the last of my clothes as I did. I didn't have to go to sleep to dream about someone as incredible as Easton Parks. He could quickly become the man of my dreams without any energy or effort.

"Funny how those great dreams quickly morph into nightmares." I grabbed a hand towel and got into the shower, waiting for it to warm up enough to soak the cloth. I pressed it to my face and let the first of several long cries leave me. Lust was fun, but love was something I thought would always be mine. I needed to bleed out the torrent of emotions that were building up behind my calm facade. Otherwise, they would spill out and scare everyone as badly as they sometimes scared me.

Chapter 18

Easton

I was quite disappointed in Vivian running from me the night before, but I understood it all too well. She was working hard to keep her heart separated from her body. I was doing the same, but not nearly as successfully as she was. Her refusal to let me come hang out with her was a slap to the face that I quickly dismissed. I didn't want the heavy emotion sitting on me all throughout the night.

My phone buzzed frantically the next morning, constantly rattling until I crawled out of the warmth of my bed and answered it.

"What?" I barked, not wanting to be an ass, but far too tired to hold back.

"Easton, it's Vivian. Casey didn't come back to the hotel last night and she's still not answering my text. I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm scared." Her voice was strained and laced with exhaustion.

"Have you been up all night?" I ran my hand over my face and tried to work on pulling on a pair of jeans and slipping my feet into the closest shoes to me.

"Yes. I kept thinking she would come back or text." Vivian let out a shaky breath. "I think I need to go file a report and maybe check around the club area or something."

"I'm coming down. Text me your room number and I'll be right there. It's going to be okay. We'll figure it out."

"I hope so," her voice was nothing more than a whisper.