Tracing my finger over the screen, I closed my eyes and imagined actually being able to feel the strong jawline there, the stubble along his chin after skipping a shave for an extended time.
I opened my eyes again and had to shake my head to clear the haze. I truly was drunk and knew that tomorrow I would hate myself for having so many shots tonight.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Landon
Chloe: I rather watch you dance
Chloe: in see thri underwar
Chloe: You hotter
None of the messages that Chloe was sending to me were complete sentences, but they still managed to make a point. One I wasn’t liking at all.
Chloe: It tuched myarm
That was the one that had me up off the bar stool and seeking out a quiet place where I would be able to hear when she picked up her phone. But with each ring that passed, I gripped the phone even tighter. When the call went to her voicemail, I was already on my way back to the guys. Then my phone rang, and I paused, feeling a sense of relief that she was okay.
She was calling after all, so it meant she was good.
Only that relief was short-lived when I answered the call.
“Hi.” It was only a whisper, but it was obvious that she was feeling the drinks she and the girls had shared already. “You called me.” It was a sigh.
“Where are you?” Again I backed up into a quiet corner so that I could hear her over the band playing in the bar. “Chloe?” My pulse was racing as I envisioned all of the worst possibilities. Caring for someone, wanting to protect them from any harm, sucked when they were away from you without any idea of how to reach them.
“Kitten.” Damn it, I needed her to focus. “Baby, are you there?”
“I love it when you call me that.” Again she sighed, and my body sagged back against the wall when she finally responded. “Kitten, it’s a cute little furry creature, but when it comes from your lips, it sounds like so much more. And baby, that’s a new one. I like it, too.” There was a pause, and I gripped the back of my neck, doing my best to control my racing heart. “I like you.”
“I like you, too.” I took in a deep breath. “Tell me where you are, Chloe?”
“In a closet,” she whispered, and again my mind thought of her hiding out from something or someone. “I’d rather you be here dancing for me.” Seeing movement ahead, I looked up to see Rhett moving across the bar in my direction, a look of concern on his face.
“Baby, tell me where you are.”
“I didn’t touch them.” I hung my head, knowing that getting angry wouldn’t help matters. I continued to breathe through my irritation.
“That’s good. I don’t want you to touch them.” Who in the fuck was them?
“And I didn’t let them touch me, either. None of us are. Well, Grace is.”
“What are they doing to Grace?”
“Who’s doing something to Grace?” I looked up to find Rhett wearing a murderous glare, and he fisted his hands. I held up my hand, practically begging him to wait this out, as I continued to drag out info from my girl.
“Kitten.” I thought I heard her sigh when I said the word but ignored it. “Why are you in a closet?”
“Because I don’t want them to find me. I just want you, your voice.” She grew silent, and I plugged my ear, wanting to ensure she was still there. Hearing her ragged breath in my ear, though it was distant, gave me the reassurance that she had not ended the call. “They have on see-through underwear. I think you’d look good in them, but it’s just gross on them. Plus,” my anger levels had spiked, “you smell so much better than they do.”
“Baby, will you please tell me where you are? I want to come and get you.”
“The girls would be mad. They said it was a guys-free night. Which is confusing because there are guys here anyway.”
Looking up, I saw I was now joined by Mike and Terrance, all three of them watching me and waiting, looks of concern and pure hatred covering each of their expressions.
“Chloe?” I was met with nothing but a distant sound of music playing. “Chloe, are you there?” Again there’s nothing.
“What the hell is going on?” Mike squared his shoulders, and I knew that look. He was ready to kill someone, and frankly so was I.
“Do you know exactly where the girls went tonight?”
“Statesboro.” Mike held his own phone tightly in his hand as he looked down at the screen, his fingers moving over the lit device. “Rented a room for the five of them.”
“Why?”
“Because this is Chloe,” I hold up my phone, “and all I got was there are guys there wearing see-through underwear and she is hiding in a fucking closet.”
I felt adrenaline course through me as I said the words out loud.
“We need to find out what hotel, and we need to find out right fucking now.” My control was slipping and fast.
“Hilton Suites,” Mike barked before turning around and moving fast toward the exit of Lucky’s.
None of us questioned how he knew that; we all just jumped into action and rushed out of the bar after him. Loading up into my truck and his, we trailed behind one another. The radio was silent, and I placed the phone in the center console, hitting speaker
