Page 41

Sweetheart

I need yo u daddy i cant stop thinkig about your mouth on me i wish youd com e get me because i neeed it. i need you

Layla needs you.

Shit. What if she accepted a ride from someone? What if she walked all alone in the dark, drunk and fucking vulnerable and someone took advantage of her? Took her and…

I don’t know where to go. Do I go to the club? These are from two hours ago. Should I check her place instead? My adrenaline is pumping harder than it has in years. Goddamn her, why isn’t she picking up? Why is her phone fucking dead now?

I decide to drive downtown and pass the nightlife but I don’t see much. It looks like people are calling it quits for the night and heading home. Fuck, I don’t see her. Do I get out and look? No. Check if she’s home first.

I quickly drive to her apartment, and I throw my truck in park and hop out, the door slamming. Please, fucking be here. The broken door allows me entry, and I walk up the flights of stairs until I reach her door and pound on it.

After a minute, the sound of locks sliding through metal hits my ears, and the door slowly opens. “Kane?”

When I hear her voice, relief floods my entire body. Thank you, God. I move forward, fully opening her door to pull her against me. “Fuck, sweetheart. Why is your phone off?”

“Oh, um, it’s on the charger now, it took forever to get home so it died. Did…you call me?”

“Did I call you? You called me, Layla. You told me you were all but abandoned in the middle of the damn night at a club downtown, and then you went MIA. Why did you do that?”

“Sorry, someone ended up offering me a ride and then he wouldn’t really leave me alone so…I went on my way to walk to the subway, but then I guess the train was down. So I had to keep walking until a bus came, because only one was running, and⁠—”

“Why didn’t you plan this better? Why would your friend just leave without you?”

“Well, I told her to, because her girlfriend started not to feel well. Well, I think she just didn’t like me, so…”

She rubs her arm, and I let out a breath. Fuck, I was so stressed. I fucked up so badly. I should’ve stayed up longer. I knew she was going out tonight, I should’ve anticipated that she’d need me. “I’m sorry.”

She tilts her head. “Huh? For what?”

“For not answering. I should’ve been there. I won’t make that mistake again.”

“What? That isn’t your fault. I was being an airhead anyway…I spent the last of my money on drinks so I couldn’t order a ride. I was stupid,” she explains with a smile.

“Why didn’t you ask me?”

“For money?”

“Anything. You can’t just…go out and fucking strand yourself somewhere in the middle of the night, Layla. Do you know what could’ve happened to you?”

“Sorry.” Her voice is quiet, and I know I’ve been raising mine. I take a breath, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“Don’t do that to me again. I thought you were in danger.”

“Were you really that worried about me?”

Was I worried? “Look at me. I just fucking drove through all of downtown looking for you before I came here. Never. Again. Do you hear me?”

She nods, and I relent. I take a moment to look her over, and shit. “This is what you wore tonight?” She nods again. “You seriously walked yourself around downtown at ungodly hours of the night in that?”

“Do you not like it?” Her voice is small again, and she looks down at herself.

Fuck, I don’t know how to talk to women.

“I like it, okay? But I’m worried about who else likes it. The type of scum who gallivant around at that time of night in this part of town, sweetheart.”

“Are you mad?”