Page 113 of The King Contract
The next few moments are a blur as Dan and Mack fill Ellis in. It’s not until Ellis snaps me out of my stupor by pinching my arm that I mentally come back into the room.
“I’m going to clean this up,” Ellis says. “Why don’t you take Winston home?”
I shake my head. “No. No, I can help.”
“Take yourself and Winston home,” she instructs. “I’ll be there once it’s sorted here.”
I don’t argue with her as I robotically gather my belongings and round-up Winston. I don’t know if I thank the guys for showing up or what the three of them say as I leave the shop. I get in the car with Ellis’ innocent dog and drive home, the rain pouring as tears roll down my eyes.
47
NOAH
The best thing to happen to her
My heart sinksat the sight of the almost empty lot when the car pulls up in front of Beans. The downpour meant traffic was slow and even with the driver hurtling to get here, it took too long. I chuck an extra fifty dollars at him and ask him to take Callum to my house, so he doesn’t wake up in his own home without a phone, and likely, without a memory of tonight.
I stumble on the slippery surface beneath me as I hurtle up the ramp and yank the door handle. The door opens and I run inside to an empty room, dimmed lights and Ellis standing behind the far counter, glaring at me with the wrath of a woman who wants to tear my dick off.
“Fuck!” I run my hand through my soaked hair.
“That’s one word for it.” Her gaze darts to the water I’ve left on the floor. “I just cleaned that. Is your goal today to piss off as many people as possible?”
“I’m sorry,” I pant, looking around the room. “Is Millie here?”
Ellis reaches for a champagne flute, polishing it with a cloth. “Why do you want to know? So, you can break her heart in person? Try to justify how much you suck?”
Double fuck.
“Is shehere?” I press.
Ellis finishes polishing the glass and places it inside a box. “No.”
“Shit.” I march to where Ellis stands and walk behind the counter to the phone charger plugged into the wall. I whip my phone out of my dampened pocket and plug it in. “How mad is she?”
“On a scale from one to you being absolutely fucked?” Ellis throws an insincere smile over her shoulder at me, before it transforms into a look of disgust.
“I forgot about daylight savings,” I hiss, my foot bouncing as I wait for my phone to come to life. “I messed up the times and . . .” I want to explain, but it’s not Ellis I need to explain to. The thought of Millie waiting for me to arrive and not receiving even a phone call from me to explain makes me sick.
“Daylight savings?” Ellis drawls, her mouth forming into a snarl. “That’s what you’re going with?”
“I know it’s not an excuse.”
“Sounds like it,” Ellis quips.
“I need to talk to Millie.” I try to stay calm, ignoring the heat creeping up my neck, threatening to engulf my body. “I need to explain why I couldn’t get here.”
Ellis drops her polishing cloth and turns to face me front-on. “Oh, we know why you couldn’t get here. The whole goddamnedworldknows why you couldn’t get here.”
My heart hammers. “I don’t . . . wait . . . what?”
My phone comes to life and buzzes uncontrollably in my hand. At first, I think it’s glitching, but full-blown panic sets in at the number of messages and missed call notifications flying in.
“What the hell . . . ?”
“You think Millie’s pissed at you because you missed her show?” Her voice is laced with an edge that makes my stomach drop. “It might have something to do withwhy.”
Ignoring Ellis, I swipe through to see the missed messages from Millie during her show, asking how far away I am and if I’m okay, and the group chat blowing up. When my eye catches the images Mack sent with a big‘CODE RED! CODE FUCKING RED!’underneath them, my stomach rolls. Someone at that party captured photos of Sofia’s fleeting kiss to my mouth, and I’ll be damned if it doesn’t look like we’re both lust-filled lovers, reuniting in a cosy nook of a room.
