“Where is she?”
He laughed. “What’s it to you?”
“Where is she?” I repeated, raising my fist in warning.
“She packed her things and left.”
“When?” I stalked up to him and gripped his shirt, shaking him. “When did she go? What direction?”
He laughed more, spittle landing on my arms as he looked out at the sandy lawn. As his eyes lolled, I realized even if he did tell me, I couldn’t trust it. He was too drunk to focus.
I released him, sending him on his ass before bolting back to my truck. The amount of tracks—some too wide to be from her small sedan—covering the sand were too many, and too hard to follow.
I beat my palms into the steering wheel, then went with my gut and drove back to my house.
She wouldn’t leave me.
She wouldn’t.
She wouldn’t.
I drove down my street, and saw no Crown Vic.
I drove through town as all the street lights came on, then by the school.
No Crown Vic.
My hands shook as I tried somewhere we talked about going, checking the street and driveway where the grad party was taking place.
Nodamngold Crown Victoria anywhere.
And I had a gut feeling whose fault it was as I stormed past a parked truck on a streamer-covered driveway and made my way inside the house.
“Hey. Glad you came.” Jared clapped his hand on my shoulder as I entered the living room, but my blinding anger made it hard to focus on him. “Where’s Lyra?”
“Don’t know.” My fury-filled gaze darted around the room. “Where the hell is Noah?”
“What’d he do now?”
“I don’t know, but I know he’s the reason.”
“Reason?”
My jaw clenched. Hard. “Where is he, Jared?”
My best friend sighed. “He went upstairs with some—hey! Don’t do it, Carver!” Jared’s voice faded as I ran up the stairs, kicking in the doors until the last one gave me what I wanted.
A girl shrieked and ran topless from the room, but Noah—he was smirking from the edge of the bed.
“Look who showed up. What happened? Not leavin’ town no more?”
My blood boiled. “What the fuck did you do?”
He shrugged. “I dunno what—”
I punched him in his gut as he stood, sending him back down.
He forced a laugh out through a fit of coughs. “Come on, Carver. You thought she wanted you?”
