Page 772 of One More Kiss
“No. No, no. I just need you to come and pick me up. I’ll explain it when you get here.”
“Okay, I’m on my way. Where are you? Do you know his address?”
“No.”
More tears stream down my face. What an idiot. How the hell did I get myself so far gone that I end up passed out in a man’s house, and do not know where I am? How irresponsible I have been. Thank God he’s not some deranged killer.
“Okay, honey, where is he? Can you ask him what his address is?”
“No, I can’t.”
“Why? You’re scaring me, Riley. You call me crying, saying you need me to pick you up, but you don’t know where you are. You say you’re not in danger and have not been harmed, but you can’t ask him what his address is. Honey, have you harmed anyone? Have you killed him? If so, I will help you hide the body, there is no need to be afraid.”
“What? No!” I’m baffled by this man that I call my best friend.
“Okay, then ask him what his address is. I need to at least know which direction to go in.”
“I can’t Ross. I locked myself in his room and don’t want to go ask him. I saw his brother and some other man with him. They ended up seeing me naked, and there is no way in hell I’m facing them after that. We have to figure out another way. Can’t you use the Find My Phone app to find me?”
“Oh, you know what, yes I can. Good thinking.”
Ross takes a few seconds to activate the app on his phone.
“Okay, sweets, I got it. You’re not far at all. I’m on my way. You sit tight. Your knight in shining armor is on the way!”
I smile through my tears and say, “Okay.”
We disconnect the call and there’s a knock on the bedroom door.
“Riley... Riley... open the door. It’s okay.”
I sit quietly on the other side of the door and listen to his plea for me to open it. He tries twisting on the knob a few times, to no avail.
“I understand how embarrassing this may be for you, but I want you to know, I’m not judging you. Just open the door so we can talk about it. I don’t want to talk to you through the door.”
His words seep through the wood and penetrate the soft side of my soul. I want to open the door and accept his explanation, but the embarrassment is too much to bear. And what about William and that other man? The shame of it. Both of my bosses have seen me running around butt naked, like a crazed woman in one of their homes, and God only knows who the other man is.
Nicholas finally gives up and walks away from the door. “Okay, I’ll be here when you’re ready to come out.”
I take a deep breath, plant my face into the palms of my hands, and sob quietly. After a few minutes, I regain my composure and remember that I am still totally naked. I scan the room and see the closet. I open the door and look through the clothes hung up there to find something decent to cover my body with. I choose one of Nicholas’s button-down shirts. I take it down from the hanger, put it on, and gather all of my belongings.
Sitting on the bed, waiting for Ross to call my cell phone, I have time to gather my thoughts, to think about what happened at the party. I have flashbacks—remembering little snippets, the worst one being me throwing up into a plant pot of some sort and clinging onto Nick.
My cell phone vibrates in my hand, and I nearly drop it. Ross’s face appears on the screen. So, I unlock the bedroom door and strut through the house, right out through the front door, without uttering one word to any of the men sitting in the living room.
Nicholas runs to the door and calls after me, but I don’t turn around, nor do I respond to him calling for me. I get into the car with Ross and we set off. From the corner of my eye, I can see all three men standing in the doorway, watching as Ross and I drive away.
* * *
Moments goby with no words being spoken between Ross and I. Ross drives while I sit in silence with my window rolled all the way down. Ashamed of my actions, I keep my face turned away from him and towards the open window, with the wind blowing through my hair.
Ross takes small, repeated glances at me while he drives. Tears escape my eyes and trail down my cheeks as I try to reconcile what I’ve done. Ross tries talking to me in a cautious and soft tone.
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on? What happened back there? I mean, last time I saw you, you told me to go home and that you would be alright. And now you call me, hysterically crying. Should I be headed to the police department?”
At first, I only gave him non-verbal communication by shaking my head no.
“Okay, well... Are you going to tell me what happened?”
