My phone lights upfor the umpteenth time as I stumble through my front door. Elijah has been relentlessly calling me.
Fuck him. Let him cry on Gabriel’s shoulder.
Aggressively, I shove my palms into my eyes. I’m fucking drunk and horny… and god do I wish I had someone to fuck right now.
Pretty eyes…
Ugh, stop Alex!
I stagger into my bedroom and throw myself across the bed, dismissing the thought of removing my clothes. I manage to kick off my boots, but that’s the extent of my undressing. My phone lights up again. I’m about to turn the damn thing off when I notice it’s Emilee.
Jesus. Just what I fucking need.
“Hi Em.” I cough, putting the phone on speaker.
“Hey, Daddy. Are you sleeping?”
“Yes, Em. I’m sleeping. Alone!”
“Oookay, I just asked if you were sleeping, Dad, not if you were sleeping with somebody. Are you okay?”
“Fine.” I slur, myfsounding like ans. “I’ll see you in two days.”
“Have you been drinking, Dad?”
I run my tongue over my lips. “I’ve been eating strawberries.”
“What? Strawberries? Okay, Dad, this is too weird. Anyway, Ana’s grandparents will be taking me to the airport. Gabriel had to leave yesterday on a very important business trip.”
Don’t I fucking know.
“You knew that?”
Damn it!
I run my hands through my hair. This thinking out loud has to stop.
“Em, I have to go. I think I’m gonna be sick.”
“From strawberries?”
“Yeah, yeah. Strawberries, Em.”
“Alright, Dad. I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
Thank fucking God.
I power down my phone and toss it off the side of the bed. It clatters loudly across the hardwood floor, and I screw my eyes shut with a grimace. My room is spinning and spinning, like a ballet dancer—with pretty eyes and glossy lips, and I spin right into nothingness as the alcohol permeates my brain, and I fall into an abyss.
25
ELIJAH
“Damn it!”
I’ve been trying to reach Alex for hours now. Calls go straight to voicemail. Texts—nothing. No read receipts. No typing bubbles. Just silence.
I even went by his apartment earlier. Nothing. No sign he’s been back. No lights. No him.
