“No, he never mentioned anything to me.” I shrug, still not entirely sure what he means.
“And the night before what was supposed to be your wedding, he was here, right?” he checks.
“Not all night. I kinda lied and told him I was superstitious,” I admit. “He was being so suffocating. I was already having second thoughts as to whether I wanted to go through with it, so I asked him to stay at the garage that night. I needed a?—”
“So Greaser wasn’t here with you the night Raze went missing?” Vike starts looking really worried, and it scares me.
“For a few hours after we left the club together, but after that, I was here alone. Why?”
“Don’t worry, take your shower.” Vike gets up and comes toward me, laying a kiss on the top of my head, and I know he’s holding something back from me.
“Vike, what aren’t you telling me?” We’d made a promise not to keep things from each other.
“I need to speak to Wrath, do a little digging. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about,” he tells me, moving on through to the kitchen and leaving me suspicious.
Peyton's still lying in bed when I let myself into her beach hut. All the blinds are closed, the place is in darkness, and when the sunlight creeps in behind me, I hear her moan from under the covers.
“Sorry, I did knock,” I tell her, surprised by how messy the place is as I step inside and rest Mia’s car seat on the table. “We thought we could hang out,” I explain, as she rolls over and turns her back to me.
“I’m not in the mood for company. I just want to be alone,” she mumbles.
“I get that, but we’re worried about you. Eden has an app–”
“I don’t need to be babysat, Alicia!” she snaps at me. “Eden’s spent every waking hour with me the past few weeks. Is it so wrong for me to just want to be alone?”
“Not at all, I just wanted to let you know I’m here if you need me. I’d hate the idea of you feeling lonely.” I lift Mia’s carseat back up and head for the door.
“I’m gonna be lonely for the rest of my life.” Her sad voice comes from behind me, and when I turn around, I see her sitting up in bed, her eyes red and swollen.
“Don’t say that, we’re all here for you. We lo–”
“It doesn’t matter; none of you are him. I miss him. I spent so much of the time we were looking for him, angry with him for leaving me, and all that time he was out there in that ocean.” She looks out her window onto the beach where he was found.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be here right now. You can come stay at my place.”
Her head shakes back at me vigorously.
“No. I need to be here. What if Leo ran away again? What if…I don’t know, I just keep expecting Raze to walk back through the door. I want to wake up from this nightmare and have him tell me I was dreaming.”
“I’m sorry, Peyton.”
“Everyone’s sorry. Everyone's sad, butno oneis doing anything about it.”
“That’s not true. Wrath and the boys are gonna find out who did this. They’re trying so hard,” I try to reassure her.
“It’s obvious who fucking did this. The same person who’s been killing all these girls. Raze must have found out who he is and confronted him that night he left. He told me he had something to deal with. Well, I wish whoever it is would come here and kill me too.”
“Don’t say that.” I place Mia down again and wrap her in my arms.
“I don’t want to live in a world without Raze in it,” she sobs.
“You have to find a way, and we’re here for you every step of the way. You're allowed to feel sad. You're allowed to feel broken, but you can’t give up. Raze wouldn’t want you to.”
“We were gonna do so much together. I’m not supposed to be here on my own.” The hurt in her voice puts tears in my own eyes. “I just want him back.”
“Of course, you do,” I tell her, and when Mia starts to cry, I feel torn.
“Go to her.” Peyton sniffs. Drying her eyes with her sleeves as I lift Mia out of the seat.
