“You all right back there?” the driver asked as he weaved around traffic.
“Fine. I just need to get to my girl.”
“Well, sit back. You’re making me nervous.”
Willowwas making me nervous. I just needed to talk to her.
I tapped my fingers and bounced my feet as time flew by and traffic slowed. We eased over the East River at a snail’s pace. Tail lights flashed in a symphony as the crawl came to a halt.
“No, no, no,” I muttered under my breath as I tried to reach Willow again. I didn’t want her to think I wasn’t coming. “What’s the hold-up?” I asked the driver.
“Construction. Lanes are closed up ahead.”
I did the math in my head. The hotel wasn’t close, but I had been running in the Kansas heat all summer, and the fall weather in New York was cool and breezy.
“Let me out here.”
The driver craned over the seat. “What? Are you crazy?”
“Probably,” I said as I pulled out more bills than necessary to cover the fare and hopped out of the backseat.
Horns blared as I sprinted between cars and hauled ass down 2nd Avenue. I counted the blocks in my head as I ran, mentally ticking them off like a checklist.
Do the next one faster than the last. Push harder. Breathe deeper.
The temperatures were blissful, but the air was thick.
My lungs ached and burned with a fiery vengeance as I turned a corner.
Nine more blocks.
Eight more blocks.
Seven more blocks.
Six more blocks.
I thought I felt my phone vibrating from my pocket, but I wasn’t slowing down to check. I had a death grip on the book, probably leaving sweat marks from my hands on the cover.
Five more blocks.
Four more blocks.
Three more blocks.
I slowed, my joints throbbing as I neared the last two blocks.No. I couldn’t stop now.I picked up my pace and ran like my life depended on it.
Because it did. I was finding Willow, and I wasn’t letting her go.
Two more blocks.
One more block.
The hotel entrance came into view. I leaped up the steps and darted through the lobby.
“Good afternoon. How can I help?—”
I passed the front desk receptionist without a second glance, passed the elevator, and headed for the stairs.
