Page 6 of Dr. Sexypants

The corner of his mouth turned up when he quipped, “We’re in the neighborhood aren’t we?”

Well, shit. I’m just making an ass of myself left and right with this guy.

We passed my cul-de-sac and went two more streets, then he turned left and a few houses later, the garage door went up at a grey Craftsman with red trim. I could probably see his backyard from my bedroom window.

“I have the same floorplan,” I observed.

“You must have good taste.

I ran my hand down my body. “Obviously.”

Wait! Am I flirting right now—with Lainey’s date? While she’s missing?! What the fuck is wrong with me?

He must have picked up on my change in mood—probably the tenth in the last ten minutes—and his face went somber as he pulled into the garage and shut the Jeep off.

Unbuckling his seatbelt, he turned toward me and asked, “So, what did Google recommend?”

“Well, call the police, obviously. And try to locate her phone—which was in her purse, so that’s no help. It also suggested calling the hospital and the jail, but let’s be real—this is Haven Springs. If Lainey were in either place, I’d know about it by now. Further down, it suggested making fliers and a website or Facebook page, but that’s as far as I got.”

“Okay, let’s get started on those, then.”

I took off my seatbelt and opened the car door, glad that at least now I had something to make me feel productive while the fate of my best friend in the entire world was up in the air. I was ready to burn the whole damn town down to find her.

If it were that simple, I’d already have the gasoline and matches.

****

Justin

We’d just walked inside and I’d set my phone down on the kitchen counter when it started ringing.

“Oh my god! Who is it?” Kristy asked as she crowded next to me while I fumbled to retrieve it. “Answer it!”

The scent of her citrusy shampoo filled my nostrils, and I willed myself not to sniff her hair while I looked down to see it was Rob.

I put the phone to my ear and answered with, “Hey, buddy. Now’s not a good time.”

“Okay. Just really quick—are you on your date with Lainey? People think she’s missing.”

“Because she is.”

“Fuuuuck. This is not good! Conor already lost one parent. I don’t think the O’Briens are young enough anymore to raise their grandson. I mean, we’d step up, if absolutely necessary, and I guess there’s Lainey’s sister, Jade, so…”

Rob was dating Shawn’s little sister, Katelyn; that’s what he meant by “we”.

Kristy was close enough that she could hear what Rob said, and piped in, “You shut your mouth, Rob Flannery! Jesus Fucking Christ! Nothing like going from ‘Lainey is missing’ to straight to her demise! Conor is not going to lose his mother! Adam will move heaven and earth to find her!” She cast a guilty look at me, and said, “No offense.”

I chuckled. “None taken. Adam has obviously been spending time with Conor; why else would he have calmed down so fast when Adam held him? I can only assume that means by extension, he’s also been spending time with Lainey.”

She nodded solemnly. “Yeah, but they’ve both been too stubborn to admit they have feelings for each other. Maybe this ordeal will prompt them to figure it out.” She leaned forward and yelled into the phone, “WHEN SHE’S FOUND! Don’t you worry about ‘stepping up,’ Rob! Everything will be fine by the morning—you’ll see!”

I know Kristy refused to believe anything else, and I sure as shit wasn’t going to argue otherwise.

Rob said in a contrite tone, “Is that Kristy?”

I cast a look at her when I replied, “Yeah, it’s her.”

She lifted her chin. “Put him on speaker.”