Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 73930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“Are you okay? Did she hurt you?” There’s an angry roar in my head — a muffled sound as if I’m underwater. Even though she’s sitting right here apparently unharmed, I need to know that Autumn hasn’t been physically hurt.
“She didn’t hurt me. I haven’t even seen her, but I won’t be able to play at Rusty’s tomorrow.”
Her performance. The first step in her musical career.
“Why would she do that?” I ask.
Autumn shakes her head vigorously and reaches for another tissue from the box on her desk. “I don’t know. I have no idea.”
“But you know it was her?”
She shrugs and pulls apart one of the tissues that’s soaked with her tears. “I don’t know for certain, but I can’t imagine who else it would be. Kelly starts work early; she’s always gone before I wake up, and I can’t imagine her doing it. It couldn’t have been Trevor or Adrian.” Then she looks up at me. “Right?”
Does she suspect them? “When did they leave?”
“When I was in the shower.”
“This morning?” I confirm.
She sniffles and nods, looking back at her lap where she continues to shred the tissue.
“Do you think they did it?” I ask her. I can’t imagine it. Even if the men had a fight with her before they left, I just can’t see them behaving that way. Also, I saw how they looked at her last night. It wasn’t just about fooling around with a virgin for them. They seemed truly interested in her, and they treated her with respect. Unless they’re professional actors as well as strippers, there’s no way they did this to her.
“No. Do you think they would do that?” she asks, her red eyes wide.
I shake my head. “No, I don’t. Have you been fighting with Lindsey lately?”
“Not really. We’ve never been the best of friends, though. You know I live there because of Kelly, but I don’t know why she would do this, and why now. I’m going to have to call Rusty’s and cancel, and they’re going to think I’m completely unprofessional.”
“No, don’t cancel. Not yet,” I say, not sure why not, except I know how much this gig means to her, and I don’t want her to be heartbroken. “Can you get a replacement for your guitar?”
She visibly winces at the question before shaking her head. “They’re not cheap — not good ones — and I’m already within an inch of maxing out of my credit card. I splurged on new clothes for the show and had some other expenses.” She hangs her head again, and I’m overcome with the desire to make everything okay.
No, it’s not a desire. It’s a need. I need to make everything okay for her.
“What do they cost?” I ask, and then I’m the one wincing when she answers.
“A good one is at least five hundred dollars. The guitar I had was around seven hundred.”
“And is there someplace we can buy one before tomorrow night?” I ask.
She lets out a heavy sigh. “There’s a music store in Green County, but like I said, I don’t have the money.”
“I’ll take care of it. I’ll drive you there after work.”
Autumn shakes her head. “I can’t let you do that.”
“And I can’t let you miss your first performance.” When she opens her mouth to protest, I say, “Don’t worry. Everything will be okay. I’ll be back. I need to go make a call.”
With Autumn so distraught, I’d like to be able to tell her to go home and rest, but her home is the problem, and there’s no way I want her going back there alone.
The conference room is available, so I go inside, close the door behind me, and find Trevor in my contacts, glad I thought to exchange numbers with him and Adrian.
“Garrett?” Trevor answers after several rings, sounding out of breath.
“Where are you?” I ask.
“Home,” he says. “Adrian and I are working out. What’s up? Is Autumn okay?”
Instead of answering, I say, “Can you do a FaceTime call?”
His tone is more serious when he says, “Yeah, but Duke is here too.”
“Who?”
“Duke, the guard from the club. You met him last night?”
How could I forget Duke, the massive man who hit on Autumn every time he saw her. “It’s fine. This doesn’t have to be private, but I need to talk to you and Adrian.”
24
Duke
Autumn’s name caught my attention, and when Trevor’s voice turned serious, I set down my weight to listen.
“Garrett wants to talk to us on a video call,” Trevor says to Adrian, who’s in the middle of a leg lift set.
“Right now?”
Trevor nods.
“What’s going on?” I ask, not giving a shit that I’m being nosy.
He shakes his head and shrugs. “No idea. Come over here,” he says, gesturing to Adrian.
Trevor’s phone pings as Adrian goes over to him, and then there’s another voice in the room with us.