Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 89(@250wpm)___ 74(@300wpm)
It’s not my phone, which I have on vibrate, but just out of habit, I glance back anyway.
What I see is a message on Grant’s half-open laptop sitting on the floor by his suitcase. I almost turn away—almost. But then I see who the message is from.
McKenzie.
Okay. McKenzie has every right to be messaging Grant. That’s what I immediately tell myself. And it’s the truth. She does. They’re friends. She invited him to her wedding, and if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have even met him.
But at the same time, something about it just feels weird to me. I’m protective of Grant now, and to have another girl sending him messages has my protective instincts kicking in, so I take a step closer and squint my eyes to read the message at the awkward angle from which I’m standing.
I just sent you the money. Good work, dude! She totally fell for you!
I can’t even describe the feeling that goes through me when I read those words. Confusion, anger, heartbreak, bewilderment. But at the same time, I basically freeze all over.
This can’t be, right?
The she that McKenzie is referring to can’t be me, can it?
“Hey, babe!” Grant calls out from the bathroom. “You coming to join me?”
The sound of his voice unfreezes me, and I instantly call back, “Yeah, be right there!”
I know I really shouldn’t do this, but I kneel down and fully open his laptop, exposing the rest of the conversation between him and McKenzie. And what I see causes my heart to shatter into pieces.
13
Grant
“Babe, are you coming?” I call out for the fifth time. “Babe?”
If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was shouting out to an empty room. But Allie said she was coming to join me, and she was smiling and giggling when she said that, so I know she wasn’t just lying because she didn’t know how to say no to me.
And wow, the way that smile lights me up inside. With Allie by my side, I don’t think it’s ever possible for my life to feel dark again. She’s just so wonderful, and I would be sick without her.
“Babe!” I call out, louder this time. I hope whoever shares the room next door is awake by now. If not, they’re definitely going to be pissed off at all the racket I’m making. “You coming to join me or should I just dry off?”
I wait, but again, there’s no answer. Okay, this is getting weird now.
I did hear the sound of the door earlier, but I assumed that was just whoever it was who was knocking. And if Allie had to leave for some reason for emergency bridesmaid duties—whatever those could possibly be—why wouldn’t she just come in and let me know she was going?
There’s something strange going on.
I shut off the water and grab my towel from the rack. I’m drying off as I step into the bedroom, which I find completely empty, with no sign of Allie.
“What the hell?” I mutter.
This is strange, and an uneasy feeling quickly settles over me. I glance around the room as I finish drying off and slip into some briefs, trying to find any signs of where Allie may have gone. It’s then I notice that her suitcase is missing from the side of the bed where it was sitting.
That’s odd…
My whole body instantly goes tense.
Why would her bag be gone when we have the wedding this afternoon? Her phone is missing from the bedside table as well.
And it’s then that I see it—my laptop sitting wide open on the floor, my entire chain of messages from McKenzie on full display. My heart immediately sinks, and panic sets in.
“Oh, shit.” I squat down and see a brand-new message from McKenzie and exactly what it says. “No, McKenzie, you didn’t…”
I know then exactly what happened while I was in the shower waiting for Allie to join me, and I start getting dressed as fast as I can.
I need to catch her before she’s off the property. I don’t even bother putting on my shoes. Just jeans and a T-shirt and I’m out the door, sprinting down the hallway to the stairs.
This is an absolute disaster. My heart is pounding like it’s about to split out of my ribcage and tear out of my chest.
Why, McKenzie? Why? Why did you have to send that now?
I take the stairs two at a time and run straight into a member of the staff carrying an armful of dishes. We both topple over, and the dishes go everywhere.
“Hey, what the fuck, man!?” the guy curses at me.
“I am so sorry!” I apologize, helping him to his feet. I find a five-dollar-bill in my pocket and hand it to him. “I’d help you more with this if I could, but—listen, have you seen the most beautiful girl in the world come by here? It would have been like minutes ago.”