Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101902 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101902 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 510(@200wpm)___ 408(@250wpm)___ 340(@300wpm)
We parted ways a short moment later. He disappeared inside, and I lost him in the crowd. I headed for the bar with my brain properly fucked. DM on duty or not, I needed a beer. It wasn’t as if I was monitoring any actual scenes, just…grinding.
I nodded at Penelope as I reached the bar where Shay and Cam were slinging shots like pros.
Oh…a few shots must’ve somehow ended up in their stomachs too. Both were wearing goofy grins as they took orders.
Locking eyes with Penelope again, I jerked my chin behind the bar. I wasn’t planning on standing in line. I joined the boys on their side and opened the beer fridge, and Penelope snuck back there too.
“Are you okay?” she yelled over the music.
I nodded and twisted the cap off the bottle. “More than! Thanks for covering for me!”
“No problem! Ivy asked me to tell you that she prepared the paperwork to add your friend as a member!”
Oh, for chrissakes. I snorted and took a swig of my beer.
Why was I not surprised?
In a space where everyone was moving to the music, it was easy to get stuck on the one person who came to a standstill in the wide doorway leading to the lobby. I saw Archie in the dim light, and I smiled at him. Tuesday couldn’t come fast enough.
He smiled back and offered a two-finger wave, then turned away and walked out of the house.
Yeah, I was definitely more than okay.
CHAPTER 7
Goddammit. Still no response from Corey.
I sighed and sat down on the porch steps.
Sloan squinted up at the façade of the house. “Feels really good to get back to kink again.”
I huffed a tired chuckle and ran a hand through my hair.
It hadn’t been a great day for either of us. Even by a Monday standard. Two of my deliveries had gotten mixed up because Ben was having an even shittier day, so I’d had to work late. Then when I picked up Sloan, he told me he’d had the worst day in months, and now he was worried about getting sacked from the auto shop where he was a mechanic. Which was his bastard boss’s fault. And now this. We’d come out to the house in Mclean, and Corey wasn’t here.
“If I wasn’t worried about the kid, I would’ve called the whole thing off already,” I muttered.
But I was worried.
Considering the circumstances and the possible abuse, I’d confided in Sloan on the way out here. I’d messaged Lucas and Reese too, and we were going to meet up soon to discuss Corey. It wasn’t like him to just not show up.
I checked the time. He was almost an hour late.
“Are you friends with him on social?” Sloan asked. “You can usually see when a person was last online. That’s how I know if Jason goes to bed on time.”
Jesus, what was it with all these stalking methods? “Parenthood turned you into a criminal.”
“No joke.” He smirked and sat down next to me, and I opened my phone to check Facebook. I remembered Corey had friended me on there. “Go to Messenger instead.”
Oh. Okay.
“Type in his name up there,” he instructed next. I typed in Corey Cruz and— “Oh, he’s online. That green dot means he’s currently active. But, with that said, if he’s anything like Jason, he could just have his computer running, and it’s kinda hard for you to check.”
I frowned and opened the Facebook app again. Maybe he’d posted something recently. And it turned out he had. As soon as I landed on his page, I scrolled down to find several posts from some online game. Five minutes ago, he was asking for lives. Seven minutes ago, friends that played the same game could collect a bonus.
“Jesus, he’s adorable,” Sloan said. “Look at those eyes. He’s got mischief written all over.”
I exhaled. To be honest, I was too relieved to get pissy with the boy. “At least he’s not wrapped around a tree somewhere in that toy car of his, and he hasn’t been chained to a bed in Marcus’s basement.”
Was Sloan paying attention? Because he seemed to find it more important to zoom in on Corey’s profile picture.
“That’s enough gawking, Daddy,” I said.
He eased off. “My bad. I know you’re worried, buddy. But it could also be nothing.”
Maybe. Maybe not.
After pocketing my phone, I scrubbed my hands over my face and tried to come up with a new plan. I knew Corey and Marcus were gonna be out here next week for a demo. If I couldn’t get in touch with him before then, I’d have to ambush them both. In the meantime, I was gonna take a page from Sloan’s book and keep an eye on the kid’s online status.
One thing was certain, though. Corey wasn’t acting himself. He may be a brat of epic proportions, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t well-mannered. He always had been. A brat knew when to turn it off, when playtime was over. He’d never been late or ungrateful or obstinate.