15. Nikita #3
After the movie, I keep holding her while we make plans for her to move in.
She’s no longer a freshman, so she’s not required to live at the sorority house, and there’s actually a waitlist for rooms, which will work to our advantage.
There’s more than enough space in the apartment for both of us, and she’ll end up being a few minutes closer to her parents.
We decide to invite them over for supper next week and then surprise them with the news.
I think her parents genuinely like me, but we’ll know for sure after that conversation.
This weekend is easily the best I’ve ever had.
I experience the kind of life I never once thought was possible.
The nightmares don’t stop, but when I wake from one and feel the warmth of her body pressed against mine, it makes them fade far quicker than they ever have before.
She’s a constant reminder that there’s good in life.
It’s so easy to forget that, but I remember it every time I look at her.
On Sunday we make a trip to her sorority to pack up her stuff and then spend most of Monday unpacking and getting her settled in.
I put together a bookshelf I ordered for her while she unpacks her classwork and starts organizing it how she wants.
She’s using one of the spare rooms as an office space.
I’ll need to move my stuff into another room at some point because having my work so close to the bed is no longer appealing to me.
I’m moving her bookshelf against the wall when I hear the horrified gasp she gives.
Turning to her, my first thought is that she saw a bug, but then she looks at me and points to her laptop screen.
“Dr. Ellison found a huge error in my paper. He said that one of my sources is wrong. I based my whole argument on that.”
Her head is already in her hands by the time I cross the room. I wrap my arm around her while I lean over and read the email.
“He said it can be fixed,” I tell her, trying to make her feel better, “and he wants to meet and go over your options. I’m sure it’ll be okay, Van.
” I kiss her head when she lets out another groan.
I know how much work she put into this paper and how much of her grade is based on it. “Maybe he made a mistake,” I say.
“Dr. Ellison doesn’t make mistakes.” She leans back against me and closes her eyes. “I fucked up. I was working hard to try and get it done, and I must’ve gotten it wrong somehow.”
Guilt hits me. I know why she was working so hard, pushing herself when she was tired and probably staying up way too late so she could be done with it before this weekend.
“I’m sorry, Van,” I tell her. “This is my fault.”
“It is absolutely not your fault,” she says.
Opening her eyes, she leans forward and starts to type a reply, asking when he can meet.
His response is almost immediate. His message says he’s in his office getting caught up on paperwork and he can meet her today, right now if she can make it over there.
She turns her head to look at me. I can tell by the worry in her eyes what she’s about to ask, so I kiss the tip of her nose and say, “Of course you need to meet him now. I’ll drive you over there, okay? I can bring my laptop and work in the car.”
“I don’t want you to be miserable.”
“I won’t be. My car is very comfortable,” I tell her while she types her reply.
When she’s sent it, she asks, “But don’t you need the internet to work?”
I laugh before I can stop it because she’s just too goddamn cute sometimes. “I have something that lets me connect to the internet no matter where I am.”
The soft blush that hits her cheeks has me pulling her in for a much deeper kiss.
Even though she’s worried about her paper and I know she’s in a rush to get over there, she relaxes fully against me and opens her mouth for more.
Savanna always kisses me with everything she has.
She puts her heart and soul into it, and even before she ever mentioned the word love to me, I felt it in her kiss.
Her heart is too big for her to hide. One of the many things I love about her.
When she pulls back, I squeeze her ass and say, “Get your stuff, baby, and try not to worry. This will all be fine. I promise.”
She nods and starts to pack up her laptop before slinging the messenger bag over her shoulder.
It’s a move that’s completely nonsexual, but it always makes my cock stir.
I hurry up and grab my own bag, stuffing it full of everything I’ll need.
We quickly leave, and by the time I pull up in front of the education building, she’s so nervous she’s fidgeting.
“It’s going to be fine, Van. I know you can fix it and still get an A. I know nothing about writing academic papers, but I’ll help in any way I can.”
She leans over and kisses me. “You don’t need to write academic papers. You came out of the womb a genius.”
“I almost hate to correct you on that because I like that you think so highly of me, but I’m not a genius, Van. I’m just pretty decent with a computer.”
She snorts out a laugh and kisses my nose ring before leaning back and opening the car door.
“I guess it’s good you don’t realize how brilliant you are.
If you did, then you’d be one of those annoying know-it-all jackasses.
” She motions to the campus around us. “There are enough of those floating around here already.”
“I’ll try my best to never be one of those,” I tell her. “Text me when you’re done or if you need me. I love you, Van.”
She steps out and then dips down to give me a big, dimple-showing smile. “I love you too, Niki.”
I watch her walk to the building, and I’m still grinning like an idiot when she turns to give me a wave before walking inside.
Knowing it might be a while, I grab my laptop and settle in.
When thirty minutes go by, I don’t think much of it.
When forty-five minutes come and go, I send her a quick text asking if she’s okay.
There’s no answer, and I try to tell myself that there are a million reasons why this isn’t a bad sign, but my gut is screaming at me that something is wrong, and that’s what I listen to.
Reaching over, I grab the gun that I always keep in my messenger bag and get out of the car.
I tuck it against the small of my back and then jog to the entrance.
Campus is quiet since it’s a holiday, and it doesn’t take me long before I’m inside and racing down the hall towards her mentor’s office.
I know exactly where it is. I know where every location on campus is that relates to her.
When I reach his closed door, I knock and tell myself I’m going to feel like a real idiot when he opens it and everything is fine.
That’s what I hope for anyway. I’ll gladly look like a paranoid dumbass if that door opens and I see Savanna safe and sound.
No one answers the door, and when I open it and find an empty office with a chair turned over and a leather messenger bag on the floor with her phone on top, I feel everything inside me grow cold.
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I run back out and search the hall for any sign of her while I call my dad.
He hears the panic in my voice when I explain what happened, and then he tells me he’ll call the others and that they’ll meet me out front.
“We’ll find her, son. I promise you we’re going to find her,” is the last thing he says before he hangs up.
I’m too panicked to think that far ahead, the very idea that I might not be able to find her is something my brain won’t even allow me to contemplate right now.
I search the building, but it’s fucking empty, and there’s nothing outside but my parked car.
I feel like I can’t breathe as I grab my phone again.
My brother picks up on the first ring, and when I don’t say anything, he asks, “What’s wrong, Niki?”
“Van’s gone,” I tell him, hearing the distraught sound of my own voice. “He took her. Cupid fucking took her, and I have no idea where she is.”
He’s one of the few people who truly understands how helpless I feel, so I’m not surprised when his response is immediate and exactly what I need to hear.
“I’m on my way, little brother. We’re going to get her back, and we won’t stop until we do.”
I nod, even though he can’t see me and hang up.
I had the whole fucking world in my hands, and I just let it slip away.
I watched her walk away from me, too busy grinning like an idiot to notice the danger that she was walking into.
I will never forgive myself for failing her, but it’s something I can regret every day for the rest of my life after she’s back home with me safe.
Right now she needs me, and I need to find her because I can’t live without her.
When the others arrive, they find me in Ellison’s office. I don’t know if he’s a victim in all this or behind it somehow, but I’m about to find out.