Chapter Ten
El
I’d been watching Matt pace back and forth for almost an hour.
We had absolutely no idea where Jade was.
Our calls were going straight to voicemail. Our texts weren’t getting delivered. And her location, which she’d shared with me hours prior, said she was still at BiblioBar.
Which she wasn’t.
It was three a.m. The bar was closed, and Matt even called his friend that was a bouncer to see if anyone had seen his sister, but no one knew where she was.
Over the years, I’d watched Matt bail Jade out of trouble time and time again, but this had never happened before. And given the circumstances of her being eighteen, drinking, and being in a new environment, I could tell Matt’s mind was headed to the absolute worst places right now.
Everyone else who came back to the hockey house at the same time we did was asleep, and my eyelids felt heavy as hell, but sleep wasn’t an option at the moment.
Hands running desperately through his hair, Matt’s breathing grew shallower, louder, like he was struggling to catch his breath.
It wasn’t just panic for him— it was more than that.
And I felt partially to blame for encouraging him to let her stay at the bar.
“Did you try messaging her friends on social media?” I asked softly.
“I don’t remember their names,” he admitted.
“Her roommate?”
“I don’t remember her name either.”
Fuck.
I sat like a statue on the couch, sinking into the old cushions. My eyes scanned side to side, following Matt each time he went back and forth.
“Matt, we’ll find her.”
“Should I call the police?”
“No, not yet. They can’t do anything yet,” I said.
With every second that passed, I grew more worried for Jade, but also more worried for Matt. I could’ve sworn I could hear his heartbeat rampaging inside his ribcage, about to burst out of his chest and explode in a mess on the floor.
Jade was the closest thing I had to a little sister. I loved her like one, and if I was being honest, I was panicking too, but I was trying not to show it.
When Matt spoke, it sounded like his lungs were on their last breath, gasping quietly. “Fuck this.”
I watched him speed to the kitchen table and swipe his keys off it. He moved in double time— going from his keys to his wallet to his shoes.
“I’m going to look for her. Stay here in case she shows up,” he instructed.
I winced. Something about the idea of splitting up right now was brutal. “Okay,” I gulped.
When Matt reached for me, I stood. He wrapped me up in his arms, and for the first time since we got back from the bar, he seemed to have a split second of relief, releasing a tiny sigh against my hair.
He was so warm, so comfortable against me. I squeezed my eyes shut in an attempt to ease up too, but before I could even reopen them, he was out the door.
Grabbing the nearest blanket, I moved to the front room. I swaddled myself up and sat at the table, watching out the window for Matt or Jade or really anyone at all.