Chapter Thirteen
Max
Tera doesn’t join us for lunch, and I’m trying not to smile. She has to be pissed that she didn’t get an orgasm.I can’t wait to go back in there and gloat about how good it felt to finally have her hands on me. It will piss both of them off at the same time if I’m lucky. I wonder what Tera’s punishments will be?
I’m getting ahead of myself, but I’m too damn excited for patience anymore. It’s happening. No more waiting. It’s a weight off my shoulders I didn’t know was there.
Trevor is silent as he scowls at his sandwich. He stabs at his potato salad without eating much. He needs to have more after his pain medication, or he’ll get nauseous.
I nudge him under the table with my foot and stare at his plate. His hands stop moving, and then he takes the hint and starts eating until it’s all gone.
I’ve already finished, and I’m fidgeting. I can’t wait to get back to her. When Trev takes his last bite, I jump out of my seat like a spring is under my ass.
“Is Tera still asleep?” Andi glances between us. Her face is filled with concern. That expression is worse today than yesterday.
I feel a little bad about it but not by much. She did this to herself. I’m not going to show her mercy.
“No, she was supposed to join us,” Trevor scowls at the door.
“I’ll grab her something,” I give him a pointed look and gesture to the door.
Trevor takes his time getting up and leaving. His walk looks normal to everyone else.
Only I notice the slight winces, the slow movements that are way too careful to be leisurely. He’s done this act for so long that it’s second nature to him now. I wish he would just tell them he’s hurting and fuck today. He has too much pride for that, though. Stubborn dickhead.
I get a turkey sandwich, her favorite, and a lot of potato salad, then head out.
The office door is open when I walk in. My grin falters when I don’t see her.
“Bathroom?” I turn to Trevor.
“I don’t know,” he grumbles and leans back in his chair to try and relax.
“I’ll be back.”
I leave the food and look into the women’s bathroom, hoping to startle her. Then, the men’s room. Huh.
She isn’t anywhere I look. I even go upstairs to make sure she isn’t playing a game with me. Nothing.
Did I miss her?
I get back to the office and Trevor’s eyes crack open.
“You find her?”
“No,” I look around like she’s hiding somewhere. I check under the desk, too. I’ve spent a lot of time under there. If it can fit me, she could use it as an apartment.
“Her computer is here,” Trev motions to it. The screen has gone blank with how long it’s been inactive.
“Something’s not right.” I say the words out loud as I rub the back of my neck. I have a feeling of impending doom slowly trickling into my system. I don’t like this.
“Relax. She’s fine,” Trevor’s eyes close again.
I can’t relax. She isn’t here. How is he not freaked out right now? Fuck, his meds are messing with him. He’s almost asleep.
I pace around the main room and go outside to see if she’s taking one of her famous ‘breathers.’
I walk around the entire building before I notice that her car is gone.
That sick feeling hits me in the gut like a punch now.
I rush back to the office. I have to push past Sal when she steps in my way. I don’t have time for her petty bullshit.
“Trev,” I snap.
“What?” He barks back. He doesn’t open his eyes.
“Her car is gone.”
“What?” His eyes open, but they’re heavy-lidded.
“Tera’s car is gone,” I look around the floor for her purse. It’s missing, too.
“What the fuck?” I pull a hand through my hair in frustration. “Did she get scared? I came on way too strong. Did I fuck it up?”
Trev leans his elbows onto the desk in confusion. “She was fine.”
“Then where the fuck is she?” I stifle the shout into a terse tone.
“I don’t know,” Trev pulls out his phone and scrolls to her name.
I hear it ringing and her sunny voice telling him to leave a message.
“Hey, babygirl. Where are you? Call me back. It’s Trevor.”
His voice is listless as he speaks. Damn it, I need angry Trevor right now, not drugged up on pain meds Trevor.
“Did she say anything after I walked out?” I start pacing in front of the desk as fear mixes with frustration.
“I told her,” he cuts himself off with a frown. He looks like he’s trying to remember but can’t quite reach it.
“You told her what?” I try to help him draw the memory out.
“She looked sad.”
“What? When?” She was fine. She was frustrated and flushed and beautiful with her little pout.
“I don’t know,” he rubs a hand over his face wearily.
“Did you ask her what was wrong? Tell her to take a drive?” I prompt, hoping he’ll snap out of this for just a second.
His eyes meet mine. I see when he remembers. His face pales and his eyes flare with regret.
“What happened?” My eyes narrow over his reaction. What would he have to regret with her? I thought we were finally in this thing together.
He rubs a hand over his mouth. His eyes skip away from mine and don’t return.
“What did you do?” My tone falls into a threat before I’m aware of how pissed off I’m getting.
“I didn’t mean it,” he chokes out, and the anger slowly starts to build into rage.
“What happened, Trevor?” I demand for what feels like the thousandth time.
“I didn’t mean it,” he insists again. Guilt is written all over him, and I don’t believe a word he’s saying right now.
“So I left for five fucking minutes, and she gets a full dose of the real side of you? What did you say?”
“She was really upset before…”
“Yeah, before. She was a fuck ton better when I walked out of here. What happened?”
He rubs both hands over his face in frustration while I pace in front of his desk. I haven’t seen him this off-kilter in a long time, and the fear eating my guts says whatever this is, it’s bad. He can’t keep his shit together enough to tell me. Hell, he probably forgot again in the last five seconds.
”Fuck this. Give me your keys.” I hold my hand out with a scowl. Whatever he”s hiding, he can confess to when I”ve found her.
”Max,” he begins to protest darkly, but it”s too late for that shit. I don”t care if I get seriously punished for this. I need to find her. Now.
A clock is ticking over my head, and when it stops, it will be too late to salvage whatever went wrong.
”I”m done listening to you right now, Trevor. No more giving her time and saying she”s too innocent for us. None of that shit is holding me back anymore. Now, give me the fucking keys so I can bring our girl home.”
He leans back in his chair, hands braced on the desk in surprise. I”ve never been more serious, and he knows it. He’s come out of it enough to know I’m done with this.
”She’s vulnerable and out there upset. We will lose her. Do you want that? No more Tera at all? I sure as fuck don”t.”
He quickly digs the keys out and throws them at me, panicked as my words sink into his drug-addled skull. I don”t bother saying another word as I leave. I can hear him leaving another message for Tera on her phone, pleading with her to call him. She”s probably in the process of blocking us all.
Fuck!
I don”t bother to keep it quiet when I peel out. Several of Andi”s toys watch me go with confusion.
What did he do? The question repeats over and over as I push the speed limit to get to her place.
I should have never left her alone with him. I know how bad he gets when he”s hurting, but I thought he would tone it down for her sake. I should have known better.
He was there. He knew how perfect it was. What did he do to make her run? Why did she run? She should have come to me instead.
She has no idea how deep this goes for me. I only started talking to her a few days ago. How could she? That’s on me, and I’m fixing it right now. No waiting. I don’t care if it’s pushy. She needs to know she’s stuck with me.
By the time I screech to a stop in front of her building, I”m sweating despite the cold. I don”t see her car. When I reach her floor, out of breath from the stairs, I don”t bother knocking. It only takes one slam of my shoulder for the flimsy door to give up and swing open.
”Tera?”
I look everywhere, even under the bed, but she”s not here. A lot of clothes have been thrown on the floor, and several drawers in her dresser are still open. Our girl is either a major slob, or she packed in a hurry.
”Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
I dial Trevor, and he picks up in the middle of the first ring.
”You have her?” His tense, sober voice demands an answer, and my rage gets more fuel for the fire at the sound.
”No. It looks like she packed up and bailed,” I hiss out, unable to raise my voice even though I want to scream at him.
”What?”
”Get those fuckers out here to look for her. She can”t have gone far.” I hang up before he can answer. I can”t listen to him right now.
I harass everyone on the same floor, asking if they”ve seen her, and get negatives across the board until I reach some old lady with a stick up her ass.
”I haven”t seen her, but she left me a note today. You wouldn”t be why she”s mysteriously leaving for a while, would you?” She asks suspiciously and eyes me like I”m a scumbag.
”No, someone else did that, and when I find out what happened, I might just kill him,” I grit back.
”Oh,” that gives her pause, and her stance eases. ”I don”t know where she went, but I don”t think she”s coming back.”
”Fuck!” I pull my hair and storm away.
One of Andi’s toys steps out of a car as I’m rushing to my truck. The silent one, Shade. Out of all of them, he’s the lesser of all the evils so far.
“She’s not in there,” I pass him, but he grips my arm in a surprisingly tight hold.
“Her computer? Is it there?”
I look down at him in surprise. He sounds like iced-over fury, and his eerie gray eyes are intent on my face.
“Her computer is at the bar. I need to keep looking,” I glare at his restraining hand.
“I’ll head back there and hack her system,” he lets go and leaves without another word.
Hack her computer? Who the fuck is this guy? A computer guru or some shit?
Dark falls and none of us have found her. Shade hasn’t gotten into her computer yet, and everyone else is finally getting worried. It’s like they have no idea how broken she’s been, and it guts me. She’s out there somewhere without any support, and I can’t fucking find her!
I don’t bother to go home as I continue to search.