Prologue Dane #3
"NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOU!" She shrieked and collapsed to her hands and knees.
Stunned by the outburst, I stood frozen for a moment and then went over to her and knelt beside her, recognizing an emotional breakdown when I saw one.
"Hey, whoa, Linz. Take a deep breath, okay?"
She shook her head, hyperventilating. "C-c-can't."
I rested a hand on the smooth, warm skin of her back just above her shoulder blades. "Keep trying. Take a breath. Slow it down."
"Don't—d-don't…don't touch me," she hissed.
I removed my hand immediately and sank to my ass on the dirty ground beside her. "Okay, no touching."
"Go away."
"No."
"Dane. Fuck off."
"When you can stand up and breathe normally again, I'll leave you alone. Not until then."
"I d-d-didn't a-a-a-sk for your h-h-h-help."
"Too damn bad, Killer. You got me anyway."
So I sat next to her as she knelt in a quasi-fetal position on the dirty alley ground, her sobs and body-wracking shudders slowly subsiding.
Eventually, she stood up and began pacing back and forth. I remained on the ground, sipping my beer and watching her pace.
She came back to where I was and leaned against the wall. Didn't look at me as she spoke. "I don't owe you any explanations."
"I disagree. I've spent the last several months trying to figure out what I did to make you freak out like that. And I've come up empty. I don't think it's too much to ask for you to tell me what I did."
She didn't answer for a very long time, and I waited in silence for her response, sipping beer and occasionally stealing glances at her long, smooth, tanned legs.
When it felt clear she wasn’t going to even respond, I stood up, tossed my empty bottle into the dumpster, and paused at the door to the kitchen.
"Fuck me. Got it. Well, have a nice fucking life, Lindsey.
And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for whatever it was I did. I mean that. I don’t expect you to give a fuck, but it's true. "
I held my place for another beat, but she still said nothing. With a huff and a headshake, I left her there alone and went back to the party.
By three a.m., everyone over thirty was gone, leaving only the younger crowd—my boatload of cousins. And we can fuckin' party. Duncan and Rune had long since left as well, with an encouragement to us to keep the party going. Which we did.
Lindsey rallied, but stuck mainly to Raquel's side, hanging out with the handful of LA kids who were Rune's friends.
By four, I wasn't hammered, but I was pretty damn sloshed, and ready to call it.
Rune and Duncan had taken their honeymoon to Hawaii—a last getaway before she was too pregnant to fly, which I hadn't realized was a thing, and before they had a baby and wouldn't be taking any vacations for a long damn time.
Which meant the guest room upstairs was open—Duncan had given me blanket permission to crash there when I needed, as long as I understood that they weren't going to be quiet on my account.
Noted.
Fortunately, they were on the flight to Hawaii, and I wouldn't have to hear them boning.
Thank god for that.
I shuffled, dizzy and unsteady, upstairs. Bounced off half a dozen different walls, found the guest room. Took a five-year-long piss in the en suite bathroom, stripped out of my clothes, and collapsed in the bed.
I woke up wrapped around a soft, warm, naked female body. Her bare ass was pressed against my groin, which was throbbing with a giant boner.
Um.
I went to bed alone. I know I did.
I cracked an eye open, saw a tangled haze of blonde. She shifted, and I caught a glimpse of a medusa tattoo at the base of her neck, usually hidden by her hair. She flung her arm aside, showing a semicolon tattoo on the inside of her wrist.
Lindsey.
Confused, I rolled to my back, away from her.
She twisted, rolling to follow me, and put her head on my chest. Huffed, nuzzled.
My heart clenched, flipped. What the fuck was going on?
I held still, frozen by sleepy indecision and confusion.
Her hand slid up my chest, found my mouth, and covered it. "Don't," she mumbled. "Just…shush."
"I…"
"Dane," she whispered. "Please. Don't say anything. I need this. Just this. Please."
“Okay, Linz. All right.”
I kept still, my arm around her shoulders, her soft breath slowly evening out as she fell back into a deep sleep.
I was a lot longer in returning to slumber.
I dreamed of Lindsey screaming, "GET OUT!" Dreamed of her on her knees, shaking, crying, but refusing to let me so much as touch her.
I dreamed a memory of that night we spent together—silver moonlight streaming through her window, bathing her naked body in quicksilver light, highlighting her lush curves, glinting off of her eyes as she smirked up at me while slipping sensuously down my body, mouth opening as she neared my aching cock…
The dream ended then, and I woke up with a start, seconds from coming.
"FUCK," I snarled, covering my face as I dragged myself back from that edge.
When I had myself under control, I glanced at the space beside me.
Empty.
On the pillow was a sheet of paper towel, scribbled on in neat, female block letters with a Sharpie.
There were three words:
It wasn't you.
Wow, what a relief.
I'm saved from my obsession.
Not.
I'm more confused and worried than ever, especially after her meltdown last night, or this morning.
I had to find her and figure out what was going on.
My phone rang—I slapped at the nightstand blindly, found my phone, and stabbed at the answer button without reading the caller ID.
"H'lo?"
"Dane?" It was a female voice I didn't recognize.
"Yeah? Who's this?"
"Raquel. Rune's friend?"
"Oh, right," I said, sitting up, confused yet again. "Uh, what's up?"
"So, Lindsey never came back to her room last night."
"She, uh, slept here with me. Not with me, with me, but with me." I slapped my forehead. "She was here last night. She's not here now, though."
"Shit. Her phone's going right to voicemail."
“Well, she's had me blocked for months, so I dunno."
"Dammit. I'm worried about her. She's not been herself lately."
I cleared my throat. "Honestly, I'm worried too. She, uh, she had a bit of a breakdown last night, around three."
Raquel was silent for a second. "She…she did?"
“Yeah. Big one. Hyperventilating, crying, the whole nine yards. Wouldn't tell me shit, but what else is new."
"Not good," Raquel said. "Not good at all."
"Where would she go?" I asked.
"That's just thing—I dunno. But we have to find her."
"Let me call my cousin, Jax. He can help."
"He can? How?"
"Well, he's my Uncle Xavier's protegé, which means he's sort of a world-class hacker. He can find her."
"Is hacking even a thing anymore?" she asked.
I laughed. "Y'know, that's a good question. I dunno. I just know he can do just about anything that involves a computer. He can help find her."
"Can you guys meet us at our hotel? We're at the new Old Toby."
"Yeah," I said. "We’ll be there ASAP."
Well…shit.
This isn't good.