Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 90795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90795 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Those doors are locked too. I pull on them, bang and kick them, like I can break them down, like I somehow know he’s there when he’s probably not because I failed him and he’s gone because he didn’t know how much I love him.
“Fuck!” I scream, beating my hands on the door, Colton’s arms coming around me, holding mine down, his lips against my nape.
“Shh. It’s okay. You’ll hurt yourself. You can’t bust down the doors like this. Maybe we can call the cops and they can get someone here to let us in.”
I press my head against the glass, and that’s when I see…a janitor. “Someone’s in there.” I pull out of Colton’s hold, banging on the door again, trying to get his attention. Colton does the same, but I can see the guy is wearing headphones.
It takes a minute of us waving our arms, but eventually, his gaze catches on ours and he frowns, like he’s not sure what he should do. We’re not making a good case for ourselves with the way we’re acting out here, but he unlocks the door and pushes it open just a little. “Can I help you folks?”
“Hello. I’m Professor James Valentine from Peyton University. I have custody of my younger brother, and he goes here. He’s missing right now. He ran away, and I just… He’s on the basketball team. He loves it, and I don’t know, it probably sounds crazy, but I really think he might be in here. He’s probably not, but I have to look.”
“I’m real sorry about your brother, but I’m not supposed to let anyone in.”
“I know. I get that. I understand that. I don’t know what else to do.” My voice breaks, but I force the words out. “I have to find him. We won’t do anything we’re not supposed to, I swear. It can just be me if that makes you feel better. I just…he’s my brother and I love him. We need him home, with us.”
The man’s eyes soften, and he gives a heavy sigh. “Okay. Just you.”
“Thank you. And if you get in any trouble, I’ll take the blame, I promise.” I press a quick kiss to Colton’s lips.
“Good luck,” he says before I slip inside, the older man locking the door behind him.
“What’s your brother’s name?”
“Nash. He’s on the basketball team. He’s…”
“Got a mouth on him,” the guy says, and I laugh.
“Yes. He does. We’re working on that.”
“He reminds me of myself at his age. Angry at the world, but I’ve seen a change in him lately. He’s a good kid. He’ll find his way.”
Emotion clogs my throat, so thick and heavy, I nearly choke on it. “Thank you. He is a good kid. We love him so much.”
He nods. “Go on, now. Start looking before I have to head home for the night.”
“I will. Thank you again.”
Nash is nowhere in sight, of course. I jog straight to the locker room, pushing inside. “Nash? Are you here?”
He doesn’t answer, obviously he doesn’t, but I go up and down each aisle, looking in the showers, bathrooms, everywhere I can think of.
Nothing.
I make my way to the gym, take in the empty space. “Nash?” His name echoes…but there’s no reply. My gaze snags on the bleachers, on the way they’re halfway open on the sides. My shoes squeak across the floor as I rush over, using the flashlight on my phone. Despite the lights being on in the gym, it’s dark under there.
“Nash!” I hurry, moving my phone around frantically, heart in my throat, trying to punch its way through. “Nash!” I say again, just before I see him, tucked up under the bleachers, arms around his legs, looking at me, with his basketball and a backpack beside him, his coat laid out like a bed.
My body relaxes for the first time since Sadie burst into my room this morning. “Thank God we found you. I’ve been worried sick.” I rush over to him, drop to the floor, and pull him into my arms. He’s stiff, like he doesn’t know what to do at first, and then he relaxes, beginning to shake wildly as he sobs. “Shh. It’s okay. I’m here. I’ll bring you home, and no one will take you away from us. I promise you. I won’t let it happen. I love you, and you belong with us.”
He cries harder, like his whole body is sobbing, like he’s been holding this in as long as he’s been alive and he’s finally able to set it free. I keep holding him, keep telling him I love him, that we want him here, that he belongs with us, that we’re family and no one will ever take us away from each other.
Eventually his tears begin to dry. I grab his things, and the two of us step out from under the bleachers. I tug him down to sit with me. “I just…before we go, I need to tell you something.”