Page 44 of Sweet Virgin

I wasn't about to let her walk out of my life this way. It came out of nowhere and for no reason. Allie might be willing to give up on this, to give up on me—but I wasn't.

If she wasn't going to tell me why, if she wasn't going to let me in. . .

Then I'd find her and make her.

I didn't even have to think twice about it, tugging on my pants, I slipped my feet into my shoes and looped my shirt around my shoulders.

I have to find her.

Snatching the keys off my desk, I left my office, shirt flapping against my bare chest. The cool morning air hit my chest, forcing me to look down.

Shit.My fingers scrambled to push the small buttons into the tiny slits as I ran across the street to the parking garage.

The flash of yellow zipped by me, horns blazing as I tossed them a hurried hand and broke into a slow jog.

Nothing was registering, not the cars, not the other people on the sidewalk, nothing. I had this horrible feeling Allie was in trouble, everything else around me didn't matter.

I had her, all of her, and now she was gone. Vanished like a mythical creature I had been searching for, only to wake up thinking it was all a dream.

This wasn't a dream and I wasn't going to stop searching. I wasn't going to lose her, not again.

Where the fuck do I even begin?

She could be anywhere in this city, where the hell do I start?

The tires screeched as I flew out of the garage, my foot weighted like a cement block in my shoe. Glancing in the rearview mirror, a plume of white smoke dissipated into the air, leaving dark black tracks on the pavement.

Fuck, what the hell is she doing?

Twisting my head from side to side, I tried to make out her face in the herd of people that were swarming the sidewalk, but I knew it would be like finding a needle in a haystack here.

People were a dime a dozen in this city, they were spilling in from every direction; men women, short, tall; too many to pick out one single face.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I ignored it. I was on a mission, I had one goal and one goal only—find Allie.

Taking a sharp left, I headed in the direction of the airport, dreading the idea that she might have had the split second decision to get away for good.

I couldn't. . . Iwouldn'tlet her.

The vibration radiated up my thigh again, forcing me to dig the phone from my pocket.Maybe it's her.

Thumbing the button, I slid the message open, and my eyes bugged out from my skull. My throat went dry as I tried to swallow, scratching my flesh raw on the inside. As I stared down at the screen, my lip curled from the rage billowing up deep in my core.

It wasn't Allie.

The words sent my head into a tailspin, forcing me to pull over to the side of the road. Squeezing the phone in my palm, I scrunched my face, punching the steering wheel over and over again.

I never wanted to see that message, I never wanted to hear from them again.

'We're back on. Be here tomorrow morning, eight am, don't be late.'

And I knew. . .

I knew why she ran.

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