Page 33 of Battered Moves

No, she’s not with me, and she’s not in the studio. Maybe she’s still in class?

I wanted to pick her up from classes, but she didn’t go.

I quickly reply, feeling a sense of worry creeping in.

Haven’t seen or heard from her today. I’ll check with the guys and see if they know something.

I get up from my desk and make my way to Chase’s office next door. Ryder startles when I open the door, nearly falling off the chair he was lounging in, a confused expression on his face.

“Hey, have you seen or heard from Liv today?” I ask, trying to keep my tone calm, but he shakes his head.

“No, not since yesterday when she left our place. Why, is everything okay?” he asks.

I explain the situation to him, and he quickly gets up, grabbing his phone.

“Let me call her and see if she’s okay,” he says, dialing Liv’s number, but it goes straight to voicemail. “Her phone is off. That’s not like her,” Ryder says, his expression now more serious. I nod, feeling my own worry increase.

“Let’s check with the others and see if they know anything,” I suggest, but neither River nor Chase have heard from her today either.

“You don’t think she ran away again, do you?” Ryder asks, a worried expression on his face, but I shake my head.

“She wouldn’t do that. She promised. Something else is going on,” I say.

“Liam?” River asks. I don’t answer and instead pull out my phone.

They haven’t seen or heard from her either.

We need find her and make sure she’s okay. Today isn’t a good day.

I frown, and Ryder, who’s looking at my phone too, asks, “Why is today not a good day?”

On it. Why?

Just find her. Text me when you do. I’ll check the bars downtown.

“It’s early afternoon, and Liv doesn’t drink in public, so why would Gunner search the bars?” River asks.

“Because it’s really not a good day today,” Chase mutters, pulling at his curls as his face goes white. He gets on his phone and breathes out a “Fuck” when he finds what he was searching for. “Her family died a year ago today.”

We all fall silent.

“We are some fucking shitty boyfriends for not knowing that,” Ryder says, playing with his lip ring.

“That’s so Liv—she didn’t want to bother us with her grief,” River says with a huff, shaking his head.

“I think I know where she might be,” I say. We all pile into my Jeep and drive off to the beach.

* * *

As we pull up at South Beach Park next to her Mini, I catch a glimpse of her from afar, sitting in the same spot where we had our beach day. I nearly fall out of the car, I feel so relieved to see her. I send a quick text to Gunner before we walk over to her, trying not to startle her. Nobody else is near her, and she has her back to us, sitting on a towel and wearing sweatpants and River’s hoodie in the heat, her hair swept over one shoulder. Next to her lies an empty bottle of Jack Daniels and a boombox, which is quietly playing “Wake Me Up When September Ends” by Green Day.Fuck, how could we not know she washurting so badly?

As we get closer, she turns her head and sees us. Her eyes are red and puffy, tears are streaming down her face, and a sob breaks out of her. Without a word, I sit down next to her and wrap my arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. The guys join in, forming a protective circle around her. Liv sobs into my shoulder, and I stroke her hair, feeling a mix of guilt and relief that we found her. We sit there in silence for a while, just letting her know that we’re here for her with our presence.

Finally, she looks up at each of us, her eyes still watery but full of gratitude.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I didn’t want to ruin your day.”

“You didn’t ruin anything, sunshine. We want to be here for you. We’re just glad we found you, and we’re sorry we weren’t here sooner,” I say.

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