All the Feels (Spoiler Alert #2)(105)

That … wasn’t great. “Could he have missed his flight?”

“Maybe.” Marcus’s voice was tight with worry. “But no one’s heard from him since the plane took off. He’s not answering his phone or responding to texts and emails.”

Alex would typically send his best friend a billion bored texts during a transcontinental plane ride. No wonder Marcus was anxious. She was too, and becoming more so by the second.

“He probably just forgot about our plans, but I want to make sure he’s not sick or hurt.” After the click of a door closing, the quiet buzz of background noise went silent. “Normally, he always responds to my messages. Even when he ignores everyone else.”

In the ER, countless scared, sad families had shared some tear-choked version of this story. Nevertheless, she genuinely didn’t think Alex would harm himself. Not directly.

But he was so reckless sometimes, and if he was hurting as much as she was—

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to think. “Have you called his mom?”

“She’s the last person he contacted before the flight. As far as she knows, he’s not in Florida anymore, but she honestly has no clue.” He made a frustrated noise. “I was hoping he’d reconciled with you and lost track of time and space and human existence, which was the best possible scenario under the circumstances.”

God, if only. She’d give anything. Anything.

More important, she’d take anything.

“Um, no. I haven’t heard from him since …” When she swallowed, she tasted bile. “Since the wedding.”

“Fuck,” Marcus muttered. “I’d check with Dina, but I don’t have her number. Do you?”

“I don’t. I’m so sorry,” she said helplessly.

Another frustrated sound. “Then I should probably drive to his house tonight to make sure he’s there and okay.”

She didn’t hesitate. “Let me do it. I can leave right now, and I’m much closer than you are.”

Once more, Marcus went silent for a disconcerting amount of time.

“Thank you for the offer, but I don’t know if that’s such a great idea.” He sighed. “He wouldn’t thank me for telling you this, but he misses you terribly. If he’s already in a bad emotional state to start with, seeing you …”

Although he trailed off, she understood precisely what he meant.

Now he needed to understand her.

“I love him, and if he’ll have me back, I’ll never leave him again.” Her face went hot, but she spoke the sentence like the simple truth it was. “So if that’s your main concern, I’ll go. I still have the keys to his house, and I can check inside and around the grounds.”

Alex had insisted she keep the keys when she moved out of the stables, and she couldn’t seem to mail them back after the wedding, no matter how many times she told herself to do it.

“Oh, thank fuck.” Marcus let out a slow breath. “Whether he’s there or not, please call to let me know. As soon as you can.”

“I will.” She hit the floor running. “I’m on my way.”

As soon as they exchanged brief goodbyes, she yanked on her leggings and thrust her sockless feet into sneakers.

In less than a minute, she was out the door and on her way to Alex.

She hoped.

Please, let him be there.

AS SOON AS Lauren saw Alex’s mini-castle lit from the inside, she called Marcus.

“The interior lights are on.” She parked in the circular drive, right next to the entrance. “Dina turns them off when she leaves, so unless there’s been an intruder, he’s here.”

She didn’t want her reunion with Alex to occur while his best friend listened, but so be it. Heart pounding, she jogged up the front steps, rang the bell, and pounded on the door.

Nothing. Not a sound.

“He’s not answering.” Dammit. “Do you think I should let myself in? Normally, I wouldn’t invade his privacy like that, but …”

“Desperate times,” Marcus said. “Besides, he’s given a good portion of L.A. his keys and security codes and told them to come by whenever. Consider this the very definition of whenever.”

When she tried her key, however, she discovered it wasn’t needed.

“The door’s unlocked.” She scowled. “I’ve told him and told him to lock up, but he never listens.”

“An unlocked door could indicate an intruder, like you said.” Marcus now sounded worried for her and Alex. “Lauren, I’ve changed my mind. Maybe you should wait for—”

“I’m going in.”

Despite his voluble protests, she flung open the door and strode inside.

“You two belong together,” he muttered. “Jesus Christ.”

“His carry-on is in the hallway,” she told Marcus, then screeched into the depths of the mini-castle. “Alex! Where are you?”

Marcus squawked. “Holy shit, my ear.”

“Alex!” No answer, which was starting to make her nervous. More nervous. “Okay, let me look around.”

Thank goodness, he wasn’t lying injured anywhere in the house or on the grounds. And wherever he’d ventured, he hadn’t been gone long. When she touched the hood of his car, parked neatly in the garage, the metal was still warm.