When Lachlan opened his mouth, I held up a finger.
“Don’t.”
“You—”
“Don’t,” I emphasized the command this time. “This is not about you. It’s about her, and after the news she got, I need to know she’s fine. You want to have a temper tantrum about the sex, have it later.”
“News?” Jonas’ demeanor shifted. “What news? Is it about her—”
He stopped abruptly as Lachlan wheeled around on him. “Her what?”
“She’s not here,” I said, not answering that as I filled a cup with black coffee. It was hot and bitter, much like my soul at the moment. I burned my tongue and throat on the first swallow, but I almost craved the pain.
I should have pushed her to talk the night before. Especially after figuring out she was a virgin.
Goddammit.
“You know, maybe she took off because you had sex,” Lachlan said. “Maybe she didn’t want to look at you today because you took advantage of a vulnerable situation and now she regrets it.”
That—stung. If it was the case… “Fine, she can tell me that to my face after I know she’s alright.” The tears in her voice and the broken notes when she described Pen…the baby and how sick she was. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around who the baby was to her. Not her daughter.
Did Jonas know?
A part of me wanted to ask, but right now I had no allies in this room and I highly doubted they saw each other as on the same side either. Brothers—kid brothers, had always been challenging.
This was bordering on impossible.
“Maybe she took off ‘cause you sucked in bed,” Jonas muttered.
Lachlan snorted, but there was no mirth in his faint smile. If anything, he looked angrier.
“Not discussing that either,” I said. If she had complaints about my performance—fine, whatever. The feel of her wrapping around me seemed imprinted on my skin and, appropriate or not, my dick twitched.
I’d wanted her there when we woke up so we could talk. But I’d also wanted to kiss her awake. First times were not gentle—she was probably sore. I’d wanted—
I tried her number again.
Voicemail.
Smirk or not, Lachlan frowned. “We can just go upstairs.”
“How about I go upstairs?” Jonas wasn’t asking; he stalked out of my suite and slammed the door.
“Not going to follow?” Lachlan asked and I took another long drink of coffee before refilling it.
“Do you really care?”
“About her?” Lachlan said. “Yes. You, however, are debatable. What the fuck were you thinking?”
A torrent of retorts danced on the edge of my tongue, but I kept them to myself. “Look, if you care—call her? Maybe she’ll answer you.”
He glared but pulled out his phone. The door to my suite slammed open and Jonas stomped inside. “She’s not in our suite.”
Not in the suite. Not here.
I checked my watch. It was still early.
Super early.
Where—
Maybe her friend?
Lachlan scowled at his phone then redialed. “Just voicemail.”
“She doesn’t want to talk to you,” Jonas said as he pulled out his own phone. From here, I could see the series of one-sided texts.
She hadn’t answered him either.
Fuck.
“If she went to her friend—”
“Aubrey,” Jonas supplied.
“She may not be answering us, period.”
“She wouldn’t go to her room,” Lachlan countered. “She can’t stand Payton.”
“Who can blame her,” Jonas grumbled as he stared at us, even though I didn’t think he was seeing us.
“Fuck,” Lachlan said before I could comment. “She called me.”
“Payton?” Jonas’ lip curled.
“No,” Lachlan said. “Ace.”
“When?” I straightened and narrowed the gap between us.
“Not even an hour ago, but the message just showed up. Goddamn voicemail.” He pressed the message and then with a look at us, hit the speaker.
“Hey,” KC said, her voice a little rough, but she sounded like she was moving. “Right, I thought you’d answer. Do I leave a message? Do I not leave a message?” She sounded like it was an internal debate with herself, however the length of time on the screen suggested she decided to leave the message.
“Fuck it,” she muttered. “Look, I just placed an order for some coffees. I’m gonna call Jonas after I get them and then head back to Ramsey’s suite…”
That snapped my head up and Jonas’. All three of us looked at the suite door.
“It’s early, so he may not be up. Still, you’re usually up for a run and I debated going for one, but—what I think we need to do is talk. All of us. You, me, Jonas, and Ramsey.”
A fist closed on my heart. Yes, we needed to talk. Where the fuck did she go for coffee? She didn’t drive as far as I knew.
“Maybe we should have talked last year. I don’t know. There’s a lot of—misinformation and shit between us, so maybe we clear the air. Jonas and I graduate soon? It doesn’t matter. I have one set of finals left. I think. Look, that's not important; the thing is, we need to talk. So when you get this, I guess head to Ramsey’s suite if I haven’t already seen you before then—coffees are ready so I guess I’m heading back now.”
I frowned.
“Anyway—I can’t decide if—”
If? The voicemail cut out like it was done and then there was a grunt. No it wasn’t done or cut off. Something skidded—a sound like she’d dropped her phone.
“What the hell?” Lachlan said as he pumped up the volume on his phone.
“Get—off—” Then there was a grunt, and someone swearing, except I had no idea who that was. It didn’t sound like her at all. Then a shriek—an actual shriek that was KC. I’d never heard her make that sound.
All the hair stood up on my body. There was a grunt, then someone swore—who the fuck was that? And KC wasn’t talking anymore.
The call ended.
Just stopped.
“There are three coffee places on campus,” Jonas said.
“Only two open this early,” Lachlan said as he headed for the door.
She wanted to talk to us, and now… fuck, my heart sank. “I need to call campus security and admin…” There were procedures. KC was still a student here and—
“Fuck admin. I’m going to find Ace,” Lachlan said. “She could be hurt. You heard her.”
I had.
Fuck.
“The coffee shops are on opposite sides of the campus,” I snapped.
“I’ll take the Pit Stop,” Lachlan said. “I’m faster than you two anyway. You head for the Goats.”
Jonas spared me a look as I grabbed my keys. “We find KC, all of us talk—then we deal with this.”
It was probably the most reasonable and mature reaction he’d had so far this morning. “Done.”
Lachlan held up his phone. “If you find her, call.”
“Yep,” Jonas said and then we split up.
Did she twist her ankle? Fall? There were other voices, however.