Swallow

Chapter 1.65

"Where the hell do you think you are going? We have a show to play." Aiden shouted behind me.

I stumbled blindly down the same path Riley used to run away from me. My feet were full of lead and covered with cement bricks. I couldn't fight against the quicksand to move them fast enough to get back to her.

"Seriously, Ezra, are you really just going to leave us hanging tonight? You need to pull yourself together and get back inside." Aiden berated me.

"I'm not going on," I grumbled back at him.

"What are we supposed to do? You know I never learned to play your songs and we can't cancel the show." Aiden whined.

"I don't give one fuck what you do. I'm out."

I hit the end of the alley and attempted to turn right towards the parking lot. My shoulder slammed into the brick wall surrounding the pathway when I misjudged the distance to the corner. This was fantastic— now even inanimate objects were attacking me to prevent me from getting to my girl.

The whole world was against the two of us.

I punched the obstacle in order to get it to move out of my way. No matter how hard I smashed my fist into it, it wouldn't move. The only thing I succeeded in doing was ripping open the skin on my knuckles. I looked down at my hand as I flexed it open and closed. I couldn't feel any pain from the open wounds, so I decided it wasn't worth the wasted time to stop my mission to evaluate the damage.

My eyes darted back and forth as I snuck around the corner before the wall could stop me again. It stayed cemented in place, even when I flipped it a celebratory middle finger to mock the red brick.

The parking lot behind Bannon's was only about three-quarters full. It was small and the empty spots made it easier to survey. I began walking up and down the rows of dark cars, looking in the windows for any sign of Riley or even Brynn. This was one of those situations where I felt fortunate to be grossly tall. Peering over and around SUVs wasn't much of an issue for someone as oversized as I was.

Being shitfaced was an unfortunate hinderance, but I still managed to push on.

I was hedging my bets that my girl was still out here someplace. I expected to find the upset blond sitting in a running car, waiting for me to make it better. Riley was a crier and overly emotional. That alone would have slowed her down. Her enormous green eyes would be shining with tears while she boohooed to Brynn over what just happened. I would wrap myself around her and all would be forgotten.

When I didn't find Riley on the first pass, I went around the loop again to double-check. She had to be out here hiding from me. She wanted to make me suffer just a little bit more before we made up. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and pressed her number to call her. Her cell phone ring would give her location away.

The line was already like a blaring siren when I placed it against my ear. I spun my head in every direction to listen for a phone going off around me. The parking lot was almost silent, except for some bum coughing up a lung down the street. Riley wasn't anywhere near where I was or I would have heard her. I started to sweat a little with fear and panic.

What would I do tonight if Riley didn't come back?

The generic voicemail message rang out over the speaker. I was disappointed to hear it wasn't Riley's delicate voice reciting the standard, "I'm busy, leave a message" spiel.

"It's me. Where are you?" I asked the voicemail lady after the beep. I sat for a few seconds with the recording going, waiting for the preprogrammed electronic voice to give me a response and point me to Riley's location. She wasn't any help at all. She sat there quietly and stuck her nose up at me while I breathed heavily into the receiver.