Moments of Reckoning (7 page)

“I’m surprised you didn’t knock him out. From the way it sounds, he deserved a major ass kicking. In all seriousness though…I would be surprised if Hannah went home with him, she isn’t that type of girl and the way she looks at you…” Xavier started shaking his head then continued on. “Bro…She loves you. I can see it in her eyes and in
the way she acts when you’re around.”

Loves me…t
his was news to me. All those years of trying to watch how I acted and what I said to her, I guess I never actually saw how she was with me. Being afraid of ruining a lifelong friendship had made me blind to what was right in front of me. Like a flashing sign to everyone around us, Hannah and I both wanted to be together yet we each had no idea that the other felt the same.

“Hmm…” was all I could respond with. My mind wouldn’t let me
form anything more. Everything since eighth grade that had happened between Hannah and me had started flowing through my mind, pieces placing together one at a time.
Maybe I had been completely blind to the obvious…
Xavier’s voice brought me back to the now.

“
I should have known Abby would take forever inside.” He mumbled.

“Speaking of Abby…” I started, “What’s the deal? Obviously there is something that has been going on or just starting
. I’m really hoping you aren’t going to do the whole one-and-done ordeal with her.”

Xavier threw his head back and laughed. “Honestly…she kind of caught me by surprise…” Pausing momentarily Xavier shook his head and continued on
—, “We hung out once without you guys but nothing major. She came by the frat house one night with a girl from one of her classes; I think her name was Shelly, maybe…Anyway… I was buzzed up from drinking Maker’s all afternoon so I decided to throw on the charm right off the bat. Yeah, I know it sounds bad…Trying to get in Abby’s pants when I knew she was Hannah’s best friend and you’re Hannah’s—whatever you are. You know me when I get things in my head, I do my best to make them happen and Abby was definitely in my head. I gave her all my best lines and all I got in return was her laughing and cracking jokes back at me. Most girls would have begged me to take them upstairs to do the deed, but Abby…she didn’t even act interested. It burned me to the core that she held her own against me. Not to mention that she is unbelievably sexy…Those legs…Gah! They make a man want to crumble to his knees.” Xavier shook his head and sighed. “Later in the night she was playing beer pong with some of the guys and I still couldn’t shake her, so I made my way over. She wasn’t bad at the game but I wanted to make her feel my touch. I inched up behind her, placed my hand around her arm and leaned in real close while I showed her how to properly toss the pong. As soon as I touched her she relaxed into me, when I started explaining the game in her ear—I knew she wanted me and boy, did I want her. When I stepped away, she glanced back at me with this look in her eyes that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. So I shot her a sheepish smile and walked into the other room.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing—someone was finally making Xavier squirm. Surprise was falling over me because that person happened to be Abby
, of all people.

“Did I mention I feel like a total douche telling you all of t
his? Never speak of this or I’ll hunt you down and hurt you…”

“Yeah, yeah—I got it. Don’t let anyone know tha
t your manhood is hanging in limbo because you actually have feelings for a girl in a way that’s more than a one-and-done. Continue on…” I joked.

“Who knows how much time had passed
after the beer pong incident, but I was in the middle of doing a keg stand when I noticed Abby sprawled out on one of the couches watching me as she was nibbling on her thumb nail. Let me tell you…that was the sexiest thing I had ever seen. After the guys dropped me to the floor I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and plopped down on the couch beside her. The next thing I knew she threw herself onto my lap, straddling me. That’s all it took before I lost it and full-on kissed her. She didn’t argue, either—but the thing is…as soon as she told me to take her upstairs I froze. I told her no, I couldn’t do that to her. She got up and stormed out, leaving me sitting there, feeling like a major douche bag. I’m pretty sure I hurt her pride. I sat there in shock for a good five minutes until one of the regular frat girls came over trying to throw herself at me, I straight up turned her down! Can you believe that shit…I told someone no and went up to my room alone for the first night in a long time. What. The. Fuck. Right?!”

“Looks like this conversation will be for another time, her
e she comes…” I trailed off.

“Actually that’s the end of the story until last night.” Xavier said swiftly before turning to Abby walking our way. They were both smiling like a couple of Cheshire cats and I felt like I was involved in something I wasn’t supposed to be. So I hopped in the truck and let them have their privacy as they made out against the side of it. As time ticked on I decided I need
ed some fresh clothes. Opening the truck door I cleared my throat to ask Abby for the house keys so I could run in and change since I ran the whole way here. She didn’t respond because the two of them were interlocked in a death hold with their mouths. Instead she fumbled around in her pocket and held the keys out to me. Grabbing my bag out of the Camaro, I raced up the stairs and into the house to change. A couple minutes later we were finally on the road heading towards Silhouettes as I glared out the window.

Abby placed a hand on my arm that was resting against the center console. “I know it’s not my place to tell you this but I know Hannah cares a lot about you. I’m sure whatever happened last night, that made her end up wherever she ended up, isn’t going to be as bad as you think it’s going to be. Just give her the shadow of the doubt until we know more.” I gave her
an appreciative grin. Even with those words of encouragement my mind kept rolling on with different scenarios of what could have happened but none of them had me feeling much better about leaving her in the alley. I should have taken her with me so I would know where she is right now. Grabbing Xavier’s phone off the console I dialed Hannah’s number again and straight to voicemail it went. I didn’t even bother calling my cell this time because I remembered leaving it on silent, which was just my luck right now. Closing my eyes and resting my head back against the seat I blocked everything out for the rest of the ride.

I felt the truck come to a stop so
I opened my eyes to find us in the side parking lot of Silhouettes. Thankfully most of the bars on the strip opened around lunch time during the warmer months due to the large number of tourists and college kids being out of school. Now the only question was whether or not Landon was working this early. We made our way around to the front and walked right in without any wait. The girls were dressed less provocatively during the day and the place actually seemed like it had a completely different atmosphere than the night before. “Welcome to Silhouettes! Would you all like a table or booth?” the hostess asked.

“Either is fine
,” Abby spoke up sincerely as she smiled.

“Right this way
, please.”

“Why are we being seated?” I asked.

“We might as well get something to eat since I have a feeling we will be here a while. I haven’t seen Landon yet.” She shrugged.

I hadn’t realized
how hungry I was until she mentioned food. I slid into the booth and glanced around the room. There was a steady crowd for it being earlier in the day and surprisingly it didn’t take long to receive the drinks we had ordered. I randomly selected something off the menu because at this point I didn’t care what I ate. I was here to get answers from Landon.

I spotted a clock across the room: a little after two and no bouncers in sight. O
ne of the bartenders stocking the bar caught my eye, then it clicked; she was actually our waitress from last night. I let Xavier and Abby know I would be back in a few and made my way across the room to where she was. I leaned against the bar and she looked up at me and laughed.

“Wow
, back so early for round two?”

“You remember me from last night?”

“How could I forget anyone that was involved in that fight? It was the largest one we’ve had since we opened the doors.”

“
Right
…You know how it is when a pretty girl gets stuck in between a couple drunken guys, I’m sure. I was actually wondering if you remember the girl I was with most of the night?”

“Shoulder length brown hair, throwing back shots with you, who just happens to be friend
s with Landon?”

“That’ll be her. Did you see her around closing
time?”

“Didn’t get her number
, I take it? She laughed again. “You two looked a little caught up in one another there for a while. But yeah, I vaguely remember seeing her and Landon coming in through the back of VIP after most of the people were out of here. But I left shortly after that. I’d say around three or so this morning. He will actually be here within the next half an hour if you want to wait and talk to him.” Thanking her for the information, I made my way back to our booth. By the time I returned, our food had came out, so I sat down and dug in.

∙∞∙

Abby and Xavier both had tried numerous times to call Hannah since we had gotten here, but it still went straight to voicemail. My subconscious kept telling me something was definitely not right, but I kept going back to her being with Landon. Maybe it was the cave man inside me, or just plain jealousy, it was eating away at me as the minutes passed.
Any minute…He should be here any minute.
Landon came strolling through the door like he owned the place. At the sight of him, I wanted to walk over there and punch him square in the jaw.

“Finally—he is here.” I nudged my head towards the entrance as Xavier and Abby’s gaze followed.

“I’m thinking I should go ask him some question
s at first since you obviously have a lot of hate for the guy.” Abby stated as she got up and walked away before I could argue.

“That was probably a good idea.” Xavier spoke up.

“It’s just delaying the inevitable.” I half snarled while running my hand through my hair.

By the look that flashed across Abby’s face I knew something wasn’t right.
My anger was boiling. I was dying to get up and get some answers myself but I let Abby try to handle it first. It felt like an eternity, even though their conversation was only a few minutes long, before Abby stood by the table again.

“Bad news…La
ndon hasn’t seen her since Xavier and I did, right after they walked back in around closing last night.”

I was floored by her words. They had seen Hannah around closing time but hadn’t bothered to mention it until now. I got to my feet as the anger began to build within me, “You two saw her around closing and you didn’t think to mention this until now?!
” I slammed my fist down on the table. “I need a few words with Landon myself…” shaking my head as I stalked off in the direction he had last went.

He noticed me heading his way before I
made it half way there and the smug look strewn across his face just pissed me off even more.
Calm yourself, Jason—,
I kept telling myself. I knew if I went straight to piss-off mode this wouldn’t go very far and I needed to find out what was going on with Hannah. Landon was standing right at the end of the bar with his elbow resting on it, so I took up shop on the end bar stool next to him.

“Look I know we don’t care much about one another but I need to know when you last saw Hannah last night. Her phone is going straight to voicemail and no one has seen her since around closing
time.” I put it all out there.

“I’ll tell you exactly what I told her little girlfriend over there. I brought her in from the alleyway close to closing time
. For some reason she was out there half drunk and alone, this didn’t seem very safe to me. I had business to take care of with some stragglers in here when her friend and that guy over there came up talking to her. When those two went to leave I asked where Hannah went because I was going to offer her a ride home, but they told me she went back outside to meet you.”

“She didn’t end up with me. I came back from hoisting Alex into a cab and she was gone, the bar was closed, and no answer on her phone. If you’re not telling me something
, Landon, I swear….”

“Why would I lie to you? I could give two shits about letting you know Hannah was with me last night
, if she actually was. Where she ended up and her current location is unknown to me...Now I have to get back to work.” Landon turned to walk away when I grabbed a hold of his bicep.

“I’m willing to put aside all the hostility between us if you are. I care a whole hell of a lot about her and if you remotely give a shit about her too
, then you will help me figure out where the fuck she is.” I was now standing with a death grip on his bicep when he jerked his arm out of my hand and stood firm in front of me.

“I guess we should start in the alleyway then…since that’s
where she supposedly last went,” he stated before heading towards the back exit. I waved for Xavier and Abby to follow.

The four of us split up once we made it outside, two in the parking lot and two in the alley
, looking for any signs of Hannah. Unfortunately I was stuck with Landon’s ass in the alley. He started at one end and I started at the other. I knew exactly where we had been the night before—the empty wine barrel in the alley, it made me flash back to placing her down on top of it and kissing her like there was no tomorrow. I made myself push back the memory because I didn’t have time to go down memory lane right now.