Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 163387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 817(@200wpm)___ 654(@250wpm)___ 545(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 163387 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 817(@200wpm)___ 654(@250wpm)___ 545(@300wpm)
“What’s going to happen? There’s a doorman, remember?” Oh yeah, I forgot that part. A doorman, twenty-four-hour security, and a whole host of shit I didn’t even know apartment buildings came with.
She convinced me to drop her off before heading to practice, and after doing a walk-through of the place myself, I felt more at ease leaving her there after admonishing her to keep the door locked and not to let anyone in that she didn’t recognize. I was still a bit tense about the whole thing, but she called Jess and Alexis to come over and wait with her for the furniture delivery, so I left knowing that she was in good hands.
CODY
I played like shit which the coach was only too happy to point out, but it couldn't be helped. I kept getting this itch between my shoulders the longer I stayed on the field to the point even my guys started to question if I was okay.
I'd already squared things about the picture with them since they were mad as hell. So angry that some of them wanted to go after Jeff when they heard the real story, but still, it was obvious that something was bothering me.
I didn't tell them that I was worried about her being alone in the new place because I had no justification for my fear; it was just a gut feeling that I shouldn't have left her alone. I knew if I'd told her that shit, she'd accuse me of being like her mom, and that would just start a whole new argument that I was not in the mood for.
It wasn't just that that was bothering me, though, but something that's been playing around at the edges of my mind since seeing the picture kept plaguing me. It's like an ache that you know you shouldn't touch, but you just can't help messing with it. My mind keeps trying to figure it out, but nothing comes, no matter how hard I try.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Jess and Alexis enter the stands when practice was almost over, but when I didn't see her following them, my heart rate picked up again.
Immediately I felt like throwing up for no good reason and was grateful when the coach allowed me to beg off five minutes early. "You're playing for shit, anyway, Baxter, so you might as well not be here." Was his sage retort as I jogged off the field and headed for the stands. "Where's Lisa?"
"What do you mean?" Jess looked at me, confused.
"Weren't you supposed to meet her at the new place?"
"She texted and said to meet her here."
"When was that?" I was already on the phone, ready to chew her out for going behind my back and changing shit up, but when she didn't answer, I knew in my gut that something was wrong.
Everyone started calling out to me as I broke out in a run for the parking lot. I didn't stop to think that I might be overreacting; my gut was screaming at me too loud to care. I was so scared that I almost convinced myself that I could get there faster on foot than by car. I didn't even want to waste time opening the car door.
I heard voices calling after me as I peeled out of the parking lot but didn't even look back as I sped the few minutes to the apartment. I barely spared the doorman a nod as I flew by him and took the stairs two at a time instead of waiting for the elevator. Shit only got worse when I saw the door slightly ajar and when she didn't answer when I called out, I think I stopped breathing for a moment.
"Lisa, baby, where are you?" My voice sounded thin even to my own ears as I ran around the first floor of the apartment, calling out for her. It took me a minute to recognize the sounds coming from upstairs, like a thumping which I realized as I got closer was the sound of someone throwing their body against a door.
The scene I ran up on will stay with me for life. Jeff was outside our bedroom door, pushing his shoulder against it like a madman. He was so preoccupied that he didn't see me coming until I was right on him.
I flung him away from the door, and he hit the wall hard before sliding to the floor. "Lisa, it's me. Are you okay?" She started to open the door, "tell me, are you okay?" She looked terrified, which messed with my head. "I'm fine!"
"Stay in there and lock the door."
"Cody…" She started to question me, but I slammed the door shut. "Lock it!" I waited to hear the sound of the lock clicking into place before I looked over at Jeff, who was shaking his head as if to clear it, and saw red.