Having spent a lot of his evening staring at it and willing it to ring, he was surprised at the way he fumbled with the blasted thing in his haste to answer.
The name Gabe in the caller ID registered in his jumbled mind, and his heart sank with disappointment. So Madison hadn’t come to her senses yet. At least he had someone to talk to.
“Yo,” he answered, hoping Gabe didn’t recognize the appalling emotional edge to his voice. He needed to get his shit together before the guys got back to New Orleans.
“Are you in the hotel?” Gabe asked.
“Yeah.”
“Can you do me a favor?”
“I guess so.” It wasn’t as if he had better things to do.
“Can you go check on Melanie’s friend Nikki? Mel hasn’t heard from her all weekend and she’s starting to worry.”
“Uh.” Adam thought the request exceedingly odd. “And how exactly do I go about checking on her?”
“Just knock on the door of the room next to yours and see if she answers.”
Adam slipped out of bed and found a pair of shorts in his luggage. He held the phone between his ear and shoulder as he slipped into them.
“Is there a reason to worry?” Adam asked, grabbing his room key and venturing into the hall.
“With Nikki there’s always a reason to worry,” Gabe said.
“Is she there?” Adam heard Melanie say in the background.
“He’s checking.”
“She’s probably fine,” Melanie said. “Probably not answering her phone because she’s mad at me.”
Adam knocked on the door next to his and waited. When there were no sounds of movement within, he knocked louder. “Nikki, are you in there?”
Still no response.
“Well?” Gabe asked.
“She isn’t answering the door. I guess she could be asleep.”
“Is she a heavy sleeper?” Gabe asked Melanie.
“No, she’s an insomniac. Unless she sleeps with me or she took some pills.”
“She’s probably just out enjoying the city,” Gabe tried to reason with his distraught girlfriend.
Adam stood outside the hotel room and nodded at the well-dressed woman who passed him in the hall. Her steps slowed as she walked by so her eyes could take in every inch of his exposed torso. If he was looking for company, he was certain he could have some, but he just wanted to return to his room and be alone with his turbulent thoughts. He turned his back to the woman and leaned one bare shoulder against the wall.
“Am I finished here?” Adam asked.
“Can you get the spare key and check to see if she’s inside?” Gabe asked.
Adam sighed. “Is the woman capable of taking care of herself?”
“Not really. That’s pretty much the issue.”
“Fine,” Adam said, before retrieving the extra keycards everyone had so thoughtfully left him in charge of when they’d scattered to various locations during their short break. After figuring out which one to use, he slipped it into the lock and was rewarded with a flashing green light. The security latch had not been bolted, so there was probably no one inside, but he knew Gabe and Melanie wouldn’t leave him alone until he checked to be sure. He opened the door a crack.
“Nikki, it’s Adam. I’m coming in. Is that okay?”
He waited a tense moment, listening for sounds of movement.
“Is she in there?” Gabe asked again.
“Calm your tits, dude. I’m checking. I don’t want to just barge in with guns blazing.”
He eased the door open. The room was dark and deserted. There was an open suitcase on one bed and toiletries in the bathroom, but no other signs that anyone was staying there. No towels had been used, and the bed was still made.
“She’s not here. Doesn’t look like she’s been here all day. Maybe not even last night.”
“She’s not there,” Gabe said to Melanie.
“Where could she be?” Melanie said, sounding even more distraught than when Gabe had first called.
“I’m sure she’s fine.”
“I’ll leave her a note to call you and if I hear her come in later, I’ll call you myself and let you know,” Adam said, as he searched the desk for something to write on.
“Thanks, dude. I really appreciate your help.”
“I didn’t do much.” Adam scrawled a hasty message on hotel stationary and set it on the closed lid of the toilet. He figured Nikki would eventually see it there and be unable to overlook it.
“Hey, you tried. I’m sorry I had to bother you. Are you having a good weekend with your woman?”
Adam hesitated. Most of his time with Madison had been spectacular, and he didn’t want to get into his problems with Gabe—or anyone—so he said, “Yeah. I gotta go.”
“Okay. I’ll check you later. Thanks again, bro.” Gabe disconnected.
The kit of toiletries and makeup on the counter drew Adam’s attention. He couldn’t seem to stop himself from touching all the feminine items inside. There would be no such items in the bathroom of his hotel room. No tangible reminders of Madison except the hole she’d left in his chest.
Perhaps he should go out and bury his sorrows with a bottle of whiskey. Or maybe he could find something a little more to his liking. His vessels hummed with the memory of the heroin he used to shoot into them. The craving that never really left him tied his stomach in knots. His mind reveled in thoughts of euphoria and his favorite part of being wasted—the not giving a fuck part. But he didn’t try to solve his problems that way anymore. Only he couldn’t remember how he was supposed to try to solve his problems now that he was clean. He usually called Madison and talked things over with her, but that safe haven was closed to him. She’d been gone mere hours, and he was already floundering without her.
“For fuck’s sake, you can make it three days,” he chastised himself. In the past, he’d gone a lot longer without seeing her.
But he’d never suffered this gut-clawing agony before, and he wasn’t sure how to deal with it.
He didn’t know what to do to ease the pain. Actually, he did know. What he didn’t know was if he could resist the temptation.
Chapter Fourteen
Madison stared at the departure sign above the airport gate and clenched her hands together. Why hadn’t she just said yes? Why had she left? And why was she so fucking stupid?
She loved Adam. She wanted to marry him. She wanted to spend her life with him. She should have jumped at the opportunity to be his wife. And her hesitation had hurt him. She knew it had. She saw his pain in the way he’d hunched his shoulders and shied from her touch and in his refusal to look her in the eye. Trying to hold him at arm’s length so he didn’t destroy her had ended badly. Very badly. She was sure she’d made him feel like he didn’t mean any more to her than a very talented sex toy, but it couldn’t have been farther from the truth. She’d thought that giving him what she assumed he wanted—awesome sex—while she sorted through her stupid emotions and her equally stupid life would keep him interested long enough for her to get her head on straight.