Moments of Reckoning Read online

  We searched for Alex’s car for a good ten minutes we finally found it at the back of the lot. Knowing Alex couldn’t drive and I legally shouldn’t be driving either, I decided to call him a cab. Thankfully the cabbie said he would come back the alleyway and around to where his car was parked so I didn’t have to maneuver him to the front of the road. By the time the cab arrived he was pretty close to being passed out. I explained to the cabbie where he was staying, handed him a pretty hefty tip and off they went.

  “Shit… I left Hannah alone in the alley …” I smacked myself on the forehead. It had to have been a good half an hour or so since I had left her there. Full-on sprinting across the parking lot I rounded the corner to the alley and found it empty. I tried to open the closest exit door but found it locked. The exit door further down the alleyway was locked as well so as a last resort I made my way back around to the front entrance of Silhouettes. I had no idea what time it was but it had to have been pretty late because the bar was closed. There were a few stragglers hanging around outside but none of them were who I had come with. I searched my pockets for my phone but realized Hannah had it in her small purse because I had kept leaving it sitting around and she offered to hold it for me.

  I pulled on the front doors, they wouldn’t budge. “Just great…! The bar’s closed, I have no phone, and I can’t find anyone.” I threw my hands up in the air in defeat. My next option was asking random drunks if I could use their phone. I finally found someone that had one I could use and dialed Hannah’s number first…straight to voicemail. Hopefully it just died and she wasn’t upset with me for ditching her like that. Next I tried my cell, which rang for a while and went to voicemail. Okay… Maybe she is pissed… With no other options but flag a cab, I did so and headed to the girls’ apartment.

  ∙∞∙

  Pulling into their driveway, I noticed both their cars were still here but the lights were off. Asking the cabbie to wait a minute, I handed him some cash. Hopping out of the cab, I made my way to the front door. Knocking quite a few times to no avail, I knew they were either passed out or not here. Abby would never leave without Hannah so they had to be together…probably at Xavier’s. I decided to get back into the cab and head on home for the night. My house wasn’t too far from theirs so the ride went by rather fast, even though my mind kept running a million miles a minute about Hannah. It was about damn time that I manned up and told her how I felt; I just hope we can make it work between us.

  I poured my heart out to her, even though she responded rather nicely; she didn’t say a word back. Her response could have been alcohol-driven or her way of letting me down easy at first. Man, I sound like a damn woman about this…But I guess that’s what love does to a man’s brain. Laughing at how crazy I was sounding, I splashed my face with water from the bathroom sink and headed to my room to crash.

  Before I knew it the sun was blaring through my window causing me to wake. “God, I need some curtains that would block that shit out in the mornings—,” I said to myself. Rolling over to face the alarm clock I noticed it was slightly past noon. I sat up and stretched my arms above my head, then jumped out of bed, grabbed some clothes, and headed to the bathroom to freshen up.

  Twenty minutes later I was sitting in the living room tying my tennis shoes. I had decided to jog over to Hannah and Abby’s, since my car was there and I needed to rid myself of some of my frustration, so I grabbed my water bottle off the coffee table and headed for the door.

  ∙∞∙

  It was already pretty sticky out and barely afternoon, but summer was in full swing. I ran the back of my hand across my forehead to wipe off some of the sweat that was beading. Only two more blocks…I thought, planting the seed of encouragement within my brain. Usually I found myself running at the gym, because it worked better with my schedule right after classes, so I hadn’t run outside in quite a while. Feeling the air burn within my lungs as heat warmed my face, I made my way closer to Hannah and figuring out what was going to be our future…hopefully we had a future together.

  Rounding the corner I saw my car still parked in the drive and no form of life within the windows. I made my way to the door and knocked in hopes someone would answer. No response yet again…Sighing in frustration and confusion, I started to head down the steps when Xavier’s truck pulled up to the curb. Abby hopped down from the passenger’s side.

  Waving at me as Xavier came around the cab to grab her bag from the back seat, Abby overflowed with happiness, “Hey Jason! Did you and Hannah have a good time last night?” She winked.

  “Ugh…Yeah, hadn’t gotten to talk to her after the whole alley incident. So I’m not sure how she actually feels about last night.” I trailed off.

  “What do you mean you haven’t talked to her?! I thought she stayed with you last night…?” Abby said, stopping in her tracks.

  “No…After I intervened in that Alex shit, I couldn’t find her. Thought she had left with you because I stopped by here last night to talk to her and no one answered. I also tried calling both her cell and mine since she has it, but I still didn’t get any response from her.”

  Xavier stepped around Abby with her bag strapped over his shoulder. “So you haven’t seen her?” he asked.

  “That is what I said, dude…” I responded.

  “Surely to god she didn’t go home with Landon….” Abby tried to say quietly enough that I wouldn’t hear her, but I heard her loud and clear.

  “Let’s go.” I said, waving at them to get in my car.

  “Go where?!” Abby sighed looking lost.

  “To Silhouettes…If Landon isn’t there to ask where the hell Hannah is, someone is bound to know. Now get in, both of you!” I said a little bit more forcefully than I initially meant to.

  “Jason…Do you really want to find out if she went home with him, man? You may just be setting yourself up for some bullshit you’re better off without.” Xavier butted in.

  “Yes, I want to know. Now are you all coming or not?” I was fuming by this point. The thought of Hannah at Landon’s place instead of mine, pissed me the fuck off. I poured my heart out to her like some pansy-ass boy last night and it’s possible she went home with him. Hell no, this wouldn’t sit well with me. Revving the big block engine on my 69’Camaro all I could see was red.

  “Jason dude, get in the truck. I’ll drive. You don’t need to kill us while driving out of anger.” Xavier offered as he leaned in my window, turned the key to off, and pulled them from the ignition.

  “Looks like I have no choice…” I mumbled.

  “I’m going to run in the house real fast, change my clothes, and drop my bag in my room. Be right back!” Abby said swiftly while jogging up the steps to the front door.

  I slammed my hands numerous times against the steering wheel before I forced myself out of the car and over to Xavier’s truck. “Man…I don’t know how I am going to react to Landon. That asshole got up in my face numerous times last night. He is lucky I didn’t kick his ass right then and there. I can’t even think about Hannah going home with him or I’m going to flip my shit.” All the confusion and stress to do with the situation between Hannah and me had me on edge, especially with Landon thrown into the mix. I rested my arms over the back of the truck, letting my head fall in between them, as Xavier came up and patted me on the back.

  “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…this 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 this? Never speak of this or I’ll hunt you down and hurt you…”

  “Yeah, yeah—I got it. Don’t let anyone know that 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, here 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 needed 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. One 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 friends 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 w
ere 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 questions 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…Landon 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.