Page 35 of Buckin' Around

Bolting from the sofa, I sprint for Riley’s bedroom. I swing around her open door only to find the room they both currently share empty.

Fuck.

I double-check the time on my phone.

6:14

Campus classes never run past five. And it’s only a fifteen-minute drive from there to here.

“Riley?” I call out as I duck my head into the room that was meant to be hers and then my own. Checking the spare bathroom and then my en suite, just in case, I make a beeline back to the kitchen. The apartment is empty.

They’re not here.

My chest tightens, taking me by surprise.

I check my phone for messages. I left my number on the counter this morning. Surely she put it in her phone?

But I have no unread messages.

I tap Stacey’s name and video call her.

She accepts a few rings later, her sweaty, red face filling the screen as it bobs. “Stace, you gotta stop answering on the run,” I grind out.

“Deal with it, Spencer. What do you want? I’m three minutes away from the sixth mile.”

I roll my eyes at my overachieving sister and remember the very important reason I was calling. “Is Riley with you?”

Stacey jerks to a halt, huffing deep breaths as her eyes widen. “What do you mean? What the hell did you do?”

“Jesus, can you drop the Spencer blame game for one fucking minute? I came home and the two of them are nowhere to be found.”

“Well, I highly doubt she made off with your kid, brother. Did you call her?” The disgust in her voice riles me up. I know I shouldn’t let it, but it damn well does.

“No, I thought I’d piss you off first, for funsies. Christ sake, Stace, I would call her if I had her number.”

“What? You don’t have her number? And you left her with your kid? Seriously, Spencer.”

The temptation to hang the fuck up is almost too much, but I need to know if Riley and Ivy are okay, so I press on. “Did you see Riley on campus today?”

Her face slackens before she clears her throat. “She took the baby to class, Spencer. I didn’t even know you could do that.”

Her gaze is set somewhere far off in the park she’s running in.

“She took Ivy to class?”

“Yes, Spencer, keep up.”

Now she rolls her eyes at me.

Fuck.

Guilt sluices its way through my veins. “Thanks for nothing, sis.”

I hang up.

I hang my head, palm dragging down my face before I lose a breathy, “Fucking Christ.”

So I can trace the route from here to the campus, see if she broke down or something? Drive around until I find her beat-up little car.