Page 95 of The Perfect Melody

Eventually, we migrated from the couch to Austin’s bed. Despite the hour, we came together with an unspoken understanding that we both needed to reconnect on a physical level after such an emotional twenty-four hours. We fell into bed in a tangle of limbs and slow, sleepy kisses.

Unbidden, my thighs rub together and I brush my fingertips over my lips as flashes of memory from last night play in my mind.

Austin’s slow, deep breathing changes, and he nuzzles his face into the side of my neck. “What time is it?” His deep voice is thick with sleep. The gravelly sound, coupled with the way he presses himself against me even closer so I can easily feel thehard length of him at my back, makes me want a repeat of last night.

Freeing one hand from the covers to stroke over the freckled arm around my waist, I reply, “No idea. The clock’s on your side. I don’t feel as tired as I should, which probably means we’ve accidentally slept in.”

“Mmm, OK.” Austin kisses the slope of my neck, his beard brushing against the sensitive skin in a way that makes me angle my head to give him better access. He slides his hand beneath the covers and lightly skims the tips of his fingers up and down the length of my torso until I’m squirming and wishing he’d go lower.

Rocking against me, Austin finally slips his hand between my legs, gliding two fingers through my folds to tease at my opening. Now this is the perfect way to start the?—

“Wait.”

Austin stops immediately, moving so his hand rests on my hip. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Monday,” I reply, already wiggling into a sitting position. “I’m supposed to meet the girls for—shit.” The face of Austin’s clock mocks me from the table on his side of the bed. “We overslept, like,wayover. It’s half twelve.”

Austin’s copper brows shoot up. “Really?”

My shoulders slump. “Yeah.”

“Sorry you missed coffee with the girls. I’m sure they’ll understand.”

“Crap, yesterday was Sunday, you missed your game night?—”

“I texted the guys to tell them I wouldn’t make it.”

“Oh, OK. That’s good.” Swinging my legs over my side of the bed, I try to remember where I put my phone last night. It’s downstairs somewhere—I know that much. Picking up Austin’s t-shirt from the floor, I throw it on, then ask, “You want coffee?”

Austin’s already up and pulling on his boxers. “I’ll make it. You text the girls to let them know you’re alive.” He joins me in the bedroom doorway, and I rise onto my tiptoes, angling my face up. Meeting me halfway, Austin brushes his full lips against mine in a chaste kiss.

“Thanks.” I trot down the stairs with a spring in my step.

My phone’s not in the living room, which means I must have left it in the kitchen. Austin’s already adding milk to our coffee when I walk in. I’m momentarily distracted by the way the muscles in his back contract and relax as he moves. Catching me looking, he shoots me a look filled with heat over his shoulder. Right, the sooner I text a quick apology in the group chat, the sooner we can finish what we started upstairs.

I tear my gaze away long enough to spot my phone on the counter in the spot I occupied while Austin prepared last night’s dinner. Hopefully the battery’s not dead. The phone’s screen comes to life when I pick it up, but my smile freezes in place when I see the display.

Twenty-seven missed calls. A ridiculous number of texts. Before I can investigate further, the phone rings, and I nearly jump out of my skin.

My hand trembles as I swipe to accept the call.

“Hello.”

“Cassie, thank God. Why haven’t you been answering your phone?” Liam’s voice is tight with panic. In all the years I’ve known him, he’s never sounded this stressed. He’s always been the unruffled, easy-going one.

“I didn’t have it on me. What’s wrong? Are you and Bailey OK?”

“What’s going— Wait, you mean don’tknow?”

“Know what?”

Austin’s in front of me, giving me a questioning look, but I can’t offer him any reassurance. If Liam and Bailey are fine, then the only reason he’d be calling me in such a state is if?—

“Cassie, everybody knows.”

My heart drops to my stomach. My knees buckle. I barely hear Austin’s panicked curse over the ringing in my ears as he swoops in to catch me, carefully lowering us both to the ground.

The tiled floor should feel cold on my bare legs, but the chill barely registers. “How?”