Page 24 of Come Find Me Tonight

Ugh, why me? When Rook is here?

When I’m certain my stomach is okay for now, I stand up, stretching my legs before washing my hands and rinsing with mouthwash that burns the inside of my cheeks. I brace myself for the possibility that Rook could be gone because there’s no way he wants to deal with a puking girl.

This has to be too much drama for him.

I flick the bathroom light off, opening the bathroom door slowly. I almost don’t want to look to see if he’s still here. But in the dark, I can see Rook’s silhouette where I left him. Shock that I didn’t scare him off sparks through me, and I nearly tiptoe back over to the bed as if he’ll run off now. But as soon as I lie down, he tugs me back into his orbit like I never stepped away.

“Are you okay?” he asks quietly.

My eyes tear as I bury my face in his bare chest. “No, I’m anemic,” I whimper.

“I got you,” I think I hear him say in my hair.

I drift to sleep in the safety of his warm arms, and when I wake hours later, my room is bright with the morning light. I blink my sleepy eyes and realize I’m lying on my side again. I prop myself up on my elbow and frown when the other side is vacant without a trace that he was ever here. I look around my bedroom.

“Rook?” I call out.

He’s made it abundantly clear that he doesn’t want me seeing him in the daylight. I run my hand down my face and roll over to my side to check my phone on my nightstand. Next to it stands a wine cork.

Despite my aching torso, I rush over to it. “Ow,” I groan. I desperately need to head to the bathroom, but I have to inspect this first.

I hold the soft cork and roll it around in my fingers. It’s slightly tinged red, like it was in a bottle of wine and left to dry out.

Could Rook be a wine drinker? How random.

I squint at the logo embossed on the side.

Tenuta Valenti.

I pick up my phone, and the first thing I see is a DM from Rook from earlier this morning.

@Rook: You saw it. But do you see me yet?

A tremor runs up my spine. I instinctively scan my bedroom again. Do I see him yet? Physically? Or is it deeper than that?

My guess…deeper.

I check my notifications. According to the cameras, he left around one in the morning, meaning he stayed for a few hours, including waiting for me to fall asleep and continuing to comfort me after I did. I glance at the cork, resting on my nightstand again, and I notice how clear the surface of my nightstand is. I had an empty bowl on it when he showed up. I know I did.

He took my dishes to the kitchen?

That feels like boyfriend behavior that Rook would never allow.

Now freshened up, I’m eager to research my little clue. I type Tenuta Valenti into the search bar and even use the camera tool to search the exact logo. It just points me in the direction of a privately owned vineyard and winery in Napa, California. I glance at their website, looking for staff or names to go on, but no one listed seems like a lead. The owners are just a group of Italian brothers; none young enough to be Rook.

Is Rook Italian?

On the winery’s website, there’s a picture of an Italian family that looks like it was taken decades ago, but these people couldn’t be Rook. I must be looking too far into it. He probably just bought their wine and left the cork to be cryptic. Rook can’t be some winemaker in Napa if he lives in Los Angeles, and I’m not about to road trip up to Napa to find out. I toss the cork and my phone onto my bed and glance at the side Rook lay on last night. My stomach growls.

Might as well get some coffee and breakfast delivered.

My phone pings as I reach back for it.

@Rook: I’ll be back in a few days. Feel better.

I nibble the edge of my bottom lip. How did he know I was up? Was he watching me?

Oh, yeah, read receipt.