Dare Me by Ella Frank

1

Kieran

I CHECKED MY phone yet again and sighed before shoving it back in my pocket. Bash said he had meetings this morning, but that had been hours ago. I figured by the time I was finished with my reports I would’ve at least gotten a text back, but nope. Radio silence all day, and after his strange behavior this morning, I didn’t have a good feeling about it.

Maybe he was just shaken up from seeing me injured and not being able to get a hold of me? My line of work wasn’t easy to adjust to, and it might be par for the course for me, but I could see how I’d be freaked out if I were in his shoes.

Shit, or had he gotten the wrong idea about Summer being there? God, she’d been territorial as fuck, but I just brushed it off, knowing I wouldn’t be getting in touch like she expected.

Or maybe he’d gotten caught up in work the same way I had and hadn’t been able to message me back yet. That seemed the most plausible, but it didn’t explain why I had a gnawing feeling in my gut.

The doors to the Regent slid open in front of me, and I walked inside and headed toward the front desk. With Bash in the penthouse, I needed special access to head up there, which meant giving him a heads-up that he had a visitor.

“Hi, Kieran Bailey to see Sebastian Vogel, please.”

The woman behind the desk smiled at me. “Of course. One moment.”

As she looked up his information, I drummed my fingers on the counter and waited, impatient to see Bash after such a crazy night. With the way my shoulder was beginning to ache something fierce, I probably should’ve stopped by the pharmacy to pick up my prescription first, but I could handle it. This was more important.

“I’m sorry, sir, you said Sebastian Vogel?”

“Yes. He’s staying in the penthouse.”

She typed something in and frowned at the screen. “Sebastian Vogel is no longer a guest at the Regent. He checked out this morning.”

I blinked, not comprehending. “That’s impossible. Can you check again? Maybe it’s under Bash Vogel.”

She shook her head and gave me a tight smile. “I’m sorry, sir. We don’t have a guest here by that name. Are you sure you have the right hotel?”

What? Is she serious? “Yes, I have the right hotel. I just saw him this morning. He didn’t say anything about leaving—”

I couldn’t even finish my sentence as I thought back to what he’d said at the firehouse before he left. Nothing about leaving Chicago, for fuck’s sake. This couldn’t be right.

As I pulled out my cell again, I mumbled, “Sorry, thank you,” to the desk clerk and hit call on Bash’s number. The damn thing went straight to voicemail, and I cleared my throat before speaking.

“Hey, it’s Kieran. I’m at the Regent, and they’re telling me you’ve checked out. I’m not really sure what’s goin’ on, so give me a call when you get this.”

I ended the call and cursed. What the fuck? Was he really gone, or were they just saying he was? Did he just not want to see me? He wasn’t the kind of person who would just ghost, was he? Shit.

So…he’d left. He wasn’t answering my texts or my calls. Surely there had to be some other explanation, because none of this made any sense.

Great. Just great. After the shit-tastic night I’d had, being exhausted, in pain, and now, what? Ghosted? It all added up to a seriously fucked-up twenty-four hours, and this was the last thing I needed.

I didn’t bother waiting for the doors to slide open, punching through the side door instead. I was beyond tired at this stage and could barely think straight—huh, now there was a fucking joke—as I pulled up my Uber app and called for one, not feeling up to dealing with public transport today.

How could Bash have done this? Just up and left? With no call, no text? Hell, it’d be different if all we’d done was hang out once or twice, but I thought we were more than—more than what? Friends?

Well, yeah, last time I checked, friends didn’t come all over each other, but hey, maybe they did in Bash’s circles.

No, that wasn’t fair. Bash wasn’t like that. But then again, what did I know? Up until a few minutes ago, I never would’ve thought he was the kind to just up and fucking leave either, but here I was riding back to my loft alone after being left standing with my dick in my hand like some lovesick loser, questioning the woman at the front desk.

When the Uber dropped me at the loft, I made a quick trip to the drugstore across the street for some beer, but quickly nixed the idea in favor of the pain meds instead. I figured they’d knock me out for a good few hours, or at least long enough to forget how annoyed I was.

With my pills in hand, I headed upstairs, more than ready for this never-ending shitstorm of a day to be over with. I was careful not to make a sound as I entered the loft, knowing Olsen would be sleeping off last night too. I made a beeline straight for my room.

Once inside, I tossed the pills on my nightstand and kicked out of my boots. I then grabbed my phone from my back pocket and checked, like some loser, to see if I had any missed calls or messages.

Nothing.

There was absolutely nothing. Did he really think so little of me that I didn’t even deserve a Hey, I’m heading home early text? Was that really so much to ask? I thought we’d had a good time together. In fact, I knew we had. So why the hell had he pulled this disappearing act? It didn’t make any sense.

I carefully unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans and shoved them off, before gingerly removing my sling and then my shirt. I popped a couple of pills and crawled into bed, and as I stared at the ceiling, I thought about the last night I’d spent with him.

The way he felt in my arms, the way he sounded when he came undone for me, and the anger and annoyance from his little vanishing act turned to something much more personal—something deeper.

I was upset that he’d left. I’d been looking forward to seeing him after such a horrendous night, and to show up and find him gone was just one more blow to an already horrible day.

I closed my eyes and willed the pain meds to kick in, wanting something to turn my brain off so I wouldn’t be tempted to keep calling and texting a man who had made it glaringly obvious he wanted nothing to do with me.

Wow. If someone had told me weeks ago that I’d be lying in my bed upset because a man I was dating had up and left me, I would’ve called them insane.

Fuck.

I glanced over at the clock on my nightstand and groaned. I needed to get some damn sleep if I had any hope of kicking this exhaustion, but sleep was being elusive. My eyes shifted to where my phone sat, and beside it the business card Bash gave me the very first time he’d visited the firehouse.

Reaching for it, I stared at the company name AnaVoge, and below was Bash’s name and title along with a phone number, email, and South Haven address.

I frowned and fingered the edge of it before tossing it back on the nightstand. I hardly thought emailing him would get me far if he wasn’t answering my calls or texts, and Jesus, why was I still thinking about this?

He left. He doesn’t want to see you anymore. Deal with it, man.

But that wasn’t good enough for me. Not when I felt like my entire world had been turned upside down. Bash knew how different this…this thing between us had been for me. How much trust it had taken for me to cross a line I’d never dreamed of before with him. And for him to just peace out on me like it didn’t mean any more to him than just a fucking game? It was embarrassing. I was embarrassed.

Heat crept up my neck to my cheeks as I thought about him sitting around with his friends and laughing about the straight firefighter he’d managed to turn on his trip to Chicago. My stomach twisted, the idea of being a joke to him more horrifying than being a one-night stand, and again I couldn’t help the niggling voice in the back of my head that said Bash wasn’t like that.

But how would I know?

I let out a sigh and shut my eyes, and as a relaxed sensation spread throughout my body, I didn’t fight it. I welcomed the lethargy, welcomed the peace that would come as my mind began to shut down. Then I banished all thoughts of men with soft lips, alabaster skin, and jet-black hair as I slipped into oblivion and happily stayed there for the next twelve hours.