Chapter One

Erin woke to the feeling of Cassie’s mouth on her neck.

Cassie was pressed against her back, lips moving slowly along her throat. She kissed her way up to Erin’s jaw, then turned her head and caught her mouth in a deep, open kiss. Their tongues slid together, slow and warm, before Cassie pulled back just enough to speak against her lips.

“Morning.”

Her hand slid down Erin’s stomach, fingers stroking lightly through the soft hair between her legs.

“I was dreaming about you,” Cassie murmured. She kissed Erin again, slower this time. “Do you want to hear about it?”

Erin nodded.

Cassie smiled against her mouth. “I dreamt that I kissed you like this…” She pressed another deep kiss to Erin’s lips, then moved down to her neck, sucking gently at the skin there while her hand continued to stroke between Erin’s thighs. “And then I moved lower…”

She kissed her way down Erin’s chest, taking one nipple into her mouth and sucking slowly while her fingers slid through the slick gathering between Erin’s legs. Erin’s hand found Cassie’s hair, threading through it as Cassie licked and sucked at her breast.

Cassie eventually shifted lower, settling between Erin’s thighs. She nuzzled the soft patch of hair above her pussy, then dragged her tongue slowly up the length of her, moaning quietly at the taste. Two fingers pushed inside at the same time, curling upward as her tongue circled Erin’s clit with firm, steady strokes.

Erin’s head tipped back against the pillow. She could feel Cassie’s hair brushing the inside of her thighs, soft and warm, every time Cassie moved her head. Her fingers curled deeper, and Erin clenched around them with a low sound.

Cassie licked her with focused attention, sucking her clit into her mouth while her fingers fucked her in a steady rhythm. Erin’s hand tightened in Cassie’s hair as the pressure built, her thighs starting to tremble.

She came with a rough moan, her pussy pulsing around Cassie’s fingers. Cassie kept licking her gently through it, drawing it out until Erin’s grip on her hair loosened.

Cassie crawled back up and kissed her, deep and messy. Erin reached between them and slid her hand between Cassie’s legs, finding her already soaked. She pressed her thigh between Cassie’s legs instead, and Cassie immediately rolled her hips against it, grinding her clit against Erin’s skin with a soft, needy sound.

Erin kissed her again, one hand coming up to cup Cassie’s breast, thumb brushing over her nipple while Cassie rocked against her thigh. She pressed her leg up firmly, giving Cassie something to grind on, and Cassie moaned into her mouth, hips moving faster.

Erin kissed her neck, then lower, sucking lightly at the swell of her breast while Cassie rode her thigh. She could feel how wet Cassie was, how her clit dragged against her skin with every roll of her hips. Erin gripped her ass with one hand, helping her move, while her other hand played with Cassie’s tits, squeezing and stroking until Cassie’s breathing turned ragged.

Cassie came with a broken moan against Erin’s mouth, her whole body shuddering as she ground down hard against Erin’s thigh. Erin held her through it, kissing her slowly until Cassie finally went still, breathing hard against her shoulder.

They stayed tangled together afterward, warm and quiet, legs wrapped around each other. Erin stroked Cassie’s back in long, slow passes while Cassie nuzzled into her neck.

After a while, Cassie lifted her head.

“You know we need to call her, right?” she said softly.

Erin sighed, her hand still moving slowly along Cassie’s back.

“Yeah,” she said. “I know.”

Cassie was quiet for a moment, then added, “It’s been nine months. We could’ve had a baby by now.”

Erin closed her eyes for a second.

“I know,” she said again.

Cassie studied her face. “Do you want to do it? Or do you want me to?”

Erin let out another slow breath, then shook her head.

“I’ll do it.”

✦    ✦    ✦

They stayed in bed, still tangled together, legs wrapped around each other. Erin’s hand moved in slow strokes along Cassie’s back while Cassie nuzzled into her neck, both of them warm and lazy in the afterglow.

Erin reached for her phone on the nightstand without getting up.

She stared at Parker’s contact for a long moment, thumb hovering over the call button.

Cassie lifted her head slightly. “You sure you want to do it now?”

Erin nodded once. “Might as well.”

She hit call and put the phone on speaker, laying it on the pillow between them. Cassie shifted closer, resting her chin on Erin’s shoulder, one hand resting lightly on Erin’s stomach.

It rang.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Four.

Erin’s stomach tightened with each ring. She was just starting to think it might go to voicemail when someone picked up.

“Hello?”

A guy’s voice. Young. Casual.

Erin’s first thought was automatic: Boyfriend.

Sam? No, they broke up. A new man, then. Good. Good for her.

She hadn’t seen Parker in nine months. Nine months was plenty of time for her daughter to meet someone, to get serious enough that he was answering her phone without hesitation. What was he like? Was he good to her? Was he the kind of guy Parker would bring home, or was this just some college fling that had gotten comfortable enough to answer calls? The thought twisted in her chest — protective, curious, and a little possessive all at once.

She cleared her throat. “Hi. Can I speak to Parker, please?”

There was a pause.

“Parker who?”

Erin frowned slightly. “Parker Bennett.”

Another pause.

“I think you’ve got the wrong number.”

Erin’s grip tightened on the phone. “No, this is her number.”

“Well, it’s my number now,” the guy said. “Been mine for at least six months.”

Erin went still.

Six months.

She swallowed. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

Erin closed her eyes for a second.

“…Okay,” she said finally. “Thank you.”

She ended the call and set the phone back on the nightstand.

Cassie’s hand tightened slightly on Erin’s stomach. She lifted her head, eyes wide.

“She changed her number,” Erin said quietly.

Cassie stared at the phone for a long moment, then let out a slow, shaky breath. “Fuck.”

She rolled onto her back beside Erin, staring up at the ceiling, her hand sliding off Erin’s stomach to rest on the sheets between them.

Cassie sat up slowly, pulling the sheet around her waist. The easy warmth from a few minutes ago was gone, replaced by a cold silence.

Erin stayed on her back for a moment, staring at the ceiling. Then she reached for her phone again.

She opened Instagram first. Parker’s account was still there — the same profile picture, the same bio she’d helped her write two years ago. But when she tried to view the feed, it was blank. Private. Blocked.

She tried Facebook next. Same thing. The “Add Friend” button was grayed out. She’d been removed.

Cassie was doing the same thing beside her, scrolling rapidly on her own phone. Her face was tight with concentration.

“Blocked,” Cassie muttered. “She blocked me on everything.”

Erin didn’t answer right away. She went to Parker’s friends list on one of the few accounts she could still see. She recognized several names — girls from high school, a couple of Parker’s college friends. She tried one. Blocked. Another. Blocked. A third. Blocked.

The realization settled in slowly, like cold water seeping under the door.

Nine months.

Nine months without a single message. Nine months of radio silence, and they had let it happen.

Erin’s thumb kept scrolling, checking account after account. Every time the “User not found” or empty feed appeared, the knot in her stomach tightened.

Cassie let out a frustrated sound beside her. “Her friends too. I can’t see any of them. It’s like she wiped us out of her life.”

Erin set her phone down on the bed, but her eyes stayed fixed on the screen. “Maybe she’s forcing us to come to her,” she said quietly. “Maybe that’s what this is. She blocked us so we’d have to show up in person. So we’d have to prove we care enough to chase her down.”

Cassie nodded slowly, but her expression was uneasy. “Nine months. We let it go for nine months. What the fuck were we thinking?”

The question hung in the air between them. Neither of them had a good answer.

Erin rubbed her face with both hands. We should have gone to the school the first week she stopped answering. The first month. We should have shown up at her dorm with coffee and apologies and refused to leave until she talked to us. The thoughts came in fragments, sharp and accusing. Instead we just waited. Like cowards. Like we thought our happiness was more important than her pain.

“We should have gone sooner,” she said, voice thick. “We should have been there the moment she went quiet. Instead we just… let her disappear.”

Cassie was quiet for a long moment, scrolling through another blocked profile. “She probably thinks we don’t care. Or that we’re too busy playing house to notice she’s gone.”

Erin didn’t reply. The words landed too close to the truth.

They sat like that for what felt like a long time, the only sound the occasional tap of a finger on a screen and the low hum of the air conditioner.

Finally, Cassie spoke again, voice small. “We should go to the school. Check the dorm. Maybe the registrar’s office. Someone there has to know something.”

Erin was already swinging her legs off the bed, reaching for her clothes.

“Yeah,” she said, voice tight. “Right now.”