Page 87 of The Player's Club

I gritted my teeth. “Okay. Well, thanks. Can I give you my number?”

Josh agreed, although I doubted the guy would message me again. He sauntered off, clearly not distressed that Mac had up and left LA without telling anyone, at least as far as I knew.

I got back into my car and drove to The Scarlet Rope. When I arrived, I circled around for Darren’s car, but to my relief, I didn’t see him. All the same, I parked a few blocks away and wore my hoodie and sunglasses just in case.

I got inside and ran into Serena. She raised an eyebrow at my attire.

“I know, I know. I’m looking for Mac. Have you seen him?” I asked.

Serena furrowed her perfectly waxed eyebrows. “Mac? No, I haven’t. He hasn’t been here for a week. Maybe longer.” She shrugged. “We don’t keep tabs on our regulars.”

I sincerely doubted that, but I took Serena’s word for it. I returned to my car and tried to gather my thoughts, wondering who else I could call.

I ended up calling Brady. He picked up on the second ring. “Well, isn’t this a nice surprise?”

“Brady, it’s Elodie. Mac’s . . . friend.”

“Yeah, I know. Caller ID and all.”

“Have you seen Mac? Or talked to him?”

“No. He wasn’t at practice today.”

“I’ve called him a bunch of times and went to his house, but he’s not there.” I decided not to mention that Mac had also not been at The Scarlet Rope.

“Shit. Let me go ask Coach something.”

I waited, tapping my foot with impatience, when Brady finally returned to the phone. “Okay, sorry. Coach says that Mac didn’t call in sick or anything. Just was a no-show. We have an away game tomorrow, and he’s supposed to be here in the next two hours.”

I felt anxiety make my gut twist. “Shit. That’s not good. His housekeeper saw him leaving home with a bunch of suitcases. Would he have gone to your away game early?”

“No, and he never misses practice. We get fined if we don’t show up without an excuse. Hell, Mac came to practice once with a raging fever. Nearly passed out on the fucking ice.”

“I’m worried about him. Can you call him? He might pick up for you.”

Brady was silent for a long moment. “Did you guys have a fight?”

“Kind of. It’s complicated. Can you just call him? And let him know I need to talk to him?”

“I don’t like getting involved with couples’ spats but . . .” I could almost hear Brady shrugging. “I’ll try.”

I thanked him and hung up, my heart pounding. Now I knew something was wrong.

Was Mac okay? He wasn’t the type to disappear without telling people. The fact that he hadn’t shown up for practice today was deeply concerning.

Had I pushed him over the edge?

I forced myself not to panic. Mac was a grown man who was more than capable of taking care of himself. This wasn’t some macabre true crime case either.

Even as I tried to keep my panic at bay, I also felt so guilty that I almost threw up. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t lied to Mac in the first place. I should’ve just had the courage to be honest with him.

I took a few deep breaths. All I could do was hope that Mac would contact me or, at the very least, talk to Brady.

Please be okay, I prayed.

MAC

I shouldn’t have come here.