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He let her go and set the first aid kit on the bathroom counter. He rummaged through it for cotton and antiseptic. 

“Turn around.” He dabbed antiseptic on the cotton. “This might sting.”

When the cool liquid touched her raw skin she tensed and sucked in a breath.

“Sorry, baby.” He dabbed slowly and gently, starting at the top and working his way down.

She wondered what he was thinking as he did. When he was done, he tossed the used cotton in the trash and turned her toward him. “You good?” he asked. 

She nodded, but he sat on the edge of the counter and pulled her closer, between his slightly parted knees. God, he was beautiful. And she must be completely nuts, totally off her rocker to be standing here naked with him, casually chatting, as though they hadn’t just had sex so wild and out of control that they’d required first aid afterward.

And it would be a lie if she said she didn’t want to do it again.

He pried her arms from their position guarding her chest and took her hands in his, weaving his fingers through hers. Just having her so close to him was getting him hard again. Not just getting. He was already there. And she was feeling that warm, fuzzy sensation. It started in her scalp and worked its way south toward her toes in a slow, easy rush.

“How’s your back feeling?”

Back? What back? With his arms wrapped around her, his body warm and close, she hadn’t even noticed. “It feels much better.”

“I guess we got a little carried away.”

“I guess we did.”

“I pride myself on my stamina, but you took me down in seconds flat,” he admitted. 

“Is that a fact?” She took his hands and pulled him backward toward the door. “Well, then, maybe we oughtta’ go into the bedroom and see if I can do that again.”

It mystified Lexi how she and Tyler fell easily back into their routine. They made love, talked for a while, then made love again. Repeating the cycle until the hazy light of dawn crept up on them.They lay curled up in the dark under the covers facing each other, arms and legs entwined, as though they couldn’t bear the idea of not touching each other. Not being close. Not looking each other in the eye.

Tyler's hands moved to her still flat belly and cupped it gently. She could tell what he was thinking before he even said it. 

“Marry me, Lexi,” he said simply. 

And this time, she didn't say no.

____________

A loud, insistent pounding roused Lexi from a dead sleep. She tried to open her eyes but the room was too bright. What time was it? She squinted at the clock. They’d been sleeping for a whole three and a half hours. The pounding stopped, then immediately started up again. Beside her, Tyler groaned and stuffed the pillow over his head.

She gave him a poke. “Someone is knocking on your door.”

“No kidding,” he said, his voice muffled and cranky. He wasn't really a morning person. Of course, they hadn’t gone to sleep until after seven, so this was technically like the middle of the night. 

“They’ll go away.”

They didn’t. Whoever it was pounded harder, then Victor called, “Tyler, wake up! It’s important!”

Tyler mumbled and cursed. He flung the covers off and rolled out of bed, naked and beautiful. She couldn’t have asked for a better view. A full moon in the morning. She watched as he grabbed his robe and shoved his arms through the sleeves, then stomped to the door. He flung it open and in his cranky voice asked, “What?”

“Have you seen Lily and Daniel?”

“Of course not. I was sound asleep.”

“Well, they’re not here,” Victor said. “No one knows where they are.”

“And you think they’re in here with me? You picked a hell of a time. They probably went out to breakfast or something.”

“I don’t think so. They left yesterday, and they haven’t been back.”

Lexi sat up in bed, instantly awake.

“Are you sure they haven’t been here?” Tyler asked. The crankiness was gone and concern had crept in to take its place.

“The car was gone all night and their bed wasn’t slept in.”

Fear lodged in Lexi's gut. 

“I thought Lexi might know where they are,” Victor said, “but I can’t find her, either.”

“I haven’t seen her,” Tyler lied.

Something was definitely not right. Lily wouldn’t just take off. Not without telling someone. Lexi wrapped herself in the sheet and joined Tyler at the door. “Did you try calling her?”

It was almost funny the way Victor looked from her, to Tyler, then back to her.

“Oh, there you are, Lexi,” Tyler said, acting surprised to see her. “How did you get in here?”

She shot him a look, then turned to Victor. “Did you call their phones? Lily always has her phone with her. She’s fanatical about it.”

“I tried calling them both and the calls go straight to voice mail.”

“Did you try calling your parents?” Tyler asked.

He shook his head. “I didn’t want to worry them.”

“Something isn’t right,” Lexi said.

“Give us five minutes to get dressed,” Tyler said. “Then we’ll figure out what to do.”

“The only thing left to do is call the police,” Tyler told everyone an hour and a half later.

They had called everyone they could think of who might possibly know where Lily and Daniel went. Friends, family, coworkers. They called the local hospital to see if anyone matching their descriptions had been admitted, and checked the news just in case any accidents or unidentified people had been found. They had covered all the bases, and they had come up with nothing.

Lily and Daniel were gone.

“We shouldn’t be so quick to jump to conclusions,” one of the Tweedles said. 

“Yeah,” the other one added. “I’m sure they’re fine.”

Everyone else was worried, while those two had done nothing but sulk. Probably because the attention was not focused on them.

Lexi wondered how and why Lily was still friends with them. She was handling it the worst. She couldn’t sit still. Tyler would convince her to sit down and relax, and she would be back up again in a minute or two, peering out the window for a sign of their car. Checking her phone for a missed call, even though it hadn’t once left her hand.

“We should make the call,” Dale said, and Calvin nodded in agreement.