Nick looked up from his magazine. “What?”
“That bitch!”
“What? What are you talking about, Mattie?”
“She locked me in here on purpose!”
“You’re losing it. Calm down. I’m sure no one locked you in here on purpose!”
“No, it’s perfect! When you two were flirting, I bet she fell for you, Nick! She thought you weren’t in here. She probably heard what happened between us, and she wanted me out of the way so she could talk to you without me as a distraction, so she locked me in here.”
“What?”
“She was so friendly to me, Nick! She was so mean to all the other dancers, from what I heard. She didn’t borrow your water bottle. That was just an excuse to get me in here! I thought that was a little strange…” Madeleine sighed. “And that’s why she’s not sending anyone to get me out.”
“But I’m sure she figured out that I’m in here, too!”
“She probably thought you went on the first bus. She probably would have missed it if she spent too much time looking for you.”
Nick nodded. “You know what? I bet you’re right, Mattie.”
“No one is going to let us out, Nick! We’re stuck in here!” Madeleine cried, beginning to panic.
Nick pulled her into his arms. “It’s all right, Mattie. They’ll eventually realize we’re gone. It’s not like you can miss the fact that the two best looking people in the group aren’t there. Besides, is this the worst position, here? Me and you, alone?”
Madeleine smiled and brushed her lips against his. “I guess I could deal with that.”
She leaned against him as he rubbed her back. Carefully, he slid her tank top and bra straps down as he left a trail of tender kisses on her shoulders. “I love you, Madeleine,” he whispered as he slipped her shirt off.
“Maybe we shouldn’t, Nick. I promised Brian I wouldn’t, and if he finds out, I’m off the tour for sure.”
“I don’t think there’s too much risk of anyone finding out. They probably haven’t even figured out where we are yet.”
“But-”
“We’ll be able to hear them come down the hall. Don’t worry, Mattie. It’ll be fine. Besides, do you really want to stop?” He laid her down on her front and carefully massaged her back.
“You’re wonderful, you know that, Nicky?” Madeleine moaned softly as she felt his soft lips on her neck and back.
“Not as wonderful as you are.”
“Has anyone seen Nick and Madeleine?” Brian called when everyone was gathered in the lobby. “Were they on the second bus?”
“No, they weren’t,” Kevin answered. “We all assumed they were on the first one.”
“Aw, shit. You’re kidding me,” Brian muttered. “That means they must still be at the venue, unless they slipped off somewhere. Does anyone want to go back with me?”
“Brian, it’s late. They’re both adults, or at least Nick is, and you know Mattie is responsible. They can take care of themselves. They probably took a cab back here when they realized they missed the buses. And for all we know, they might have run off somewhere for food or something. You know Nick has done that in the past. Wait until morning, and they’ll probably turn up. If they don’t, then we can go back and look for them,” Howie reasoned.
Brian seemed satisfied. He knew his friend was probably right. “Okay, we’ll wait until tomorrow.”