I Hope You Find Me by Trish Marie Dawson

He
barely cracked a smile at either of them. I realized that Middle of
the Night Connor was not as sexy as Early Morning Connor, and the
thought made me stifle a laugh.
    “Really?” Matt asked. He glanced around the
large suite, taking in the jugs of water and canned goods piled up
around the kitchen. “Are you two planning on staying here
then?”
    Connor and I exchanged a look. “We were just
talking about that actually.” I paused, deciding to hear their
story before sharing our plans. “What about you? Did you meet in
the City?” I aimed the question in Mariah’s direction but she was
busy rubbing the dog’s head and ears and wasn’t looking at me.
    “Oh, no…we didn’t meet in the City. Mariah
and I are twins.” Matt leaned into the counter, clearly enjoying
the hot drink. His oversized USCD sweatshirt hung off his muscled
upper body but he filled his jeans perfectly, accentuating his lean
hips and long legs. I stared at his backside, wishing for a moment
he wasn’t sitting.
    “Wow.” I said, “What are the odds of
that?”
    “Pretty well in our favor when you think
about it.” Mariah spoke for the first time. She looked up from the
dog and glanced at Connor before resting her soft gaze on me. “You
know…same genes and all.” She smiled.
    “Thanks for leaving that message. We were
starting to freak out wondering where we would be sleeping
tonight,” Matt said, his mouth hovering over his mug.
    “You’re welcome, I guess.” I laughed softly.
“I left it for family or friends, in case anyone is left. I didn’t
really think about anyone else reading them.” I suddenly felt
foolish.
    “Well if you hadn’t we would still be
wandering around downtown right now.” Matt slid off his stool and
handed the second cup of coffee to his sister. “Mind if we crash in
one of the rooms down the hall, and maybe chat again in the
morning?”
    Connor replied, “Not at all, in fact I have
the key to the suite next door, it’s a single bedroom but it has a
comfy couch.” Connor smiled at Mariah. She smiled back at him as
she raised her hand up to brush a curly section of hair away from
her neck. I wasn’t sure, but the stirring in my stomach felt almost
like jealousy.
    “Yeah, I think we can figure it out.” Matt
winked at me, and asked if they could return the mugs in the
morning. After Connor assured them we had plenty, and not to worry
about it, we walked them to the door. Mariah seemed truly sad to
part with the dog, and made a point to lean in to Connor and touch
his arm as she said goodnight.
    Connor seemed genuinely happy to see Matt go.
I was genuinely happy to see Mariah go. I went to my room that
night with the overwhelming feeling that the next day was going to
be a long and possibly unpleasant one.
     

 
     
    CHAPTER
SIX
     
     
    Connor was awake the rest of the night,
listening to the sounds of the hotel. He didn’t trust Matt; there
was something about the way he looked at Riley that disturbed him.
He understood how Riley must feel, having the dog with her. Zoey
wasn’t just her companion but she was a reliable, walking and
barking, alarm system. He left his door open, wide open, and if he
shifted to the left side of his king size bed, he could look across
the sitting room and see unobstructed into Riley’s room. They had
agreed to leave the doors open so Zoey could freely move about the
suite during the night, in case their visitors returned. Zoey
seemed to sense the difference because she didn’t sleep much
either. She wandered between the two bedrooms, sniffing around
Connor’s bed and then returning to Riley’s room.
    He lounged, completely still, on top of the
comforter and imagined meeting Riley under different circumstances.
He let himself close his eyes for just a moment and pictured her
happy somewhere, perhaps with family, or with friends, carefree and
without the emptiness in her eyes he saw when he first met her. He
envisioned a light burned there once and she had the