Free Summer Fling (Players of Marycliff University Book 1) by Jerica MacMillan Page A

only 4:15. Abby tried her one more time, but she still didn't answer.

    She leaned her head back against the headrest of her seat, trying to decide what to do. She could wait 45 minutes until Megan got off work. Or she could try someone else.

    Abby scrolled through her contact list. Nearly everyone was gone for the summer or she didn't know them well enough to ask for their help.

    Her eyes kept drifting back to one name as she scrolled through her contacts, trying to pick someone.  

    Lance.

    Oh, God.
    * * *
    The light above Lance buzzed and went dim. He looked up at it from his desk in the spare cubicle and growled. It had been doing that off and on all day.  

    Bzzz, click .  

    Dim.  

    Bzzz, click.  

    Bright.  

    Bzzz, click.  

    Dim.  

    He was ready to climb up there and change the damn thing himself.

    Bzzz . He looked up at the still dim fluorescent bulb. Bzzz . He realized he was hearing his phone vibrate in his desk drawer, not the stupid light.  

    He opened the drawer and was surprised to see Abby's name on his screen. She was calling him. He considered letting it go to voicemail. He was at work after all, even if there was less than an hour left. But, why would she be calling? They'd only ever texted, and she'd shot him down last time he saw her.  

    Curiosity got the better of him. He brought his thumb down on the green button, but the call disappeared just before he answered it. Not feeling like waiting to see if she'd leave a voicemail, he unlocked his phone and called her back.

    "Lance?" Relief was evident in Abby's voice.

    "Abby? What's wrong?"  

    He heard her take a deep breath and then let it out, but she didn't say anything.

    "Abby?"

    "Yeah?"

    "Are you going to tell me why you're calling me?"

    "Um, are you busy?" Her voice held a mixture of fear and hope and something he couldn't identify.

    "I'm at work, so yeah, I'm kind of busy." His words came out sounding more pissed off than he'd meant. He'd been having trouble concentrating all day. All week, really. The light had been bugging him, sure, but not as much Abby's rejection on Sunday.

    "Oh. I'm sorry. I just— Sorry to bother you."  

    Lance winced at her response. He took a breath and tried again. "No, it's fine. You're not bothering me. What's wrong?"

    There was another long pause. Then he heard her muttering what he thought sounded like curses. "I need a ride to my mom's." She said it in a rush, like she couldn't get the words out fast enough.

    "You need a ride to your mom's?" He wasn't sure what he'd expected, but that hadn't been it at all.

    He heard Abby take another deep breath. "Yeah. She texted me earlier that she needed my help for something at home and my car won't start. I'm sorry to bother you with this, but Megan's not answering and I didn't know who else to call."

    Lance's eyes flicked to the clock on his monitor. It was 4:22. "I get off at 5:00. Can I come get you at 5:30?"

    "If that's the earliest you can make it, then, yeah. If Megan gets here sooner than that I'll text you so you don't have to bother."

    "It's not a bother. I'll see if I can make it any earlier."

    He heard Abby let out another breath, this one sounding more relieved. "Thanks, Lance."

    He hit the end button on his phone and saved what he was working on. He really hadn't made much progress since lunch anyway. Leaving a little bit early wouldn't make any difference. Abby was so obviously upset that it brought out his protective side. She needed him and he wasn't going to make her wait any longer than necessary. He wondered what was going on with her mom that had her so worked up.

    He stuck his head in his supervisor's office. "Hey. I kind of have a personal crisis that I need to take care of. Is it okay if I duck out early?"  

    His supervisor just waved him off without looking up from his computer and Lance was out the door.  

    A half hour later he was knocking on Abby's door, still wearing his slacks and button down shirt from work.