Page 86 of Burning Bridges Duet

“And how do you know that?” I ask him.

“She told me when we talked about her period,” he says, shrugging.

Ryder barks out a laugh. “You talked about her period with her?”

“Shut up,” River says, pulling himself out of his twin’s grasp. “I was concerned about her well-being, like all of you should be. It’s the twenty-first century. Men can talk about periods. Get a grip.”

My eyes widen. I like this new River, but we need to get Liv back to keep him.

I’m still reeling a bit from the realization that Chase slept with my girl and River punched him in his face for it. Well, that wasn’t on my life bingo card, but we still have the problem of Liv being gone.

“What do we do now? Does someone have a plan?” I ask.

“River, can you check the security footage for the section where Tyler kissed Chase?” Jaxon asks. “Maybe if it’s clear that he didn’t consent to it, it would be good to show Liv.”

River gets to work, and after a few minutes, he lifts his head.

“I’m sorry bro, I wasn’t fair,” he tells Chase.

Chase just nods, and we all gather behind Riv to see the footage. It’s clear that Chase didn’t do anything to encourage Tyler’s advances, and he quickly pushed her away. We can also see Liv standing near the entrance, watching. She turns back to the doors so quickly that she just didn’t see Chase rejecting Tyler.

“Fuck,” Chase mutters. “In her eyes, not even six hours after we slept together, I’m kissing another girl in the same place like she meant nothing to me.” He buries his face in his hands. “Fuck!” he yells, kicking the desk.

Jaxon puts a hand on Chase’s shoulder, trying to calm him down. “Hey, it’s not your fault. Liv just misunderstood the situation. We need to find her and talk to her, explain what really happened.”

River nods. “We need to make things right with her, and, Chase, I’m sorry I punched you earlier.”

“No man, it’s fine. I deserved it,” Chase replies, shaking his head.

“So, any idea where she could have gone?” I ask.

“Let’s check her apartment first,” Jaxon orders.

TWO

Ryder and I are lounging on the couch while the TV plays in the background, but my mind is elsewhere, consumed by thoughts of her. It’s been three days, and she’s just gone. Her apartment seems empty, her phone is off, she didn’t go to class, and I have no idea where we could find her. This is all because of me.

We searched every possible place and approached some of her classmates, but had no luck. We even knocked on that Gunner guy’s door since the others said he was a good friend of hers, but he didn’t know where she was either, and I could see the panic rise in his eyes when he tried to call her and didn’t get through. Meanwhile, the guys and I got tested to ensure that my recklessness didn’t put her at risk, and thankfully, we’re all good.

I’m still amazed at how Riv has stood up for Liv. It’s comforting to know that we all have her back, even if it means standing up against our family.

Jaxon comes in with some groceries and heads to the kitchen to put them away. He can’t stand doing nothing, so he’s been cooking this whole time.

River bursts into the room, waving his tablet. “Guys, you need to see this!” he says, settling onto the couch beside us.

Jaxon leans into the doorway between the living room and kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. River has been holed up in his room for the past two days, poring over our security camera feed, searching for any clues as to where she might have gone.

“I haven’t found any leads on where she might be,” River admits, and my hope deflates a little, “but I found something else.”

He connects his tablet to the TV, and there is a younger version of her, with blonde hair and those same beautiful olive green eyes that captivate me so much. It’s a paused YouTube video, where she’s standing beside a guy with his arm around her shoulder. They both look sweaty but happy.

“What is that? Where did you find this?” Ryder asks, jumping up.

River looks down, seemingly embarrassed. “I wanted to learn about contemporary dance, so I looked up videos of the best contemporary dancers worldwide and stumbled upon this.” He hits play, and the video starts over.

It’s a clip from a Canadian show called Canada’s Biggest Talents. We watch as Liv and the guy run onto a dance floor, stopping in the center to face a wildly clapping audience and a panel of judges, consisting of three Canadian celebrities I recognize but can’t name. They hold hands, smiling and waving to the crowd. Liv is wearing only a dark red sports bra and denim shorts, her long, blonde hair falling down her back, while the guy wears a beige shirt and dark red trousers. Both are barefoot.

“Olivia, Liam, are you ready for your final performance tonight?” asks one of the celebrity judges, and the crowd whoops.