Vanished: A Bad Boy Second Chance Romance Read Online Free PDF

I hang up and stride across the street, feeling my heart racing in my chest, the cold wind against my cheeks. An old rickety pickup screeches by, music blasting. One of the guys shouts something at me, but I ignore it as I step up to Joey’s house, a small, run down cape, faded blue paint, chipped and worn. I take the steps two at a time and knock on the door.
                  “Joey? Joey!”
                  No response. I knock again, step back and try to see through the windows. The house is dark. I step up to knock again when the door swings open, revealing Joey’s mom, Cindy.
                  “Hello…Mia,” she says, obviously not expecting me here. Joey must not have told her about us yet. She looks concerned, which makes sense after what happened today.
                  “Hey, is Joey here?” I ask her.
                  “No,” she says. “He isn’t home yet.”
                  What? What is she talking about? He left before school even started, he has to be home by now. I frown, my face twisting with confusion, and she obviously notices.
                  “Why? What’s wrong?”
                  I don’t know if I should say anything. Joey’s probably just ditching, and will end up coming home later. There’s no point in getting her all worried over nothing.
                  “No, nothing. It’s nothing. Could you just tell him to call me when he gets in?”
                  “Sure,” she says with a smile.
                  “Thanks,” I say, turning away. I head back down the stairs and text my mom. She picks me up and I explain the whole thing to her.
                  “Ugh, what a mess!” she says, shaking her head. “High school romance. I don’t envy you, sweetie.”
                  We get home and I head upstairs to my room. I can’t even begin to concentrate on my homework, and my eyes just constantly flick back and forth to my phone, waiting for it to ring, begging for a message from him. I just want to talk to him. I want to apologize for what happened. I want to hear his voice, and have him tell me he’s not mad at me, that everything will be okay, and that we’ll be together.
                  But the call never comes.
                  I manage to get a couple hours of sleep before school the next day. I show up early and wait outside for him. But he never shows. And the next day, and the next day.
                  It doesn’t feel real. This has to be a practical joke or something. His mom reports him missing to the police, and they send men out to search the woods around town. But they don’t find anything. No sign of him. Nothing. It’s as though he just vanished.
                  He left me , I think as I cry into my pillow.
                  I’m alone in the dark room, huddled under my sheets, thinking about him.
                  My hand clutches his gift, the Eiffel Tower statue. I grip it so tight it hurts.
                  The only boy I ever loved, that ever will love.
                  And he left me.

Chapter 2
     
     
    Present day…
     
     
                  “He’s a good guy,” Cassidy says, sipping nervously at her frozen peanut butter mocha. We’re sitting in the kitchen of my apartment. It feels hotter and stuffier than normal, but I know that’s just because I’m nervously waiting for Ian to arrive. He’s going to propose to me today, and I’m not sure I want him to.
                  I found the ring last week when I was looking for a shirt to change into after we came home from dinner at the new Italian place in town. He’d offered to just let me move in with him several times, but I wasn’t ready for that. I have my place just how I like it, and I’m used to living on my own. I’ve even