Page 21 of Next to Everything We Wanted

I huffed before spitting out more water. “Forget the ball. We have to find Bailey!”

“I found it!” I heard Adam shout, and my gaze went to a silhouette not too far down the sidewalk. “I see you right now, Sienna. I’m coming—” Adam’s silhouette fell forward before hitting the concrete.

“Adam!” I ran over to him. When I got there, Emma had beat me and now put her hand over a giant gash on his knee. “Crap, how bad does it feel?”

“It burns.” Adam groaned. “Really bad.”

This is officially the second-worst day of my life. Uncle Reed, Aunt May, and Dad wouldn’t trust me with a fly after this. “I don’t know what to do, guys. Let me wrap it with something.”

I opened my purse. I had my phone, wallet, makeup, tampons . . . Gosh, where were my band-aids? Napkins? Shoot, I didn’t even have makeup wipes.

Well, I could use Mom’s letter, but now wasn’t the time to entertain ideas like that.

“Are you kidding me?” I bellowed, nearly chucking the stupid thing across the street. “I don’t have anything.”

Emma sniffled. “Bailey’s gone forever. And now Adam’s hurt.”

“She’s not gone forever,” I snapped. “We’ll just have to . . .” I covered my face with my hands. I had nothing. I was screwed. Standing here speechless wasn’t going to heal Adam or bring Bailey back, but I couldn’t get my brain to work.

Tears were seconds away from breaking the surface when I heard a familiar bark. My pulse skyrocketed as I searched the area, a bell jingling nearby. A few seconds later, a big dog approached me, sniffing my hand.

“Bailey!” I grinned and gave her the tightest hug. “How did you find us?” She still had her leash on, and I grabbed onto it.

“I think the question should be how she foundme.”

My heart lodged into my throat as I tried to make out the figure that had just appeared. I recognized that voice, though my frazzled brain couldn’t remember who it belonged to.

The person stepped closer to me. “Sienna?”

“Ivan?” My blood pounded in my ears. Was my mind playing tricks? Was Ivan Hicks standing here in the first rainstorm in who-knew-how-long outside our local dog park? “What are you doing out here? It’s raining.”

“It is?” He put a hand to his chest. “Oh, man, I didn’t realize. We’re getting soaked!”

I let out an ugly snort, my cheeks warming. “Sorry.”

Ivan gave me an adorable grin. Well, at least what I could make out of his grin seemed adorable. “One of the guys told me to take a walk to help with my writer’s block, and this is how it turned out.” He leaned down and rubbed behind Bailey’s ears.“What are you doing out in the rain with the kiddos? And why did your dog decide to jump ship?”

I tightened my grip on Bailey’s leash.Say something, say something. “We went to the park to play with our balls.” Adam and Emma snickered from behind me. I whipped my head around, hoping my eyes could shoot lasers through the rain. “Dodgeballs.”

Ivan’s laugh made my pulse skip. “You didn’t have to clarify.”

“We were playing when it started—” Another gush of rainwater entered my mouth, and I cringed and spit it out. Oh gosh, I hoped that hadn’t landed on his shoes. “Sorry.” I wiped my mouth. Even if he couldn’t see me that well, I probably looked like a drowned rat. My makeup was sweatproof,notwaterproof. “The weather betrayed us at the wrong moment.”

“That makes five of us.” He sighed.

“Adam fell and has a huge gash on his knee.” I gestured to Adam, who still sat on the sidewalk. “I don’t have anything to treat him with or cover the wound. Not in my car, either.”

“I have something in my backpack for it,” Ivan said. “Where is your car parked? We can go in there for shelter.”

“It should be close by.” With my free hand, I took out my keys to unlock the car. Two yellow lights shone in the distance. “There it is.”

Following the lights, we climbed into the car. Emma sat in the front seat with me so Ivan could have room to treat Adam’s leg in the backseat, Bailey beside them.

Then it dawned on me. Ivan Hicks was in my car. My small, cramped car. At least it felt cramped with the four of us in here, soaked from head to toe.

“Let me see your leg,” Ivan told Adam, his voice soft and husky.

“Okay.” Adam pulled up his leg and pointed to his bright-red gash, which had stopped bleeding thanks to the rain.