nodded. No way was I letting this guy further hurt Taylor, not if I could prevent it.
“Taylor?” A voice came from the parking lot.
Taylor cursed, and I recognized the same friend who’d interrupted us after sociology this morning. Claire…? I think. Taylor talked about her a few times. She was the female counterpart to that dipshit Delray. Both were Taylor’s friends. Earlier she’d been on cloud nine. This time she seemed transfixed by the unconscious dude. She stopped a few feet away and pointed. “Is that…?”
Taylor nodded.
Her friend’s arm dropped. “Oh.”
Nate laughed. “He walked into Logan’s fist.”
Mason grinned and added, “Twice.”
Taylor’s friend turned to me. I flashed her a grin.
“Oh.” I could see the wheels turning, and she got stars in her eyes.
I would’ve stepped back and held up my hands, but they were occupied. I could only shake my head. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. I’m not some knight in shining armor. The guy had it coming.”
She turned to Taylor. “I’m not disagreeing with you, but whatever. It’s all over social media that the Kades are here tonight. You weren’t answering my texts, so I figured I’d see if you were with them.”
Mason frowned. “It’s on social media?”
Nate groaned, cursing under his breath. “Uh…” He gave us an apologetic look. “I might’ve posted that we were going to Pete’s tonight.”
“Why would you do that? All these people know our hangout now.”
Nate rolled his eyes. “Because unlike the new you, I want chicks to show up.”
My eyes narrowed. “I still feel like punching someone. You could be that someone.”
“Stop.” Mason threw both of us a warning glare. “Let’s deal with this guy, then hash out whatever is going on.”
“Taylor, stay.” I nodded toward Claire. “Talk to your friend. We’ll load him up.”
And once Eric was in my backseat, Mason shut the door and rounded on us in the parking lot. “Nate, what’s your problem?”
“Nothing.” He pointed through the window to my unconscious passenger. “Let’s head out. This guy is going to wake up soon.”
Mason held back, still watching me.
I gestured for him to go. “I’ll be fine. I mean it.”
“You sure?”
I nodded. “Get the fuck out of here. I’ve got an ex to interrogate. We can figure a plan later.”
Mason grinned and lifted his hand in a wave. As the two of them left in Mason’s car, I glanced back to the bar and saw Taylor heading my way. I walked over to meet her. I didn’t want her to have to see her ex any more than necessary.
“Jason’s gone,” she said before I could speak.
Good. “Really?”
“Claire’s been trying to call him, but he wasn’t answering. So she called his roommate instead. He’s completely gone, like he packed up and everything.” She stopped and tried to clear her throat. Her voice came out hoarse. “He said there were two letters left behind. One for me and one for Claire.” She looked over to my vehicle. “What the hell are you going to do with him?”
I shrugged. “I wasn’t thinking that far ahead, to be honest.”
“Logan.”
“What?” I grinned at her. “I’m being the supportive guy. I punched your ex for you. Punching’s my thing. It’s what I do.”
“I thought you were the talker?”
“That, too. Tonight it was punching.”
“I never asked you to.”
I tapped my head. “You were thinking it. I caught the vibe.” I winked. “I can read minds, too, didn’t you know?”
She laughed, shaking her head. “I can’t deal with this. Can you just drop Eric off somewhere where there are medical professionals?”
“He’ll be fine. Don’t worry. And you shouldn’t go to Delray’s place. Call his roommate. Have him meet you somewhere else, somewhere safe. Crime Boss Dickhead could be waiting there for Delray. You don’t want me to go with you?”
She shook her head, her smile fading. “No. I’ll go with Claire. And we’ll call. We’ll have him meet us somewhere safe. Can you just—”
She looked over my shoulder at my vehicle. “Why did he come back?”
“Look at me. I’ll find out why he’s here.”
“You won’t hurt him?”
I flashed her a grin.
She added, “Any more?”
“You really don’t want me to hurt him?”
She let out a sigh. “No. He’s an asshole and a coward, and I think he deserved getting hit, but he doesn’t need to get beat up anymore.”
“Okay.” I let her hand go and held both of mine up in the air. “I’ll be nice. We’ll just…chat.”
She shook her head. “Why don’t I believe you?”
I winked. “Because you know the real me.” Pressing a kiss to her forehead,