off in my head and I remembered all the times I’d told myself I needed to avoid the pull this boy had on me, I found myself doing something unexpected.
I stopped struggling and let him lead me out of the school, finding myself desperately wanting to do what he’d suggested and live a little.
Especially if I was doing it with him.
Chapter Ten
Jensen
Laeth came waltzing into my office, all loose-limbed and casual as he moved to the couch I had pushed up against the wall across from my desk and plopped down. The seconds ticked by as I waited for him to announce why he’d invaded my space.
“Comfortable?” I asked once it became clear he wasn’t going to speak first.
“Extremely,” he said, stretching his long legs out and crossing his ankles, the picture of relaxation. “I don’t have room for a couch in my office. Why the hell did you get the bigger office anyway?”
“Because I kicked your asses at Rock Paper Scissors. Now tell me why you’re here or get out. I’ve got shit to do.”
He lifted his hand like he was examining his nails, taking his time like the asshole he was before saying, “Just thought you’d want to know I did a little digging on that thing you asked me to look into.”
My attention left my computer as soon as the sentence left his mouth. “Way to bury the lead, dickhead. So what did you find?”
“Nothing.”
I blinked, trying to wrap my head around that one word. “You didn’t find anything? I thought you were supposed to be good at this shit, brother.”
“Oh, I found something,” he replied ominously.
“O-kay. How about you stop talking in riddles and get the fuck to your point?”
He uncrossed his legs and pulled them back, leaning forward to brace his elbows on his knees. “What I found was exactly that. Nothing. Since I am good at this shit, I hacked the school’s system and was able to pull the transcripts. Your girl never got her degree. In fact, she dropped out mid-semester two years in and never went back.”
That would have been around the time I left. I could see her delaying in order to have Brantley and be home with him for a while, but I would have thought she’d eventually go back. It didn’t make any sense.
Reaching up, I rubbed at the spot between my brows where I felt a headache coming to life.
“I take it from that constipated look on your face, that info doesn’t help you one damn bit.”
“I just don’t get it,” I told him, dropping my arms onto the desk. “I checked the account I set up for her before I enlisted just the other day. It’s empty. If she didn’t use that money for school, then where the fuck did it go? I mean, you should see where they’re living. Place is only a couple steps up from a complete shithole, and only because she’s done the best she could to take care of it.”
“You thinkin’ she’s got some problems? Drugs or booze? Maybe gambling?”
I shook my head. “No,” I insisted fiercely. “Not Shane. She’s not like that, never was. And she’s all about our boy. She wouldn’t do anything that would take money away that she could use on him.”
“So what is it you’re thinkin’? ’Cause that’s a lotta fucking cake to burn through with nothing to show for it.”
I looked at the clock on the top of my computer screen. Shane’s shifts at the bar could be scattered because of Brantley, but for the most part she stayed consistent, so I knew she was working tonight. Unless there was an emergency, she wouldn’t miss the tips she could make with the Friday night crowd. “I’m thinkin’ I’ll be hitting up Bad Alibi later.”
“Count me in,” Laeth announce with a grin. “Been needing to get my dick wet for a while now.”
I looked up at him and arched a brow. “You just hooked up with that little blonde number last weekend.”
He looked at me like I’d just grown horns as he rose to his feet and stressed, “That was days ago, man. I’ll go let Gage know we’re hitting up the bar for drinks.”
He turned on his boots and bolted out the door before I could tell him I didn’t need backup, especially the kind that would be wasted and on the hunt for pussy within the first hour of arriving.
Just like that, the throb in my forehead got worse.
Shane
The bar was packed. Nearly every table