made me even more uneasy.
“Okay, it’s quiet enough here,” Xavier said. “I can’t stand those motherfuckers staring at us. Fuck them. They don’t know a thing.”
“I’m going to lose my fucking mind soon,” Easton said.
He turned and punched the hard wall.
His fist recoiled back and he grabbed his hand and screamed FUCK.
“How’d that feel, asshole?” Xavier asked.
Easton spun around and made a move for Xavier.
I moved without thinking about moving.
I got in front of Easton and saved him and Xavier from getting into a fight.
Why?
Why would I do that?
This could have been perfect.
Noah was arrested. The other two were beating the shit out of each other.
How cool, right?
And I fucked it up.
Easton stared down at me, raging.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Why do you care?” Easton snapped at me.
“I don’t,” I said. “I’ll go listen to the gossip then. Whatever. You brought me here.”
“No, I did,” Xavier said.
His hands gently touched my sides and he turned me around.
Heat soared through my body and I side stepped to get out of his reach.
“What’s going on then?” I asked.
“Noah got arrested,” Xavier said. “Something happened overnight. Some dude got his ass beaten and said it was Noah who did it.”
“Was it?” I asked.
“No,” Xavier said.
“Who the fuck knows,” Easton said. “We weren’t with him.”
“So, what happens now?” I asked.
“No fucking clue,” Xavier said. “We don’t do sloppy work around here. You saw what happened with Reid. He knew he was fucked and he took his beating like a man. Whatever this is…”
“Maybe his head is all fucked up,” Easton said.
The two stared at each other like they were talking mentally.
They’re talking about me. Noah is all twisted up over me?
“I don’t understand,” I said.
“You don’t have to,” Easton said. “You sure you don’t remember anything yet?”
“No. Why? Did something happen with me and Noah?” I asked.
Again, they looked at each other.
“Look, Winter, just avoid the gossip today,” Xavier said. “This place will eat you alive if you get lost in it.”
“As long as you two tell me the truth,” I said.
“That requires us to trust you,” Easton said.
“Why can’t you trust me?” I asked. “I’m confused. You guys came out of nowhere to help me with what Reid did. And now… what? What is this?”
“Nothing,” Xavier said. “Just keep in mind who we are. What we do. If you need a reminder, ask around.”
“Or just picture Reid’s ugly face,” Easton said. He slid toward me. “Hey, I’m all pent up right now. Think you can help me relieve some of this?”
“Easton, back off,” Xavier ordered.
“She can make her own decisions,” Easton said as he stared at me. “Like we did before, right?”
“If you say so,” I said.
“Oh, I say so,” Easton said. “Come on, Winter, help me forget about Noah.”
“You need me to help you forget about a guy?” I asked. “I’m not sure that’s how this works…”
Xavier chuckled.
Easton snapped his head to the right. “Fuck off, man.”
“This is fun to watch,” Xavier said. “A good distraction.”
“I’m not fucking you, Easton,” I said. “Or anyone for that matter.”
“Your loss,” he said. “Man, what the fuck do we do about Noah?”
Xavier glanced at me. “Not sure. Something is off though. This smells of a setup. Someone did this on purpose to him. Maybe to us. I don’t know.”
“Why would someone do this to you?” I asked.
“Because we’re the bad guys,” Easton said. “And whoever did this… they’re fucking dead.”
Hearing him say that made me freeze up.
I was literally frozen. Unable to move.
In a semi-dark hallway with two of the three guys that tried to kill me.
“I’m going to make some more calls,” Xavier said. “We showed our faces here today. That’s good enough. Let’s get out of here.”
“Lead the way,” Easton said.
Xavier looked back at me and winked.
I forced a quick smile.
As they began to move away, I began to breathe a little easier.
I took a step.
I needed to sneak away and get in touch with Talon.
Because if he…
I sucked in a breath, held it and lost all of my thoughts.
Noah suddenly appeared from the other end of the hallway.
And he looked pissed.
I wasn’t sure whether to approach him or not.
Easton threw his arms open and hugged Noah.
Noah didn’t hug him back.
Instead, Noah locked eyes with me and just stayed there.
When Easton backed off from the hug, Xavier offered his fist and they both hit fists.
Then they all got really close to each other and started talking.
One by one, they looked at me.
Shit.
Something felt really off.
And I was still stuck at the end of the