there would be banging.”
I resisted the urge to ask what the odds were.
Teagan and I still had to decide if we were telling anyone. I didn’t want to scare her off, but I also didn’t want to let her get away. Thinking was always her problem.
Worrying about who thought what about her.
Hell, it was part of the reason we’d ended up in so much shit. If she’d just told us about her past, we would have been aware of potential issues so much sooner.
I shoved all that into the back of my head. It didn’t pertain to our current problem. “And while you were sitting there, you didn’t drink anything?”
He bowed his head and rubbed the base of his neck. “I didn’t order anything. James bet me to drink that crazy shark concoction sitting in the middle of the table. It was way too sweet, but anything to take twenty bucks from our favorite loudmouth.”
That was a true statement. Jamie often ordered crap drinks and pawned them off on people just to see their reaction. She was a shit-stirrer. However, a shark drink…
No.
“Jesus, I got that drink for Teagan. Her old high school buddy was bartending.”
“Why would she put something in her drink? That seems farfetched.”
“Yeah, except there isn’t any other variable. Unless you invited someone to the table?”
He shook his head. “Nah, man. We were vibing pretty good. Didn’t want to bring anyone in, you know? Even James didn’t pick up some sucker until way later in the night. You were the only two who broke off.”
I looked down at my clenched hands. “Yeah.”
My blood was running hot. It just felt like too much of a coincidence that some strange chick showed up, and then Zane went totally off the rails.
My head jerked up at the commotion at the front doors. Two guys were being muscled in by a pair of uniforms. There was a lot of swearing as the punk kid mouthed off at the cop.
At the same time, the paperwork was finally done.
Zane and I moved out of harm’s way, and I grabbed the paperwork before anything else kept us there any longer.
I looked through the charges. Sure enough, resisting arrest was listed as well as preliminary details for his court case. With that level of charges, there was probably video somewhere.
No way it was staying quiet.
Especially with the paparazzi skimming police blotters for stories to juice up their headlines. I hoped like hell it was a busy news day, and Zane wasn’t at the top of their list. Between this and a possible shitstorm thanks to him being drugged, this was not going to go over well with Lila and Noah.
We were fucked.
I handed the papers to Zane. “We gotta go to Lila. And I don’t want you telling Teagan anything.”
“Don’t tell Teagan what?”
Twelve
Rage boiled inside of me as I turned on my heel and walked away from my bandmates. Cooper was much more than that to me, but at the moment, I was too irritated to care.
I was so tired of people thinking I couldn’t handle myself. I was a woman living alone in Brooklyn most of the time. But not only did I apparently need a babysitter in my work life, now I had to deal with even more secrets, supposedly for my own good.
More people trying to control my life.
A bunch of people congregated at the front door of the Brooklyn police department. And being the shortest person in the room more than half the time meant I could go unseen.
Sometimes it worked in my favor.
Like today with my borrowed concert T-shirt and denim shorts, I looked more like a teenager than part of a famous rock band.
Sometimes I wished I was Jamie. Tall, strong, loud and didn’t take shit.
Inspired, I pushed my way through the chattering people who sounded like they were coming in for their shift. I’d just channel her right now.
Cooper rushed forward. Shock and frustration bloomed across his face before he dragged me deeper into the vestibule-slash-waiting area away from all the people. “What are you doing here? I told you to stay at my place.”
“First of all, I’m not a dog. I don’t sit and stay.” His jaw flexed. “The more important question is what don’t you want me to know?” I smacked his hand away from me. I really didn’t want him touching me right now. Ever since he took Zane’s call, I’d had a twisted ache in my belly.
Was this what having a gut feeling meant?