Play Mine (Brooklyn Dawn #3) - Cari Quinn Page 0,68

my various neuroses courtesy of my ex would have allowed that to happen.

Maybe we were right on time.

Discounting fires and destruction and poisoned drinks and everything else that made me want to pull the pillow over my head and hide.

The bells started again, and I braced, realizing my phone going off was what had jolted me out of my dream with the little girl. The noise was going to wake Cooper.

Shit.

I fumbled for my cell on the nightstand and swiped to answer it as I rolled out of bed as quietly as possible. I was naked. Barefoot. I couldn’t grab the comforter without disturbing Cooper. It was amazing he hadn’t awakened yet.

In the darkness, I felt around on the floor and found his shirt and my panties. I yanked them on in a hurry. On me, his shirts doubled as dresses, but thank God this wasn’t a video call.

“Hello,” I whispered as I padded down the dimly lit hall. The person had probably already hung up. There had been no name on the caller ID, so it was probably just a spam call, anyway.

“Teagan? Is that you?”

My knees went liquid, and I stumbled into the wall at my side. I still wasn’t used to Cooper’s place, and only a few lights farther down the hall had come on automatically with dusk. Cole was somewhere in the apartment doing who-knows-what, but his light was too far away.

Except the lack of light wasn’t why I’d nearly fallen.

It was her. Priscilla Jones. I knew it in an instant and had to lean against the wall to keep upright. I was already trembling.

She’s on the phone. She can’t hurt you. She didn’t hurt you, even if she tried.

Instead, she’d screwed with Zane, who never harmed anyone. I’d never met a guy less likely to cause trouble or mess with someone just because he could. He didn’t deserve any of this. But by God, neither did I.

“Teagan? Are you there?”

My immediate instinct was to hang up. But I couldn’t do that. If this woman was hassling us—though I couldn’t fathom why—I had to take advantage of this opportunity to get some answers.

“Yes, I’m here.” Keeping my voice low, I hurried into the bathroom. I flicked on the lights and shut the door, and then turned on the fan in the hopes of muffling my voice. “I’m glad to hear from you. I wanted to give you my number last night, but everything was so crazy.” I let out a hitching laugh that hopefully made me sound hungover. “You know how it is, right?”

“Oh, sure, of course. After your show last night, you must’ve partied hard. With Cooper, right? He’s gotta be your guy.”

I didn’t know what exactly she knew. In the end, I followed instinct.

“Kind of, I mean, when it suits us.” I added another breathless laugh. “We keep it loose. Too young to get settled down.”

Basically, the girl I was describing was the anti-Teagan. I’d always liked the idea of a family. I never planned to be married with kids super young, but I also wasn’t one to play the field just for the sake of it. Climbing off the dating merry-go-round was just fine by me.

“I hear that.”

“Say, how did you get my number? Lucky thing you did. I would hate to lose touch.” I gritted my teeth.

“Oh, Cooper. I ran into him after I went back to the bar. I think you guys were on your way out.”

Patently impossible, since Cooper hadn’t left my side once he’d given me the doctored drink, but sure, whatever she said.

I could lie too.

“Right. Probably.”

“I’m actually surprised to get a hold of you. I thought you’d still be sleeping it off, if you know what I mean.” She laughed.

Oh, I knew. The stone-cold bitch. I just didn’t get what I’d ever done to Priscilla to warrant her stalking me after this time. Or stalking the band and using me as a conduit? Unless she was working with someone I knew and it was just happenstance.

Like Pat.

I shivered. “Yeah, I just woke up, actually. We had a hell of a night. The world’s still spinning.”

“Girl, I know. Me too.”

“You met someone? Or do you have a boyfriend?”

She released a chuckle. “I like to leave my options open. Men are interchangeable, aren’t they? They do have their uses though.”

“Right.” Stomach roiling, I leaned against Cooper’s double sinks. I needed the support. “God, we need to catch up. It’s been so long. I bet you don’t have that little