14

WE PULL INTO THE PARKING lot of Rebel Wheels as the door to the main office flies open. A girl with long black hair comes storming out, and Teagan barely misses running her over.

She screams in surprise and then glares at us through the windshield. “Watch where you’re going, you crazy bitch!” she screams.

Teagan yanks her emergency brake up in one quick pull and throws open the door. “I know you didn’t just call me a crazy bitch.”

The girl with the hair is no dummy. Even I’m scared at Teagan’s tone. She takes one look at my BFF’s angry expression and hightails it over to her white BMW. She’s in with the doors locked before Teagan even makes it around her Beetle.

“That’s right!” Teagan yells at the back of the car as it roars past us. “You better run!”

I look at Teagan and start laughing. Her hair is all over the place and one of her boobs is almost out of her dress.

“What are you laughing at?” she says.

“I’m not sure, but I think I’m looking at a very angry hooker.” I point to her chest. “Your fun bags are coming loose.”

She looks down and takes a moment to stuff her boob back in her dress. “Better?” she asks, looking up at me. For the first time in an hour, she’s grinning a little.

“Better.” I look at the entrance to the parking lot. The car is long gone. “Who was that chick?”

“How the hell do I know? Maybe she’s one of Rebel’s old girlfriends who wasn’t a girlfriend.”

I put my arm over her shoulders and guide her to the front door. “Don’t be like that. Come on, let’s go have a beer.” The incident with the Beemer girl has somehow let off some of the stress that was bogging us down. I’d send her a

 

thank you text if I knew her number.

“I’d rather have a chocolate milk,” Teagan says, pouting.

“Fine. If you insist on giving my lactose intolerant behind diarrhea, then so be it. Chocolate milk it is.”

“Ew. You can have a beer. I’ll have a chocolate milk.”

“Okay, if you say so. But just know that I would sacrifice my digestion for your happiness.”

She walks into the office ahead of me, waiting and locking the door behind me as I pass through. “Thanks. That means a lot. I’m not sure that anyone has ever made that pledge to me before.”

We make our way upstairs and before we’re even to the apartment door, we can hear music booming out of Colin’s place.

“I guess that was Colin’s date,” Teagan says, opening up Rebel’s door. “She didn’t seem very happy about it,” I say.

“Maybe he kicked her out of bed.”

We’re only in the room long enough for me to sit on the couch before there’s a knock at the door. A blonde head pokes itself in, and then two dark eyes are staring at me. “Teagan in here?”

I point to the kitchen. “In there.”

Teagan comes out with a beer for me and stops when she sees Colin’s head. “What?” she asks, annoyed.

“Hey, don’t shoot. I’m just making sure you’re here. Rebel’s worried about you.”

Teagan says nothing, but her jaw hardens and her eyes narrow.

“Tell Rebel to go punch himself in the junk,” I say, joining Teagan with a hard look of my own.

“Wow. That’s pretty serious. What’d he do to earn a junk-punching?” Colin comes in the rest of the way as he types out a text.

“He lied,” I say.

“Quin, don’t say anything,” Teagan says, going back into the kitchen.

I wait until she’s busy in the fridge before talking again. I use a low whisper so she won’t hear me. “He told her Olga was nothing, but tonight Olga told her differently when we were at the club.”

“Oh. Shit. That’s not good.” Colin drops into an armchair next to me. “So what’s the deal? Is she super pissed or just kind-of pissed?”

“Super. As in, she wanted to go sleep at her place tonight.” “Damn. What exactly did he say to her …? About Olga, I mean.”

“Not sure. Something like it was nothing. Maybe they hooked up once or twice.”

 

Colin shrugs. “I don’t think it was much more than that. I mean, I wasn’t around all the time, but I never saw anything serious.”

“What are you guys whispering about?” Teagan asks, walking into the room with her chocolate milk.

“The weather,” I say with a bright smile. “Tickle your ass with a feather?” “What did you just say?” she says, playing along with me.

“I said, isn’t it particularly nasty weather we’re having?” Colin stares at us confused as we giggle like idiots.

“Sorry. Time warp throw-back. What were you saying?” I look at him, my face the picture of maturity.

He looks askance at me and then addresses his answer to Teagan. “I was saying that I wasn’t around all the time, but I never saw Olga over here as Rebel’s girl. If he told you she was nothing, I’d believe him.”

“Of course you would,” says Teagan, dropping onto the end of the couch opposite me. “He’s your brother.”

“Yeah, but if he’s being a dick, I’ll call him a dick. He’s never lied that I’ve ever known about.”

“Well said,” I smile in respect.

He grins back. “I’ve got a special way with words.”

“So who was that chick that almost got her ass kicked on the way out of here?” Teagan asks.

Colin looks first at the ceiling and then the floor. “Just some girl.” He gets up and helps himself to a beer from the fridge.

I exchange knowing looks with Teagan. This is almost as interesting as analyzing Rebel’s statements to try and detect lies.

When he comes back in the room, I get him with my laser-beam eyes and determined eyebrows. “Just some girl? Do tell. Where did you meet her?

What’s her name? Do you like her?”

He laughs once and takes a swig of beer. “You guys are bad.”

“Bad? How so? We call it curious.” I lean towards him. “Tell us all your secrets. You cannot escape. Our will is strong.”

He takes another drink before responding. “Her name’s Juanita and I met her at a club. We went out a couple times and then we stopped.”

“Who stopped? You or her?” I already know the answer, but I like walking down the path anyway.

“Me, I guess. I mean, she wasn’t the right one. We both knew it, but she just kept hanging on.”

“Oh, man. That’s harsh.” I cringe inside on her behalf. No wonder she was acting so crazy.

 

“What? You think I should stick with a girl even when it feels wrong?” “No. I just can imagine what you did to the poor girl before you dumped

her, though.”

He frowns. “Oh, yeah? What’s that?” “Wined her. Dined her…”

Teagan adds, “Sexty-nined her…”

Half his mouth goes up in a charming grin. “You guys are nuts.”

I seriously want to hug him right now. He could not possibly be cuter. The door to the apartment opens and Mick is standing in the doorway,

looking at all of us. He scowls when his eyes first land on me smiling my head off and then at Colin.

“What’s up?” he asks, moving into the room.

My smile slides down and I force myself to breathe slowly, focusing on managing my blood pressure. I don’t know what it is about this guy, but whenever he’s around I start losing it. It ticks me off that I can’t seem to control myself. I don’t want to like him, and I don’t want him to send my system offline every time he’s near. Too bad I’m not the one calling the shots up in my brain.

Down, Hootchie, down! Control yourself!

“What’s up with you?” Colin asks, finishing off his beer. When Mick moves towards the kitchen, he calls out, “Get me another beer, would ya?”

“Get your own beer,” Mick says, coming back with a soda in hand. He sits down in the armchair next to Teagan, completely ignoring his brother. “You okay?” he asks.

Colin gets up and slaps Mick on the back of the head when he walks past him, headed for his next beer.

Mick’s expression goes dark, but he doesn’t go after him. He waits for an answer from Teagan.

“I’m fine.” She focuses all her attention on her milk.

“You gonna stay here tonight?” he asks. His voice has gone soft.

My heart crushes for Teagan. She’s so lucky to have this family looking out for her. I almost feel replaced, and I try not to feel concerned about that. I probably shouldn’t worry; no way can these guys girl-talk like I can.

“She can stay at my place,” Colin says when he comes back in the room. Using the bottom of a lighter to lever the beer cap off, he looks over at Teagan. “You can have the couch or the bed, your choice.”

“She’s not staying at your place, Trouble,” Mick says. He looks at Teagan. “You can stay at mine if you want. I’ll just stay here. Or you can talk to Rebel and work it out. I know that’s what he wants.”

She lifts her chin. “Well, I don’t really care what he wants right now.”

 

“Okay, so you decide,” Mick says. “Where do you want to go?”

Teagan goes silent for so long I’m starting to wonder if she’s fallen asleep with her eyes open. But then she speaks and startles me with her vehemence. “Here!” She takes a breath. “I’m staying here. And I’ll talk to Rebel, but not tonight. I’m tired. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

Colin stands. “I’m out.” He looks at me. “You want to come over to my place for a second? I’ve got something to show you.”

Mick stands too, scowling at his brother. “She doesn’t want to see anything you’ve got.”

I look at both of them and don’t know what to say. Colin isn’t giving me the sexy look, so I really don’t think his goal is to make a move on me or anything. And when I look at Mick, he’s got that expression on his face I saw once before, when he was standing on the dance floor facing off with Mark. For some reason, it gets my back up.

I stand, as cool as cool can be. “I’ll come over for a few minutes. After that I need a ride home, though.”

“I can handle it,” Colin says, his words smooth as silk. “Where do you live?”

Ignoring Mick completely, I walk over to give Teagan a kiss on the cheek and hug goodbye as I answer. “Baldwin Hills.”

“You’re not driving her. You’ve been drinking,” says Mick. He’s mad.

He reminds me of my father. Protective. Bossy.

“Two beers is nothing.” Colin goes to the door and holds it open. “Come on.” He looks over at Teagan and raises his palm towards her. “You good?”

Teagan nods at him and then raises an eyebrow at me, but says nothing.

I continue to ignore Mick, as difficult as it is. I want to look at him and explain myself. Maybe I’m hoping he’ll make me a better offer. But none comes and Colin is waiting, so I go.

We get out into the hallway and he walks ahead of me. When he gets to his door, he looks over his shoulder and gives me a heart-stoppingly handsome

grin. “I’m going to show you something I’ve never shown anyone else before.”

I hesitate before stepping over the threshold. Looking back at Rebel’s door, I want to believe I see it opening. That Mick is on his way out to stop me. But that doesn’t happen, so I continue inside, shutting the door behind me.