by A. C. Bextor
“It wasn’t me. Thank Mr. Campbell.”
“Well, you warmed it.” She smiles briefly, not able to exhaust more energy.
“If you’d ask me out on a date, I’d cook you my pork chops. I fry them like Bean does.
They’re delicious.”
“Ask you out?”
“Yeah, on a date. You should, we’d have fun.”
“I’m not asking you out,” she protests with an even bigger grin.
“You should. I’m adorable.”
“You are,” she agrees as she starts to close her eyes.
I stay longer than needed as she sleeps. Moving the now damp hair from her forehead, I situate her blankets to be sure she’s covered. She doesn’t need me here, but I want to stay until she wakes up.
I look at my phone and see Travis had answered my initial text.
Travis 03:26 p.m. Thanks for doing that. Let me know how it goes.
Texting back, I answer.
03:47 p.m. She’s okay. Sleeping. She ate but still has mild fever.
Travis 03:48 p.m. When I get back, I’ll take her to the clinic.
03:49 p.m. I’ll stay until then.
About an hour and a half later, I wake recognizing I’ve dozed off while sitting up. My back aches from this awkward position. Lacey’s head is in my lap and her lips are chattering with chill. Moving off the bed, she feels the loss of my heat immediately and starts to stir. “I’ll be right back,” I whisper, not wanting to wake her completely.
Taking off my shoes, I walk to the other side of the bed and crawl in beside her. I bring her into me and she willingly complies without protest. I wrap my arms around her frail body. “Travis wants to take you to the doctor when he gets here. You should go.”
“I’ll go,” she answers, turning around and burrowing her front to mine. Her arms tangled between us, mine wrap around her in a strong embrace.
That evening, Travis and I put her in his Jeep and took her to the clinic where she was diagnosed with strep throat coupled with an ear infection. Her eyes lit up as a young, blond and built doctor walked in to take her vitals and discuss her symptoms.
I hated every fucking minute of it.
Travis thought my moody and possessive reaction was normal. This says a lot considering I’m nothing like him and Ace. I’m not aggressive, territorial, or unreasonable when it comes to other men. I’ve never had a reason to be.
Until now.
After driving her to the pharmacy to pick up meds, she and I headed to my place and planned the rest of our week focusing on getting her better, where I found Lacey isn’t a good patient.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Hayden
“YOU’RE CHEATING,” SHE snaps as I lay down all my cards in front of me for the win.
“How’s winning cheating?” I know this innocent act is crap. Of course I cheated. If we’re playing strip poker, I want her clothes off.
“You’re a sandbagger!”
“Lacey, it’s just a game.”
“It’s just a game,” she repeats my words. “Then why cheat?”
I motion to her shirt, lifting my finger and reiterating my request. “Off with it.”
She does what I say and loses the shirt, tossing it next to us on the floor. Even as sick as she’s been, she’s beautiful in her special way. “If you want to win by cheating a terribly sick person, go ahead.”
“You’re getting better,” I say gently, focusing on her face and not her exposed chest as I normally would. I hated seeing her sick. Her charismatic personality faded in the dark of a fever and I felt her aches and pains as she had them.
“Yes.”
The last few days I’ve had her trapped in this house with me. I’ve refused all visitors who attempted to expose her to more germs. I made Ace cancel both weekend sets so she wouldn’t be alone. Marlee steered clear due to her pregnancy, but Rae threatened to send Ace over to ‘set her free’ if I didn’t let her see people soon. I don’t care what the others think, not until she’s better.
Although she’s been sick, I’ll admit this has been kind of fun. I’ve cooked for her. Given her every dose of medicine and kept a journal of what she’s taken. I’ve kept the sheets in the bedroom clean, as well. I’ve never taken care of another person, other than my dad during his long, drunken stints. The only thing I haven’t done is touch her, other than holding her at night. If I touch her, I’m taking her, and I’m not an ogre. She’s sick.
“All right, I’m bored. Let’s have sex,” she states with defeat, knowing she’s lost another round at cards by my cheating hand.
“No way. Not ’til you’re completely better.”
“Hayden, I am better! Let’s have sex,” she repeats, taking off her bra and tossing it to the floor.
She starts to get on her knees to remove her boxers when the phone rings.
My damn phone.
Again.
People should really stop calling and bugging me about her. She’s sick, not dying.
“Ahhh, saved,” I sigh, grabbing my phone from the couch beside us. Caller ID unknown, so this could be anyone. “I don’t know who this is,” I tell her as I put the phone to my ear. I normally wouldn’t answer, but I’m trying to avoid staring at Lacey as she licks her lips and touches her chest with insinuation.
“Hello.” I look to the ceiling, ignoring the fact she’s now crawling on the floor toward me.
“Is this Hayden Flynn?” The formality in the caller’s tone is concerning.
“It is. Who’s this?”
“Officer Hansen,” he says, my blood running cold as he continues. “I’m calling from the station downtown. I’ve got a young girl here who gave me your number. She’s refusing to call you herself.” The small chuckle that slips from him isn’t lost on me.
“What’s her name?”
My heart stops mid-beat when he informs, “Sarah Jensen.”
Lacey recognizes the fall of my face and stops her play at my neck. She mouths “what?” but I lift a finger, signaling I need a minute. I stand and start to pace.
“What happened?”
“We received a call about a noise complaint. Standard protocol is for us to drive by and check it out. The house she was at was full of underage drinkers. The man who was hosting the party is twenty-two. He’s in custody now. She said he was her boyfriend.”
Running my hands through my hair, I shout my frustration into the phone. “Jesus Christ, Sarah!”
“Yeah?” He answers my angry words with sarcasm. “And you’re the calm one?”
“What?” I snap at him without thinking. “Sorry, what?”
“I asked if she had family to call; she said she’d rather sit in jail until her ‘trial’ rather than call her older brother. She said he’s an ‘asshat.’ Colorful expression and personality, this one. We’ve enjoyed having her.” He laughs at his bold statement. Of course Sarah is entertaining to those who don’t have to deal with her on a daily breakdown basis. “She gave me your number. She said you’d come get her.”
“I will not.” I clench my jaw at her assumption that I would. “I’ll have someone come down, though. They’ll get her.”
“I’m not an asshole, but I am a father. She was with quite a few older boys. Her driver’s license says she’s only sixteen. Thought you or someone should know about the circumstance we found her in. She’s quite intoxicated.”
“Thanks. We’ll get her out of your hair soon.”
“The guys here who don’t have teenage daughters will appreciate that. Thank you.”
“Yeah, thanks for the call.”
Fucking hell, Sarah.
“Who was that? What happened?”
I grab Lacey and pull her into me. I’m sad for Sarah. She fucked up and with her stubborn personality, I doubt she sees this as anything more than a delay in her social schedule.
“Hayden?” Lacey’s voice shakes as she feels my body tremble.
Ace is going to finally fucking kill her.
“Are Ace and Rae back yet?” I ask, looking down at Lacey in my arms.
Ace took Raegan to my dad’s beach house this weekend since the band gigs were off. Rae’s dad said he and his new woman would take Decklan to see more of California since they had never had a chance to explore their new home due to all the ongoing drama with Rae’s mom in Vegas.
“No, not until tomorrow. Hayden, tell me what’s happening.”
“Bean, is she with that lady?” In my frenzied stress I can’t remember their old neighbor’s name; I can’t think straight. Bean’s with Mary more times than not and if Sarah got away tonight, I’m hoping Bean’s not home and Sarah hasn’t left her alone.
“Mary? Yeah, I think so. I don’t know for sure,” she answers, then starts to lose patience. “Hayden! Tell me what’s going on.”
“Sarah’s been arrested. That was the police station where they’re holding her.”
“Oh, fuck.” Lacey voices my thoughts exactly.
I start to pull away. “Let me call Travis.”
Lacey grabs the phone from my hand as I start to dial. “No.”
“What the hell?”
“Don’t call Travis. That’ll make it worse for her.”
I’m sensing our first fight is coming and it’s going to be a big one. She doesn’t know my friends, my family, the same way I do.
“Worse for her? She’s behind fucking bars. She’s drunk and was not only caught in that state, but the cop told me she was hanging out with older boys. Older boys are considered men, Lacey. I’m having a hard time believing this shit could be worse for her.”
“Travis doesn’t have a level head and she knows it, which means she’s thinking, Hayden.”
“She should have been thinking before she got thrown in jail, Lacey.”
“She’s sixteen. Forethoughts don’t exist.”
“Does any thought exist for Sarah?”
It’s rare I ever lose patience. I’m generally very calm in most situations, this being because I’ve had to be responsible in digging my father out of many, but right now watching Lacey take Sarah’s side in this—I’m wearing down quickly.
Grabbing the phone from her hand, I start to dial again and hear her say something under her breath about what a mistake this is. Mistake or not, I’m not going down there to get her.
Calling once, Travis doesn’t answer. I check the time and it’s only half past ten. He’s around. I try the call again, all the while feeling Lacey’s eyes trained on me in anger and disbelief.
Travis answers the phone this time, sounding winded and pissed. “Hayden, I’m busy.”
“Get un-busy,” I hear myself snap into the phone.
“Hang on. Kate’s here. Let me go outside.”
I hear the ruffling of what I assume is a shirt going over his head then him telling her, in an angered tone, that he needs a minute. My vision of sweet Kate taking the brunt of this drama upsets me.
When I hear his sliding back door close, he clips through the line, “What the fuck?”
“Sarah’s in jail.”
I hear the wind being knocked out of Trav’s chest before his words come. “Where is she?”
“She got arrested for drinking.”
“Didn’t fuckin’ ask that. Where the fuck is she?” His tone is lethal. I raise my eyes to Lacey who stands next to me. Immediately, doubt my decision to call Travis. Maybe Lacey was right about it being the wrong thing to do.
Fucking Sarah.
“At the station downtown. I assume the one on Altamont.”
I hear the line disconnect before I’m able to further explain.
Lacey’s eyebrow cocks in an ‘I told you so’ lift.
“I don’t want to hear it. It was the right thing to do.”
“No, the right thing to do would be for us to get her, find out why she did what she did, then be with her when she explains what happened to Ace. You just fed her to the wolves, Hayden.”
“This isn’t your concern.”
The second I say it, I know it’s the wrong thing to say, but I need her to be quiet so I can stew in the guilt all by myself.
Lacey slams her empty water glass in the sink, shattering it beyond recognition, then walks by me heading into my bedroom. When I follow her in, I see she’s dressing at rapid speed.
“Where are you going?”
“To Trav’s.”
“What the fuck?”
She walks out, shirt and jeans in check, and stands in front of me, angry. “She’s a teenager, Hayden. The thoughts that go through a teenage girl’s mind are about belonging, feeling secure, and most of all being wanted. You just told Travis, her lifelong friend, that she fucked up. If he unleashes his fury on her, she won’t come back from this.”
She starts to pass me and I close my eyes in shame. She’s right. I wasn’t thinking about Sarah, I was thinking about Ace. “Lacey, wait.”
On her way to the door, she whips around with a snide tone. “What is it?”
“Let’s wait. Give it ’til morning then I swear I’ll take you there myself. We’ll go together. If we go over there now and not let Travis handle it, it’ll be worse for Sarah and us.”
She pauses, looks down, then back at me. Her words, again, hurt with their intent. “She trusted you, Hayden. That’s why she called you.”
“She trusts Travis, too.”
“She trusts Travis to protect her, I agree. But she trusts you to save her.” She walks to me, placing her hands on my chest for connection. “You have a few close friends, right?”
“Yes,” I agree, running the list of friends, which also include my outer circle such as Shelby, Mel, and even Jenna.
“They all serve a different purpose. Ace would protect any of you from anything. Toby would listen to you and offer fair advice if you went to him with a problem. Travis would attempt to reason but do it in an ‘in your face’ kind of way. Sarah called you because you’re the level-headed one of them all.”
“God, I feel like shit.”
“You should.”
“We’ll go tomorrow morning, I promise.”
“I don’t like this, but okay.”
She’s still angry. I can see it in the way she’s cleaning my place furiously, her sickness forgotten as well as her plans for sex.
Everything is a loss tonight.
Fucking Sarah!
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Hayden
THE DRIVE TO Trav’s this morning is quiet. Lacey wouldn’t talk to me last night after she finished cleaning my house. She sat on the couch playing Angry Birds, and I imagined I was the pig she was trying to slaughter on the screen. The silence was driving me insane, but I’d rather have her with me in silence than without her at all.
“You should know before we get there, if Travis is a dick I’m bringing her with us ’til Ace gets home.” Her no-nonsense statement leaves me quiet. I’m not about to piss her off again; I don’t like the distance between us.
Once we get to Trav’s, Lacey gets out of my car and slams the door. She walks ahead of me, but waits at the door before we knock.
Kate answers; she looks tired and a little sad. “Hi, Kate,” I say quietly.
She doesn’t offer a greeting but steps to the side, letting Lacey me inside, and then closing the door behind us.
“Is Travis around?” I ask, not seeing him anywhere in the apartment.
Kate’s expression now borders between disappointment and guilt. “He’s in his room.”
“Sarah?” Lacey asks Kate, who’s moving to the couch and folding the blankets. It looks like that’s where she slept.
Kate nods to the bedroom. “She may be in my room,” Lacey states as she passes me.
I follow her in but head toward Trav’s room. When I open the door, my stomach clenches in fear, anger, and frustration. Travis and Sarah are asleep in his room. Travis is seated and sleeping in a chair next to the bed. His hand hangs over the side of it, but not alone. It’s holding hers as she sleeps next to him on the be
d.
Signaling to Lacey that I found Travis, I motion for her to go back to the living room. Her eyes widen in realization. I nod, giving her a harsh glare and pointing to the living room.
After she’s gone, I clear my throat quietly, hoping to wake either of them. Trav’s body jolts in surprise and he quickly looks around the room until his eyes find mine.
“We’re going to have fucking problems,” I announce to no one. Trav’s not listening; he’s still taking in the situation with confusion. Lifting my thumb over my shoulder, I tell him, “I’ll be out here when you’re ready.”
His hands find his eyes and he pushes his palms against them. I watch his throat tense as he stretches and starts to stand from the chair, stretching his back as he does. Sarah starts to move and shift, but he puts his hand on her back to stop her. She settles immediately under that comforting touch.
I back away and find Lacey talking to Kate in the living room as Kate collects her things. I see tears ready to fall and my heart aches for her.
This is bullshit. All of it.
“Lacey, can you check on and wake up Sarah?” I hear Trav running the shower, putting off the inevitable truth he’s about to face.
“Sure.” Lacey walks by me, raising on her toes and kissing my cheek while squeezing my arm, both in an act of reassurance.
“Kate,” I call before she makes her way to the door.
She stops, looks to the ceiling, and then turns to me. “Don’t say anything. It’s okay.”
I walk toward her, look down, and offer a small smile. She returns it with one of her own so I know she’s not destroyed, but she’s hurt. “I should have given him to Derek,” she says.
“He’s not gay. You know this, don’t you?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t matter; he’s not available. So now I wish I would have.” My eyebrows furrow, not understanding her meaning. “I can’t compete with Sarah,” she tells me shyly. “She calls, texts, and then last night . . . she could have taken Lacey’s room, but she was so drunk and out of her head, he didn’t bother to send her there. They were screaming and yelling . . .” She pauses, carefully choosing her words. “ . . . like an old married couple. It was painful to watch being the outsider who’s supposed to be on the inside.” Sighing, she confesses, “I liked him.”
