11. Hannah Jane
11
HANNAH JANE
“ L et’s go, girls!” The four of us screamed at the top of our lungs as we swung around the dance floor to Shania Twain.
Bridget ran out from behind the bar when our song came on, joining Melissa, Kristin, and me in a little rowdy line dancing. As soon as the rest of the girls showed up, I switched to water so that I was good to drive Kristin home.
Chase arrived to keep an eye on us and take Mel home. We were a crazy bunch, but we were responsible … at least where drinking and driving were concerned.
Steve, Melissa, and Chase wouldn’t have it any other way. The things they saw as first responders haunted them, and they made damn sure the rest of us were never put in danger while we were having a good time.
“Kris!” Melissa squealed. “You and me! Let’s do shots!”
Those two ran off to the bar, and I wandered over to where Chase was nursing a glass of sweet tea and shooting pool. “I know you’re driving tonight, but you could at least pretend to have fun. You’re a real buzz kill, you know? ”
He shook his head as he lined up his cue and popped the red striped ball, sending it careening into the corner pocket. “Don’t wanna cause any trouble.”
I looked over at the bar where Bridget was feeding shots to Mel and Kris. “It’s just us here tonight.” There were a few old-timers in the corner, but no one who would snitch to Kingsley. “You can talk to her.”
“You really wanna push this when I know your dirty little secret?” He chuckled.
“You don’t know shit, Brannan.” I grinned. “You think you walked in on something the other morning, but you don’t know for sure.”
“I have evidence,” he countered.
“You have hearsay. Nothing that would be admissible in court.”
He smirked and landed another shot into the side pocket. “You been catching up on Law & Order without me?”
“Well, you’re a little busy doing the law part. And you know me. I love order.”
Chase laughed and shook his head. “You know, one of these days I’m gonna run a background check on you, Hayes. If you moonlight as a defense attorney, you and I are gonna have some serious problems, peaches.”
“Yeah, yeah. You and your thing with evil defense attorneys. ”
“Prosecuting attorneys are the good guys,” he argued.
“Defense attorneys make sure that the defendant’s constitutional rights aren’t trampled on for the sake of a conviction. Even the worst criminals have the right to due process and the presumption of innocence.”
Chase just scowled at me.
“I told you I’m not interested,” a woman’s panicked voice interrupted our good-natured argument, and Chase snapped to attention .
“C’mon, sweetheart,” a drunk man slurred, grabbing her ass and pulling her up against him on the dance floor. She cowered away, but he didn’t budge. “Gimme a dance.”
Bridget was already halfway across the bar, ready to throw the drunkard out on his sorry ass, but Chase beat her to it.
He stepped between the brunette and the asshole and put his hand on her back. “There you are, baby,” he said, staring deep into her eyes. “Sorry I’m late.” He looked over his shoulder and glared at the drunk. “Get lost, buddy. She’s taken.”
“Oh yeah?” The guy spat as he swayed back and forth like a pendulum. “And what are you gonna do? Make me ?” He craned around Chase and practically undressed the brunette with his eyes.
Chase slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. She seemed grateful. He lifted the hem of his shirt, flashing his badge to everyone inside of Jokers. “I’ll arrest you for drunk and disorderly and convince my girl to press charges for sexual assault. Wanna try me?”
They eyed each other in a tense stare down. Finally, the drunk slurred something that sounded like, “Fuck you,” and staggered out of the bar.
Chase turned to the brunette and offered his hand. “Chase Brannan. Cop and fake boyfriend extraordinaire.”
“Layla Mousavi,” she replied, shaking his hand. “Thank you—for that.”
“I’m serious,” he said, dropping her hand and reaching into his wallet for a business card. “If you want to press charges, you call me.”
Layla took the card and trailed her finger along the edge. “And if I wanted to call you for non-police matters?”
A smile spread across his face. “The number’s the same.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see Bridget standing there, dumbfounded. Poor thing .
She hurried back behind the bar and focused on making drinks. Those drinks could press charges for assault considering how hard she was slinging the cocktail shaker back and forth.
Chase challenged Layla to a game of pool, so I joined up with Mel and Kris.
“She works at the hospital,” Mel said in a not-so-subtle whisper. She was basically yelling. “She’s new. Started last week.”
The three of us craned our heads over the top of the booth to watch Chase and Layla like they were an exhibit at the zoo.
“Has Chase ever dated anyone?” Kristin asked as she sucked down her third— fourth drink. Damn. She usually took it easy on the liquor. Things must have been tougher at home than she was letting on.
“Oh yeah,” Mel said. “He used to date around all the time, but he hasn’t seen anyone…”
“Since before Maddie and Luca got together,” I said. “I mean, it’s been a while since I’ve seen anyone stay over at his house for more than a night.”
“Oooh!” Kristin squealed with an alcohol-induced smile. “I know! He should date Bridget!”
Mel and I nearly tipped over, laughing. “Thank you, Captain Obvious,” I snickered.
“Bee’s with Kingsley—” Mel stretched up like a meerkat and caught another glimpse of Chase and Layla, “—and it looks like Chase is doing juuuussstttt fine.”
Kristin and I stole a peek.
Layla was lining up her shot. Chase stood behind her with his hand on the small of her back. The pool stick wobbled, and he put his hand on top of hers to help her steady it. He gave Layla a wide smile as he gently tucked her hair behind her ear so she could see her shot.
Kristin and Mel chimed in with a harmonizing, “Awwww! ”
Bridget looked like she was going to throw up.
Kris yawned and looked at the time on her phone. “I should get going.”
I grabbed my keys and went over to the bar to pay my tab. Bridget was standing at the register, spying on Chase out of the corner of her eye.
“Offer stands,” I said as she swiped my card and handed me the receipt to sign. “If you need somewhere to stay, my door’s always open.”
“Yeah.” She sighed. “Thanks, Han.”
I sheep-dogged Mel and Kristin into my car and headed toward Havelock. Chase offered to take Mel home like we planned, but her apartment was on the way to Kristin’s, and I didn’t want to interrupt his meet-cute with Layla.
After making sure Mel made it into her apartment without falling up the stairs, I pulled out of the parking lot and headed to Havelock.
“Good night?” I asked Kristin.
“I so needed this,” she said, checking her phone and then looking at me. “Thanks, girl.”
“Anytime. Maybe I can take Kylie for a weekend and do some spa treatments at my place or something. Get the hormonal teenage girl out of your hair for a weekend. Send Logan and Hunter to hang out with Chase, and that leaves you with Zoey. And Lord knows she’s easier than all four of them together.”
She laid her head back against the seat and closed her eyes. “I’m not a charity case, Han.”
“And no one’s treating you like one. You are a kick-ass big sister who got the short end of the stick with your family tree. You’re doing the best you can, and accepting help doesn’t make you a charity case.”
I pulled into the trailer park and killed the engine. Only one light in her single-wide was still on, which meant Steve successfully got the kids to bed. Not that it hurt that the Boyd kids were both terrified and a little star-struck by him. I mean, the man was a dead ringer for Jason Momoa.
I waited for Kristin to give me the all-clear after she got the status report on the kids from Steve. She dropped her shoulders and relaxed when Steve gave her a bear hug and told her to lock the door. He sauntered down the creaky wooden steps and motioned for me to roll my window down.
“Hey,” he said, smiling as he rested his forearms on the edge of the window. “How was girls’ night?”
“Good. Chase met a girl, so give him hell about that tomorrow.”
Steve grinned from ear to ear. “‘Bout damn time. I’ve been waiting for this day since Erica and I got together.”
“I thought you’d be happy about that,” I snickered before looking at Kristin’s house. “How did the kids do?”
His smile dropped a little. “Kris has her hands full, that’s for sure. They didn’t give me trouble, though.”
“I don’t know how she does it.”
“Me either,” he admitted.
“Get going,” I said, cranking my car up to head back to Beaufort. “I’m sure Erica is rested and ready to see you. How’s dad life?”
Steve shoved his hands in his pockets and smiled. “It, uh… It’s great.” He chuckled. “Erica’s a natural, and Aly—she’s only a few days old and I swear she’s got me wrapped around her finger.”
I reached out the window and pinched his bearded cheek. “Look at you, all soft and gooey now that you’re a dad. You’re practically a marshmallow.”
He frowned and looked down, lifting his shirt, and checking his rock-hard abs. “I ain’t soft, HJ!”
“I’m just messing with you.”
He rolled his eyes and patted the hood of my car. “Drive safe, ‘aight? ”
“See you later. I’ll swing by your place and drop off a casserole tomorrow.”
I heard him grumble something about no more casseroles and their freezer overflowing as I rolled up the window and put my car in reverse.
I weaved through Kristin’s neighborhood and briefly debated either driving the backroads to get home or going through Morehead City.
The backroads won out.
I pulled onto Highway 101, passing empty fields as I headed back to Beaufort. When I passed Jokers, Chase’s truck was gone, but Bridget was still there. My phone lit up, and I punched it through to the Bluetooth speaker in my car.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Princess,” Isaac said. “I didn’t know if you would pick up the call or not.”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Lawson. I’m driving and didn’t look at the caller ID.”
“What are you doing out this late?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but the girls and I went out tonight, and I was the designated driver.” I glanced at the time on the dash and asked, “What are you doing up? It’s five in the morning in Luxembourg.”
“Aww, I’m touched,” he teased. “You know the time difference.”
“Jackass,” I muttered.
“Car sex is fun. Ever done that, Hell Yes Ma’am?”
“Wouldn’t this technically have to be car-phone sex since you’re in Europe?”
“I mean, I’m down with that too, but if that’s your way of asking when I’ll be back, thank you for your concern—I’m touched. I’ll be landing in New York in a few hours.”
“You’re calling me from a plane?”
“Yep. ”
“You’re allowed to do that?”
Isaac chuckled, “There are certain perks that come with not flying commercially. How far away are you from your house?”
“A few minutes.”
“Call me when you get home.”
I swatted away a rogue feeling of affection like it was a pesky mosquito. “If I didn’t know any better, that sounds like something that more than a friend with benefits would say.”
“Good thing you know better, then. Because we’re not friends, and you haven’t agreed to be enemies with benefits yet.”
“Geez—I’m melting over here, Lawson. You really know how to woo a woman,” I deadpanned.
He chuckled, dark and devious, over the line. “Who says I’ve even started wooing you yet?”
“What was the coffee stunt you pulled at Queen’s then, huh?” I asked as I pulled onto my street.
The neighborhood was quiet except for the low hum of the streetlights. I passed Chase’s house and noticed two cars in his driveway. None of the lights were on.
Looks like he was finally using those condoms he teased me about. I should’ve gone over and hidden them before girls’ night.
“Oh, that?” he said innocently. “That was just a precursor.”
“A precursor to what exactly?” I asked as I pulled into my driveway and got out of the car, sandwiching my phone between my shoulder and ear.
“To me wooing you.”
“Into being enemies with benefits,” I clarified.
“Exactly.”
I stood under the porch light and unlocked my door. “And what if I don’t want to be wooed, Lawson?”
“Well, tough titties, sweet cheeks. Prepare to swoon.”
I slammed the door shut behind me and kicked off my shoes. “Goodnight, Lawson. ”
“Night, Princess. If you can’t sleep, I’m just a video chat away. Might be a nice little treat to get to see you touch yourself, sprawled out in that big bed of yours.”
I snorted. “You’re delusional.”
His voice softened. It was the same tone he used upstairs in the hallway when he said goodbye. “Sleep well, Hannah Jane.”