32. Colt
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Colt
The cold steel of the handcuffs bit into my wrists as Davis unlocked them.
The bruising silence of the holding cell followed me out into the night as we were released, the three of us stepping into the crisp air of the police station parking lot.
The sharp chill couldn’t cut through the simmering tension in my chest, or the deep, gnawing worry for Lila.
Jaxon was the first to speak, his voice tight. “Let’s just get back to her. Make sure she’s okay.”
But as we crossed the lot, we saw him—Nate. He was standing near his truck, arms crossed, his face a storm of fury.
My stomach dropped.
Of course he wanted to address this.
This was going to be worse than talking to our old friends at the police station.
“You three have got some explaining to do,” he growled, his voice carrying across the pavement.
Jaxon and Ryan exchanged a look, but I stepped forward. “Nate…”
He pointed a finger at me, his eyes blazing. “Don’t you ‘Nate’ me, Colt. What the hell is going on? I saw the photos. I saw everything. And now this? Arrested? Are you kidding me? Do you want to lose your jobs?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but he bulldozed over me, his voice rising.
“You’re supposed to have her back, not drag her into this circus! What kind of men are you?”
“Nate, it’s not like that,” Jaxon said, calmly but firmly.
“Then explain it to me!” Nate roared, his gaze cutting between the three of us. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re all taking advantage of her when she’s already been through enough! That’s my sister. You’re my friends.”
Ryan stepped forward, his expression taut with restrained anger. “We’re not taking advantage of her. We care about her.”
Nate’s face twisted with disbelief. “ Care ? You call this care? What, all three of you at once? Do you even hear how insane that sounds?”
“Nate,” I said, my voice low, steady. “You don’t understand?—”
“You’re damn right I don’t understand!” he snapped, taking a step closer. “She’s my sister, Colt! She’s vulnerable, she’s been through hell, and you’re… what? Fighting over her like she’s some kind of prize?”
“We’re not fighting over her,” Jaxon said, his voice colder now. “We’re with her. Together. It’s her choice, Nate. She’s not a child. She knows what she wants.”
Nate laughed bitterly, running a hand through his hair. “Her choice? Yeah, because she’s in such a great place to make clear-headed decisions right now.”
I felt my temper rising, but I forced myself to stay calm. “She’s stronger than you think. She’s been through more than you know, and she’s still standing. We’re not here to hurt her. We’re here to help. To be there for her.”
“By what?” Nate shot back. “ Sharing her? You think that’s normal? You think that’s what she needs? This whole thing is a mess, and you’re just making it worse!”
The frustration and guilt bubbled up inside me, and before I could stop myself, I said, “I love her, Nate.”
The words hung in the air like a thunderclap.
Nate froze, his face a mix of shock and fury. “What did you just say?”
“I love her,” I repeated, my voice unwavering. “I have for a long time. And so do they.”
I gestured to Jaxon and Ryan, who stood silently beside me.
Nate shook his head, his expression incredulous. “You’ve got to be kidding me. This isn’t love, Colt. This is… this is…” He trailed off, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. “You’re confusing her. You’re letting her think this is okay, and it’s not!”
“It’s okay if she says it is,” Ryan said, his voice quiet but firm.
Nate’s gaze snapped to him, his jaw tightening. “And you? You’re just fine with this? You don’t see how this is going to ruin her life? What the town’s going to say? What people will think?”
Jaxon stepped forward, his voice sharp. “We don’t give a damn what people think. The only thing we care about is Lila. Her happiness, her safety. That’s it.”
“And you think this is making her happy?” Nate shot back, his voice shaking with anger.
“She chose us, Nate,” I said, meeting his gaze. “All of us. And yeah, it’s messy, and it’s not what you’re used to, but it’s real. She’s not some fragile thing you have to protect from the world. She’s a grown woman, and she knows what she wants.”
Nate’s face darkened, and before I could react, his fist connected with my jaw.
Pain exploded across my face as I stumbled back, catching myself on the edge of the curb.
“You don’t get to tell me how to protect my sister,” Nate growled, low and dangerous.
I straightened, wiping the blood from my lip, but I didn’t retaliate. I just looked at him, letting him see the truth in my eyes.
“I’m not going anywhere, Nate. None of us are. You can hate me all you want, but we’re not giving up on her.”
For a moment, he just stared at me, his chest heaving, his fists still clenched.
Then, without another word, he turned and walked away, climbing into his truck and slamming the door behind him.
The roar of the engine filled the air as he sped off, leaving the three of us standing there in the silence.
“You okay?” Jaxon asked after a long moment.
“Yeah,” I muttered, though my jaw throbbed like hell.
Ryan let out a heavy sigh. “That could’ve gone better.”
“No kidding,” Jaxon said, his tone edged with frustration.
I stared down the road where Nate had disappeared, my chest tight with a mix of guilt and determination.
“He doesn’t understand now,” I said quietly. “But he will. Eventually.”
Jaxon nodded. “He’d better. For her sake.”
The tension from the confrontation with Nate lingered like a storm cloud as we walked into my house.
Jaxon headed straight for the kitchen, yanking open the fridge and grabbing a beer. Ryan sat heavily on the couch, elbows on his knees, his hands running through his hair.
I leaned against the doorframe, my jaw throbbing from Nate’s punch.
The adrenaline was wearing off, and now, in the quiet of my home, reality was sinking in.
“This is a mess,” Ryan finally said, breaking the silence.
Jaxon snorted, twisting the cap off his bottle. “No kidding. Nate’s not wrong about one thing… we’ve got to figure this out. Lila doesn’t need more chaos in her life.”
“She chose us,” I reminded them, though even as I said it, I felt the weight of doubt creeping in. “This is what she wants.”
“Yeah, but how does it work?” Ryan shot back, his voice edged with frustration. “We can’t keep going like this, stumbling through it and hoping for the best. It’s not fair to her.”
Jaxon leaned against the counter, his expression thoughtful. “He’s got a point. We’ve been so focused on just being with her that we haven’t stopped to think about how this… whatever this is… actually works long term.”
I sighed, running a hand over my face. “What are you saying? That we walk away? Because I can’t do that. I won’t.”
“None of us is walking away,” Jaxon said firmly. “But we need to be realistic. This isn’t some fairytale. People are going to judge her, us. Nate already does. And she’s going to feel that pressure.”
Ryan nodded, his gaze distant. “She’s already carrying so much. And now, with the arrest and those photos getting out… she’s going to need us more than ever. But we can’t just be three guys circling her like vultures, waiting for our turn. We need to be a team.”
“A team?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” he said, leaning back. “We need to sit down with her, talk about what this really looks like. Lay everything out… boundaries, expectations, how we handle things like Nate or the public. We owe her that. We talked about sharing and agreed to try. But now we need to figure it out for real.”
Jaxon took a long drink from his beer, then nodded. “It makes sense. We’ve been thinking about what we want, but we need to focus on what’s best for her. If this is going to work, it has to be solid. No cracks for people to exploit, no confusion.”
I let their words sink in, the weight of them settling heavily on my chest.
They were right.
We’d all jumped headfirst into this without thinking about the logistics, the consequences.
“I hate seeing her hurt,” I said quietly. “I hate knowing that she’s caught in the middle of all this because of us.”
“She’s not caught,” Ryan said, his voice steady. “She chose this. She chose us. But it’s up to us to make sure she never regrets it.”
The room fell silent again, each of us lost in our thoughts.
Finally, Jaxon straightened, setting his empty bottle on the counter. “So, we talk to her. Tomorrow. All of us. No more tiptoeing around this. We figure it out together.”
Ryan nodded, a hint of determination in his eyes. “Agreed. No matter how messy it gets, we stick together. For her.”
I pushed off the doorframe, feeling a flicker of hope beneath everything else.
“For her,” I echoed.
It wasn’t going to be easy. Hell, it might blow up in our faces.
But for Lila, for the chance to make this work, we were willing to try.