Chapter 6
SIX
CHLOE
I’d been in several shitty situations before over the course of my lifetime, but I’d never witnessed anything like that.
A man almost died in front of me, and my best friend was able to keep her cool while I had been rendered completely and utterly useless.
I meandered through the hallways that West guided me down until we stood next to my bed.
I folded my arms over my chest and crawled beneath the covers, wanting nothing more than to sleep this nightmare away.
Lexi, Ruby, and Notch all knew what to do while I had stood there, completely devoid of purpose.
And while I had been rendered speechless at the way my best friend of all time leapt into action without a second thought, it didn’t stop me from feeling like I didn’t belong.
Like I was totally out of my element in a place like this.
“You all right?” West asked.
He pulled a chair up to the side of my bed as I laid there, staring at the wall over his shoulder. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
He tilted his head. “You sure about that?”
I turned onto my other side, my back facing him. “I said I’m fine, West. Just take it for what it’s worth.”
“Okay,” he murmured.
I didn’t want him seeing me like this. I didn’t want him seeing me scared, weak, and purposeless. I hated looking weak. I hated making people feel like they were obligated to take care of me or make me feel better. It made me feel indebted to people, and I couldn't stand that feeling.
But he didn’t let up. “Chloe, that situation back there—”
I groaned. “Jesus Christ, already, Lexi is my best fucking friend. You think I haven’t seen a gunshot wound before?”
“Since it’s not your profession, no.”
I scoffed. “Well, get used to the fact that you’re not the end-all-be-all when it comes to knowledge regarding my life.”
A subtle knock came at the door before it cracked open. “Chloe?”
Lexi’s voice relaxed me a bit and I quickly turned over. “Hey, are you okay?”
She slipped inside and closed the door behind her. “I wanted to come check on you, actually. You looked a bit spooked there for a while.”
West’s eyes burrowed a hole into the profile of my face, but I didn’t let it bother me. “I was just taking it all in. You know how I am.”
She came and perched on the edge of my bed. “Yes, I do know how you are, which is why I wanted to come check on you.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m fine, Lexi, you know this.”
She darted her eyes over toward West. “Could you give us a minute or two?”
West’s gaze never peeled its way off my face. “Yeah, sure. I’ll be just outside.”
And after he closed the bedroom door behind him, I let the tears fall. “Is he going to be okay, Lexi?”
She threw her arms around me and laid down in bed beside me. “He’ll be hurting for a while, but yes, he’s going to live.”
I sighed with relief. “Thank fuck, because that was so much damn blood.”
She giggled. “It actually wasn’t as much as it looked like. Blood has a different viscosity than water, so it always looks like more than it is.”
I shook my head. “I don’t know how you do it.”
“Well, now you know how I feel about you and your profession. I still don’t understand how you interpret all those numbers and symbols for a living, much less how they somehow have holes in them. That still doesn’t make sense to me.”
That got me to smile, even as the tears continued to fall. “You know, when Asher came bursting through that front door, all I could think about was my inability to protect Natty.”
“That wasn’t your fault. I would have never expected you t—”
I shrugged as I flopped onto my back. “It doesn’t even matter. I should’ve been able to protect her. You trusted me to protect her. And then she was taken, and it was all my fault because I couldn't bat those men away. I couldn't get a grip on them and—”
She took my hand, threading our fingers together.
“It was never your fault, Chloe. I need you to hear me when I say that. I was the one that got into the altercation with those idiots in the first place, and when we stood up to them? It made all of us a target. It put everyone I cared about in danger, and I never should’ve done it in the first place. ”
My face wrinkled as tears flooded my cheeks. “What are we gonna do, Lexi? When do we get our lives back?”
She pulled me into her arms, and we cried together.
Our shoulders shook with our sobs as I pulled the covers over our head like we always did back at home.
I cried until I couldn’t cry any longer.
Until my body was so weak and useless that all I could do was curl close against my best friend’s body.
And after her tears dried as well, Lexi changed the subject. “So, a little birdie told me that you and West took a joyride earlier.”
I groaned. “Jesus, really? Everyone knows about that?”
She cackled with laughter. “Everyone heard Stone yelling about it, so yes. Everyone knows.”
I tossed my arm over my eyes. “Great.”
“How was it? Was that your first time on the back of a bike?”
I smiled softly at the memory. “It was, actually. I was nervous at first, but West went slow in the beginning and slowly picked up the speed as I grew more comfortable. It was really nice. He took me up and down the Pacific Coast Highway before we stopped at one of his favorite coffee shops.”
Lexi smiled brightly. “You so have a type.”
“I do not.”
“You really do. West is, from top to bottom, the exact guy I’d put you with if I were given a choice.”
“Whatever,” I murmured.
She scooted closer. “Do you like him?”
I turned to face her. “What?”
“Oh, come on, this is me you’re talking to,” she said coyly. “Do you think West is hot?”
“I think most of these guys are hot. Have you seen them in leather jackets?”
“I mean, yeah. But do you think West is hotter?”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re terrible at this.”
She slid her leg between my own. “Do you find yourself wanting to talk with him more than the other guys?”
I paused. “Yeah, I guess.”
“Do you smile whenever he’s around?”
I cheesed way too big to answer that question any other way. “Of course, I do.”
Lexi gazed into my eyes. “He makes you feel safe, doesn’t he?”
I sighed. “Yeah, he really does.”
She nudged me. “You like him, girl. Just admit it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, okay, West is a sexy hunk of man meat. There. You happy?”
She clapped her hands as I tossed the covers off our heads. “I knew it! I knew you had the hots for him. I was telling Dean these past couple of nights that I could’ve sworn I saw you staring at him the other day. I knew it!”
“I’m never going to hear the end of this,” I whispered to myself.
“Hey,” she said as she rolled over onto her back, “we’re going to be on lockdown here for a while. I can just feel it. So, why not have a bit of fun with it? Why not indulge in some stress relief before we have to go back to our regular lives?”
“I knew that’s where you were going with this, and I’m not sleeping with him. That would complicate things.”
Her jaw dropped open and I knew I had royally fucked up. “Complicate what?”
I pointed to the door. “Out.”
The two of us fell apart in laughter while Lexi shot out questions I refused to answer.
I playfully shoved her out the door before I closed it, and then I flipped the lock for good measure.
Lexi slammed her palms against the door.
She threatened me with… something. I honestly didn’t remember.
All I knew was that I had gone from endlessly crying to endlessly happy in the span of a few minutes because my best friend was single-handedly the most amazing person on the planet.
But the moment faded into the background when my cell phone lit up on my bedside table.
That can only be one person at this time of the night.
I moved away from the door and snatched up my phone. The agent’s name scrolling across my screen with the little icon for a text message stared back at me. I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath, readying myself for things to get infinitely more complicated.
Then, I opened the message and beheld its insane contents.
Agent Baker: Tomorrow. Two PM. The restaurant. I’ll bring what you need.
Fuck.