Chapter 5
5
COLE
After stepping out of the shower, I quickly dried, knowing I could still grab about four hours of sleep if I hurried. I’d just walked out of the bathroom when my cell phone rang. I headed to the table and picked it up, not surprised when I saw my cousin Ben’s name on the screen.
“Still not coming out, brother.”
“I’m already home,” he replied, but his voice sounded tight, and when he continued, I understood why. “The girls stop by your place?”
“No, why?”
“Shit,” he cursed before continuing. “Bay’s been texting Chase, but he has no idea where they are.”
My eyebrows lifted. “Is she drunk?”
“Guess so.”
I was surprised by that. It wasn’t her style to drink that much. If he was calling about my youngest sister, Harper, that would make more sense. “I’ll get dressed and go look. Where were they headed?”
“Crush.”
“Dammit.” I ran my hand through my hair. “They should’ve called for a ride.”
“My fault.” Ben sighed. “I knew they were headed there. I should’ve followed them, but Bree wasn’t drinking, so I thought all was good.” He paused before saying, “Chase is calling. I’ll call you back.”
I hit End on my call and threw it on my bed before grabbing some clothes and putting them on. I’d just shoved the phone in my pocket, grabbed my keys, and was locking the door behind me when the phone rang again.
I answered while jogging down the stairs. “He find them?”
“They’re at the police station in Cranberry.”
“I’m on my way.”
“I’ll let Chase know. Call me if you need me to meet you.”
I unlocked my truck door. “It’s all good. Thanks, brother.”
“You got it.”
Once again, I hit End and shoved the phone into my front pocket before starting my truck. I wasn’t upset with Ben for not following them, but I knew he would beat himself up about it. The truth was, if Bree wasn’t drinking, I would’ve probably assumed they were good to go too. Bree and Bailey were more than just identical in their features; they were also both very responsible. It wasn’t like either of them to get drunk and arrested, but if Harper’s with them, that makes just about anything possible.
Pulling into the police station parking lot, I parked quickly, got out of my truck, and jogged toward the door to the station. I recognized Chase the minute I walked through the door—not only because he worked with my cousins but also because I’d seen him at several family events recently.
He turned away from the police officer he was talking to and held out his hand. “Cole.”
I jerked up my chin and shook his hand. “Chase.”
He shoved his hands into his pockets. “You tell your dad about this?”
“No,” I grunted and ran my hand through my hair. “You wanna see something? Give him a call and tell him his girls are sitting in a jail cell.”
Chase grinned. “Sounds like you made the right decision.”
We shifted our attention to the police officer when he began speaking. “You both here for the Dimarco girls?”
“Yeah,” I replied.
“Follow me.”
We followed him around the corner to the holding cells, and I dropped my head when I saw the scene before me. I immediately saw Harper lying on the bench against the back wall, knowing in my gut that she was somehow responsible for this, but then my attention shifted to Paige, who was standing beside the bench, and I froze. Our eyes locked for a moment before Bree moved to stand in front of me, effectively blocking Paige from my view.
Angry that she was here with my sisters, I snapped at Bree. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Bree sighed. “Can you just get us out?”
“You came!” Bailey called out excitedly, and we all shifted our attention to the bench against the other wall where she was lying. She rolled to her side and just kept rolling until she landed on her knees on the concrete floor. She snorted out a laugh until she was laughing hysterically on the floor. Paige chuckled and squatted down beside her.
Bailey looked over at her. “Did you fall?”
Paige shook her head. “No, you fell.”
Bailey dropped her head and looked at her knees but then shrugged. She continued to laugh as they stood. Paige wrapped her arm around Bailey’s waist when she swayed, and I could no longer refrain from asking, “How’d you end up with them?”
Bree glanced behind her at Paige before I felt her eyes on me, but mine were locked on Paige, who was doing everything she could to avoid looking at me. “She was at Crush with us.”
Bailey smiled. “Paige.”
Paige returned Bailey’s smile. “Yeah, I’m Paige.”
Frowning, I looked at Bree. “Wanna tell us what happened?”
Bree exhaled heavily. “Can we do that later?”
“We didn’t do anything wrong. We were just walking home because we weren’t able to drive.”
My eyes snapped to Paige, surprised when she actually spoke to me. “Why didn’t you call for a ride?”
“I did.” Bailey laughed and pointed at Chase. “My ride’s here!”
Ignoring Bailey, I focused on Paige until she dropped her head. Turning back to Bree, I asked the only person making any sense. “Why didn’t you call Luke?”
Bree glanced over my shoulder and looked at the police officer behind me. “I tried to tell him to call my cousin, who’s a cop in New Hope, but he said we’d all have a chance to make a phone call when we got here, and then he took our phones.”
The cop shrugged. “They were causing a disturbance and soliciting drivers. My job is to bring them in and get everything sorted out.”
“Solicitation?” Chase said, obviously surprised by the cop’s statement, but I wasn’t. When Harper was involved, nothing was that shocking.
I slid my eyes back to Paige when she spoke. “We were not soliciting anyone.” Paige squatted a little when Bailey leaned her body against her side. “Can we go? She’s getting heavy.”
“Christ.” I exhaled heavily and ran my hand through my hair. “How long have you been here?”
“Not long. Bailey had the first call, and she called Chase.” Bree spoke, then frowned over my shoulder at the cop. “We told him she was too drunk to make the first call, but he wouldn’t listen.”
“What do we need to do to get them out?” Chase asked the question I’d planned on asking next.
His eyes flicked over the girls but lingered a little too long on Harper. I was just about to warn him away from my sister when he spoke. “I’m only giving them a warning this time. Next time?—”
“There won’t be a next time, Officer.” Bree interrupted.
“I certainly hope not.”
Paige held up her hand and stumbled to the side. She quickly wrapped her arm around Bailey’s waist to steady them. “I still need to make a call, remember? I don’t have a ride.”
“I’ll take you.” I met her stare while the officer walked toward the cell door.
She shook her head. “No thanks.”
“What’re you gonna do? Walk?” I narrowed my eyes and gestured toward the officer. “Isn’t that why you’re in here?”
“We’re in here because of Harper,” Bree bit out.
I already knew that, but what I didn’t know was how the hell Paige ended up at Crush with my sisters. Paige once again shifted and attempted to take a step forward, but Bailey stumbled and began laughing.
Paige lifted her eyebrows. “Little help here.”
“Can you unlock it?” Chase asked the cop.
After the cop unlocked the cell and opened the door, Chase moved quickly toward Bailey. “I’ve got her.”
Paige nodded and moved her arm from Bailey’s waist so Chase could take her place.
I heard Bailey talking, but my attention was on Paige. She wouldn’t look at me, but that was nothing new. However, it seemed worse tonight, and that probably had everything to do with what happened at Crush. I couldn't move past that. I had no idea how she felt about that shit, and I had no plans to ask her, but the way she avoided my eyes told me she wasn’t handling it well either.
Sighing, I averted my eyes and headed for Harper. There was no way she was walking out of the cell on her own. Squatting, I hoisted her off the bench and threw her over my shoulder before facing Chase. “Can you take Bailey home? I’m not gonna have room in my truck for all four.”
Paige crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not riding with you. I’ll ride with Chase.”
I wasn’t surprised she was trying to ride with Chase. Chase drove a nice truck, was college-educated, and made good money. He was exactly her type. “Your place is out of the way for Chase.” I walked past her and headed out of the cell. “Let’s go.”
I knew she was following me, as was everyone else, but I also knew the conversation wasn’t over. I wasn’t at all surprised when we hit the parking lot, and I heard her voice behind me. “I’ll just call a friend.”
I spun around quickly, forcing her to stop before she ran into me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw everyone had stopped, but my attention was locked on Paige. “Don’t worry, Paige, it’s dark out and late. No one will ever know you rode in my shitty truck.”
“Your truck’s nice.” Bailey giggled and hiccuped, but I never diverted my attention from Paige when I answered her.
“Not to some people, right, Paige?” I widened my stance and adjusted Harper so I could hold her more comfortably. I should’ve stopped talking, but I was pissed that she looked at me like I wasn’t worth shit to her, and I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I needed to find a way to get her out of my mind, but I hadn’t been able to, so anger was all I could muster tonight. “I’m sure your boyfriend wouldn’t be caught dead in a truck like mine either.” I looked around the parking lot and raised my eyebrows. “Where the hell is he, anyway? Too good for him too?”
“Whoa.” Bree held up her hands and stepped between us, but my eyes stayed locked with Paige’s. “Maybe we should all just quit talking and go home before we say things we can’t take back.”
Paige narrowed her eyes. “I hate you.”
It was like a punch to the gut to hear her speak the words I'd already assumed but didn’t want to be true. It didn’t matter that she was drunk. Those words were how she felt, and honestly, I should hate her too, but I didn’t. “Already knew that, sweetheart.” I spun on my heel and headed toward my truck. “Now get in the fucking truck. Some of us have to get up for work in a few hours.”
I roughly yanked open the back door and put Harper on the seat, waiting for Bree to jog around the truck and climb in beside her. Bree pulled Harper toward her so Harper could lean on her shoulder, and I closed the door. Getting in the driver’s side, I refused to look at the passenger seat, which held Paige, as I started the truck and pulled out.
I already knew her address because I’d asked Jake where she lived when he said they were trying to talk her into moving. The townhouses were nice and relatively new, but the area was shitty. The builder was hoping the area would become something more after he put in the townhouses, but so far, it hadn’t. I couldn’t believe a girl like Paige would live in that area. It didn’t fit what I thought I knew about her, but maybe it was all she could afford. She couldn’t be making much working for Dave. However, you wouldn’t know that by the way she dressed.
We rode in silence until I parked against the curb adjacent to her building.
“Thanks,” she said quietly before pushing open her door and jumping out.
Shoving my door open, I followed her to her small front porch, refusing to let her walk alone this late at night.
She glanced over her shoulder. “You don’t have to walk me to the door.”
I grunted. “Not letting you walk alone in this neighborhood.”
“I always walk alone in this neighborhood.” She stopped on the porch and pulled her purse from her shoulder, unzipping it and digging around.
“You should get your keys out before you get to the door,” I suggested.
She paused her search and lifted her head, tilting it back so she could look up at me. “Why?”
“You’re an easy target.”
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled while opening them. “Do you think there will ever be a time you'll stop second-guessing everything I do?”
My eyebrows drew together. “That’s not what I was doing.”
“Yes, it was, and you do it every time I talk to you.”
I ran my hand through my hair. “Look, I’m used to watching out for my sisters. I don’t even think about it before I say it.”
She put the key in the door lock and pushed open her door. “It doesn’t matter.”
I shoved my hands into my pockets, the words she spoke not very long ago echoing in my mind. I hate you . She was right. None of this shit mattered. It was obvious neither of us was willing to make amends, so the only logical thing we could do was avoid each other as much as possible.
“Thanks for the ride,” she muttered but was in the house with the door closed before I could reply.