Dim lights illuminated the parking lot off to the side of the bar, and I paused to hit the button on my key fob. The lights of my car flashed, brightening the parking lot, revealing the crumpled-up body of someone against the dumpster.
I froze.
Someone walked into my back.
I screamed, stumbling forward, and two hands landed on my arms to steady me.
“What?” Ethan’s voice was right behind my ear, and I knew it was his hands on my arms.
“There’s, um, someone on the ground.” My voice was weak and shaky. “In front of the dumpster.”
“Oh, shit,” Noah said, jerking to life. He ran past all of us, his firefighter training kicking in, and yelled, “Call nine-one-one!”
I was shaking like a leaf. My keys clattered to the floor, and Ethan bent down to pick them up while Leo stepped under the streetlight and dialed.
Sure.
Halley fed raccoons.
Reagan’s apartment burned down.
I found what was probably a dead body.
Sounded about right.
My teeth chattered even though it wasn’t remotely cold whatsoever. It was far too warm for eleven o’clock at night in late October, actually, but that didn’t stop my entire body trembling as if it was below freezing.
Preston tugged me out of Ethan’s arms and pulled me against his side, but before I could croak out a thank you, Ethan was on the other side of me.
I was in a hot guy sandwich.
I’d been in worse places.
Like in front of a dead body.
Why did these things always happen together?
I was delirious. I had to be. This was the only reason why I wasn’t shoving Ethan off me like he was a rat full of fleas carrying the Black Death. I needed the feeling of both of them on either side of me to ground me.
I mean, I was watching Noah perform CPR.
All I could think of was that it was a good thing I was sober. If I’d been drinking, I’d probably have run headfirst into a tree trunk by now.
Or a car. Or oncoming traffic.
I was a panicker, okay?
I panicked. Panicking was my thing. It was probably due to the fact I was only just making enough to pay my bills and live without starving at least one day a week, so I constantly panicked about not being able to pay said bills.
I also panicked about being hungry because, well, I liked food.
Blue lights bounced off the walls. A crowd had now gathered outside the bar, full of nosy, half-drunken patrons who wanted to see what was going on. The Creek Falls police department arrived swiftly and took control of the situation, keeping people away so that the paramedics could attend to the…
Body?
God, that was morbid, wasn’t it?
I mean, I didn’t even know if she was dead. Noah giving her CPR was a pretty good indicator, but people came back around after CPR all the time. There was every chance she was still alive.
Oh, look, there was the tiny spark of optimism that occasionally came out.
Noah came back over and wiped his face with his t-shirt. “She’s unconscious but alive. They’re taking her to the hospital now, but the police want to talk to us quickly.”
I nodded, hugging myself tightly. I was still sandwiched between Ethan and Preston, but I shook them both off. I couldn’t breathe squished between them, and honestly, if I stayed pressed against Ethan for much longer, there was every chance I wouldn’t be able to peel myself away again.
We were interviewed one by one. There was nothing to tell; we’d all left the bar and stumbled upon her when Noah had done CPR. After three rounds of questioning, we were finally let go and told we could go home.
It’d been an hour. The fastest hour of my life.
All I wanted to do was shower and climb into bed. I’d never been so thankful to have a Saturday off work, that much was for sure.
My car had relocked itself at some point during the events of the last hour, so I hit the button once again. I opened the driver’s side door, but Ethan plucked the keys out of my hand before I could get in.
“What the hell?” I rounded on him like a rabid wolf and made to snatch them back, but he held them high above his head where I couldn’t reach them.
“You can’t drive,” he answered.
“Of course I can drive!”
“He’s right,” Leo said. “You just got one hell of a shock, Ava. You’re still shaken up.”
“You’re the ones who have been drinking. You’re definitely not able to drive,” I shot back.
Ethan held up his other hand. “I only had two beers over several hours and I ate. I’m fine.”
I looked at the others. They all nodded, and honestly, I knew they were right. I’d kept half an eye on them all night—nothing to do with my crush on Ethan, thank you very much!—and it was true.
Two beers and a big-ass burger. He was fit to drive.
I ground my teeth together. I wasn’t happy about handing Ethan my keys, but I was outnumbered four to one. I was also outsized. All four of the guys were well over six-foot and looked like they ate muscles for breakfast.
Honestly, if one wasn’t my brother, the other two weren’t my best friends’ boyfriends, and I didn’t love-hate the last one, this could have been the start of a porno.
Thank God it wasn’t. All the gods, actually. Pagan, Roman, Greek, Buddhist…
“Fine.” My tone said it was most definitely not fine.
Out of spite, hormones, or just downright female indignation, I slammed the door and stormed around the other side and got into the front.
Ignoring the chuckles from the guys, I buckled myself in and set my purse on my lap, staring straight ahead.
They all piled in, Ethan in the driver’s seat and the others in the back. It looked like a tight fit back there, and sure, I could have offered to sit in the middle, but why would I do that?
The jackasses took my keys.
Never mind that I probably was too shaken to drive.
It would have been nice to be asked.
Ethan backed out of the parking space, almost hitting the police tape that’d been strung up, and turned out of the parking lot.
I almost dug my phone out of my purse, but I honestly didn’t want to explain what’d happened tonight. Noah and Preston would do that, and I’d answer the questions tomorrow.
There were no cars on the road, so our trip was fast. Ethan drove first to Halley’s house to drop off Preston, then to Reagan’s, where she and Poosh were both waiting for Noah. Leo only lived a couple of blocks from Reagan’s apartment, and he leaned forward and kissed the side of my head in goodbye before he got out of the car.
Then, we were alone.
It was at least a five-minute drive back to my—our—apartment. The air in the car was tense, and I shifted uncomfortably in the seat to look out of the window.
“You okay?”
“Fine.” My tone was clipped, and guilt immediately took hold. “Sorry. I’m tired.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s been a long night.” He hit the stick for the blinker, and the clicking filled the car in the ensuing silence.
I swallowed.
I was a hot mess inside. I was tired yet wide awake. My brain was running like a well-oiled engine, turning over and over the events of tonight, but like the stupid-ass woman I was, the thing it came back to was the moment I was sandwiched between Preston and Ethan.