I take a shot of the Fireball. “What happened to the girl he supposedly killed?”
She looks over at me, her green eyes full of sadness. “Her body still hasn’t been found.”
CHAPTER FIVE
COLE
WE’VE BEEN WALKING around this place for the past hour. We’re making our way down a dark hallway when a woman comes running out of a nearby room, colliding with Austin. The girl screams out in surprise.
“Are you okay?” Austin asks her.
“Fine,” she breathes, quickly looking over her shoulder, but no one’s there.
“Are you sure?” Austin asks again.
She quickly nods and turns back to face my wife.
“Looks like you’ve seen a ghost,” Demi adds, coming up beside Austin. “I imagine there are a lot in this place.” She smiles as if she likes that thought. She and my wife love haunting shit.
“Yeah,” the girl breathes again. “I guess.”
“Another reason we should get the fuck out of here,” Deke says, coming up behind Demi and wrapping his arms around her shoulders, pulling her back to his front.
“Give it up, Deke. We’re staying,” Demi tells him, rolling her eyes.
“This place is identical to Silence,” I growl, coming to stand next to my wife. “Boring and uneventful. At least this place was free,” I add as if I care how much this place costs. I just want to go home.
Austin looks up at me, irritation very clear in her eyes. “Can you try to pretend you want to be here?”
“No,” I reply flatly.
She turns to fully face me. “I want to be here. Isn’t that good enough?” she asks, placing her arms around my neck.
She’s trying to turn my sour mood around, but it’s not going to work. I look down at her but don’t answer.
“Henley?” a girl calls out, running toward us, and Austin pushes away from me once again. She’s fucking with me, making me pay for her waiting for me earlier. “Where did you go? I was worried sick about you.” She comes to a stop and looks at the four of us. “Oh,” she says, her eyes darting back and forth between Demi and Austin. “Hello. I’m Lacey.” She reaches out her right hand.
“Hi. I’m Austin …”
The girl grabs Lacey’s outreached hand and pulls it back. “We gotta go,” she announces and then yanks her away from them.
“Where the fuck did Shane and Brynn go?” Demi asks.
“Hopefully they left,” I growl.
Demi gives me an evil look, but I don’t give a fuck. She doesn’t know what’s going on. Or what my so-called friend did.
It all comes down to the fact that I can’t trust him. Deke knows that if he were to die right now, I’d protect Demi with my life. Just as I would my own wife. But Shane? He wouldn’t do that for Austin, and there lies the problem. And I’m not willing to take that chance.
_______________
The clock on the dash reads 2:30 a.m. when we get back into her Range Rover. I haven’t even pulled out of my spot before I hear Deke and Demi making out in the back seat. Austin sits silently in the passenger seat. She’s pretty drunk and seems to still be pissed at me.
I wasn’t all that nice at Death Valley. I didn’t even want to be there in the first place.
She shifts in her seat to look over at me, and my hands tighten on the steering wheel, knowing she’s about to start a fight, but instead, she surprises me by reaching across the center console to rub her hand on my thigh.
I give her a quick side-eye.
“What?” She smiles.
I say nothing.
Her hand slowly travels up my leg, and she grips my dick. I shove her hand, not in the mood to fuck around right now. We’re not alone, and we have a thirty-minute drive to Deke and Demi’s, then another fifteen to our house.
She lets out a huff and crosses her arms over her chest, staring straight ahead.
I might have allowed Deke to fuck around with her in the past, and I even offered her up to Kellan once, but I’d never share her with any other man and that includes even allowing another man to watch us be intimate in any way. No matter how fucking hard I am right now.
_______________
We drop Deke and Demi off, and I’m surprised she remains quiet. But I’m not so lucky the moment we walk into our home.
“What the fuck is wrong, Cole?” she asks, dropping her purse off on the table in the foyer.
“I told you to drop it.”
“I’m not going to fucking drop it,” she snaps. “We’ve done this too many times.” She shakes her head. “Going to bed mad. Why didn’t you come home tonight?”
“I was busy,” I say and start up the stairs.
She grips my upper arm, her fingernails digging into my skin. “Deke called Demi.”
So then Demi has already filled her in as to why I was late. “My phone died.”
“You could have called me from his. Or said hey, while you’re on the phone with your wife ask her to call mine for me. You had multiple options.”
I rip my arm from her hold and turn away from her.
“Are you having an affair?”
I halt at the top of the stairs and spin around. “What did you say?” I ask, thinking I heard her wrong. She’s drunk. But I’m stone cold sober.
“You heard me.” She lifts her chin. She takes the few steps up the stairs to close the distance. “Are you fucking someone else?”
I had a smart-ass remark on the tip of my tongue, but the fact she actually asked again has me just staring down at her confused. What have I done wrong to make her think I’d step out of our marriage?
“Fucking answer me!” She slaps me. “Cole!” She slaps me again at my silence. “Fucking have the balls to admit it …”
“Shane!” I shout, reaching out to grab her wrists so she can’t hit me again. Usually I’m into that sort of thing, but not right now. “I’m fucking pissed at Shane. So, stay the hell away from him, Austin.” I lean my face down to hers. “I don’t want that bastard anywhere near you.”
“What?” Her dark brows pull together. “You think I want to have an affair with Shane?”
Fuck! “No! Quit saying that goddamn word,” I growl, letting go of her.
“Isn’t that what you want?” she asks, hands out wide.
I tilt my head. Is she asking if I want her to fuck my friend? “Are you trying to start a fight with me? Piss me off? Because I’m really fucking close to that point, Austin!”
“Oh, you’ve been pissed off for a while now, Cole. I’m just trying to figure out why.” She stomps past me and finishes up the stairs and into our room. I follow her, and she removes her shirt, then kicks off her shoes and shoves her jeans down her legs. She fumbles with her bra and stands before me dressed in her underwear. “I waited for two hours on that bed. Two hours.” She points at it. “Where were you?”
My head throbs as a migraine suddenly takes over. “I was at practice. You already know that.” I rub my temples, trying to release the pressure.
“For two fucking hours?” She snorts as if that is an unbelievable statement. “Why was that so hard to say? Huh? Why lie to me about it at Demi and Deke’s?” I open my mouth, but she continues. “Maybe you had Deke lie to Demi for you.”