Cold steel on my wrists snaps me out of my inner reverie. I’m being cuffed like all the others, and the cop behind me leads me to the car to start making calls. He takes my wallet to search for ID, and when he feels satisfied that I’m telling the truth, he moves behind me to remove the cuffs.
“We’ll need the video surveillance to corroborate your story.”
I grin while nodding. “I’ll call my brother so that it’s all legit. He’ll come—” Dane pulls up, jumping out of the car with Rain and his sister, Britt, on his heels “—right now.”
The cop turns as Dane rushes over, and Rain runs to my side to investigate my injuries. Fortunately for me, they’re nowhere nearly as bad as they could have been if the police hadn’t shown up when they did. Five on one never ends well for the one. Not even I’m that badass.
“Any idea who these men are?” a cop asks me.
“Just the bald one that was running his mouth. That’s Pete Mercer. You’ll find he has a warrant out for his arrest for violating a restraining order held by Tria Noles.”
The cop calls in the information I just gave him, while Rain curses me for getting into a fight. I can’t wait to tell Tria that Pete is going back to jail. He just got caught jumping a Sterling in Sterling Shore. Big fucking mistake.
Chapter 18
TRIA
Rain is driving me nuts. I swear she calls me more everyday. I’ve already talked to her once today.
“Your sister is seriously freaking out. Maybe she’d feel better if she knew you were safely tucked away with Kode,” Brin says.
Sighing, I think that over. “I wish. Rain and Kode have history. I’m still dealing with that. My entire life revolved around everyone seeing Rain, but looking right through me. Kode is a lot like me in that respect. Dane is the shining star in their family. But at the same time, Kode was like everyone else. He never saw me until he stopped seeing Rain.”
I sound poetic again. More like a sad poet. Maybe some of Poe’s work won’t sound so disturbing if I read it now.
“So you think she has feelings for him? Or him for her?”
My laughter comes out before I can stop it, and then I shake my head. “No. Rain is beyond in love with Dane. She never saw Kode as more than a friend. And I don’t think Kode has any lingering feelings for her. I know he had the hots for her, but if it was gone that easily, then it couldn’t have been a very long crush.”
Obviously Kode developed a small crush for a short period of time. He’s an intense guy, so it just looked like a bigger deal than it was. Right?
“He’s so different with you than anyone I’ve seen him interact with,” she says, grinning. “You know, the guy says five words to me. But he sees you, and he spills all sorts of things. It’s really sweet. He’s one of those guys girls want to love, but can’t get him to love them back. You’ve landed a white whale, so to speak.”
Smiling, I lean back in the seat.
“Have I told you thank you for hanging out with me so much?” I ask her, turning to look as her light brown hair falls out of her ponytail holder.
She curses while pulling it back up, and then she grins over at me while we sit idly in front of Kode’s home.
“You don’t have to thank me, Tria. Everyone needs someone. If I hadn’t had Maggie when I went through my divorce, I don’t know what I would have done. You’re getting stalked by a psycho, so you need someone. I’m here. Any time you need me.”
It’s hard to picture Brin getting married so young. She married straight out of high school, which seems so rash for someone as grounded as she is.
Out of the blue, I hug her, surprising her. But she hugs me back affectionately.
Smiling, I release her and head inside, making sure to strategically grab all my bags so that I don’t have to make two trips. Kode left earlier and said he probably wouldn’t be home until late, so I had Brin take me out to get groceries. My meal tonight will have him caving. No doubt about it.
My phone has been blowing up with calls from Rain and other random numbers, but I’ve ignored them all. This day is my day. I fully intend to devote all of my attention on Kode and winning this stupid bet.
It takes some finesse, but I manage to get the door open without putting any of the bags down. Moving quickly, I get everything put away. It’ll be a while before he gets home, so I decide to go for a run.
Just as I finish pulling on my workout shorts and sports bra, the door opens and closes, and I grin, though I’m surprised. He made it sound like it would be after dark before he got back.
“Just so you know, you’ll be on your knees and begging—”
My words catch in my throat when I see the wide eyes staring back into mine. Maverick Sterling has one foot still suspended in the air as I shriek and grab a pillow from the sofa to cover my body.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he asks on a gasp.