“Go? But we only got here an hour ago.”
“I need the car,” he says to Conner. “Can you make sure Hadley gets back okay?”
He doesn’t even look at me.
After all the progress I thought we’d made, it hurts.
“Sure, but what’s the emergency?”
“Team stuff.”
My ears perk up. “Maybe I should co—”
“No,” he barks. “You should stay here with Conner.”
“What’s really going on?” Ace pins his younger brother with a hard look.
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
Something passes between the two of them, but then Cole takes off, disappearing into the sea of people all out enjoying a Saturday afternoon at the arcade.
“Should I be worried?” Conner asks Ace.
“I don’t know, maybe.”
Remi throws Ace a questioning look but he leans down, whispering something in her ear. She nods and then snags Conner’s arm and starts pulling him toward a grabber machine.
“Can we talk?” Ace asks me the second they’re out of earshot.
“Umm, sure.”
“You and my brother, what’s going on there?”
“I... we... I’m not sure.”
“But you like him?”
I nod, chewing the inside of my lip, because Ace Jagger is scary as hell.
“I need you to do me a favor.”
“Okay.” My brows knit, not liking the sound of this.
“I need you to find out who has been calling and texting Cole.”
“Wait a minute, you want me to spy on him?”
“I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”
“I...” Shit. I can’t do this, can I?
I’m already keeping Cole’s darkest secret, and now Ace wants me to snoop around, digging up even more.
“Cole is going through some stuff and I’m worried he’s fallen in with some bad people... because of me.” His expression falls, and I see nothing but pain in his eyes. “He’s completely shut me out, Hadley, but you’re different. You reach him in a way that no one else does.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” I murmur.
“Don’t sell yourself short. Just because my brother has a funny way of showing he cares,