| |
—Simone—
––––––––
I groaned and rolled as carefully as I could while my seized back cried out in pain. Not to mention the fuzzy vision and aching head making my balance falter right on the edge of the hard bed.
Kasey’s sleepy curse came from behind me, and I cracked a gritty eye open. My heart dropped. I wanted to believe that being locked in the station cell had been nothing but a bad dream but looking around the six-by-eight-foot cinderblock room shattered that hope.
I lifted my head and squinted when a soft chuckle sounded. Reed casually leaned an elbow on the chest-height horizontal bar of the sliding door. He smirked at me, then took a long sip from his coffee mug while eyeing me over the rim.
I slowly peeled myself to sitting and rubbed my eyes—instantly regretting it when they stung.
“Mornin’, darlin’. Good sleep?”
“The best,” I grumbled while giving him a dry look. “I love it when my back can’t move in the morning.”
Reed chuckled again and shook his head. “You being in here was the last thing I expected to find on a Saturday morning. Indecent public exposure, was it not?”
I rose and shuffled over to him to lean against the barred door just as he did. “Apparently.”
One of his dark eyebrows arched. “Apparently, or actually?”
“Okay, actually. We were skinny-dipping in the lake when we got caught.”
Another groan came from the bed behind me, and I turned to see the moment Kasey laid a bleary eye on Reed. The other pinged open, and she sat up at the speed of light as if not hungover.
“Well, aren’t you a glass of tall, dark, and get in my panties,” she said shamelessly, getting to her feet and straightening out her dress.
Pinching the bridge of my nose did nothing to dispel my mortification as I made introductions. “Reed, meet my soon to be deceased best friend, Kasey. Kase, this is Constable Reed Gatlin.”
Kasey’s sharp eyes cut to me. “Gatlin?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, he’s Banks’s brother.”
Kasey popped a hip. “Well, if The Kisser is as visually pleasing as you, I’m surprised Simone hasn’t given in already. So, what’s your toxic trait, Reed?”
Reed’s eyebrows lifted. “The Kisser?”
“Don’t even ask,” I groaned. “And Kasey, would you shut the fuck up?”
Reed laughed and looked Kasey up and down, taking the conversation in his stride. “Okay, so you’re the troublemaker that Eric warned me about.”
“Eric?” she asked.
His smirk tugged. “The constable who ‘arrested’ you two last night.”
Kasey waved a hand. “Oh him. He was nice; very professional,” she added with a serious nod, as if Reed had asked for her critique.
A wide grin appeared across Reed’s face, and he studied her with open curiosity. Kasey studied him back just as hard, and out of nowhere, I felt like the third wheel that needed to shrink into the background.
“Uh, guys!” I waved a hand.
Reed’s eyes cut to me, then back to the friend that just kept on giving.
“How long you in town for, Kasey?” he drawled.
She batted her mascara-smudged lashes and turned coy. “I fly out Monday morning.”
My eyes nearly bugged out of my head as Reed turned up his charm. “We should do a little something sometime.”
“We’ll see. I’m pretty booked up right now,” Kasey replied, totally aloof, and inspected her nails.
“Riiiight,” Reed drawled. “I guess you ladies would like to be set free now?”
Relief deflated my lungs. “Yes please, Reed. I’m dying for a shower.”
He squared his shoulders. “Bail is set at five thousand each.”
“What!” both Kasey and I yelled in unison, only to curse him when he started laughing.
“I’m playing with y’all.” His keys jingled in the lock, then the iron bars slid to the side to gift us our freedom.
I feigned a glare on my way past him. “You’re mean but thank you.”
“You’re welcome, darlin’. And you—”
I looked over my shoulder when Reed cut off to see his hand splayed wide across Kasey’s waist.
“—I will see later.”
She looked up at him and smirked. Just a tiny hint of a smirk, but enough to suggest fulfillment of one’s darkest desires. And judging by Reed’s smoldering expression, he was already committed to his next sin.
Kasey dragged her fingertips across his chest as she stepped around him. “Maybe.”
Her trailing laughter had Reed pressing a fist to his grin and shaking his head. He nodded farewell at me when I waved, then Kase and I went to the reception desk to sign our release forms.
I’d never done a walk of shame from a police station before and it was no less mortifying than leaving a one-night-stand’s place.
“You’re a bad fucking influence,” I sassed and playfully nudged her side.
Kasey laughed and linked arms with me. “I know. Maybe one day I’ll change.”
“Please don’t.” As embarrassing as it was at times, I liked her chaos, her exuberance, and the sunshine she brought to the darkest places... I wouldn’t be here without any of it.
Kasey and I went home, showered, slept, recharged, then prepped for another night out in Gatlin Falls.
