Callie crossed the space to her best friend. “Hey. Are you okay?”
“I just saw Dylan.”
“What did he do?”
“Nothing. Well, I mean, he was walking out of a shop, and he saw me and wanted to talk. I didn’t want to talk to him, so I tried to walk away.”
“Tried?”
“He grabbed my arm and told me we needed to talk. I started yelling at him to leave me alone, and I think that’s why he let me go, because I became a little hysterical and people started staring.”
“What anass.” God, ass didn’t even do him justice. “I’m so sorry.”
Lock stepped forward, anger darkening his features. “Is he still out there?”
Aspen shook her head. “He left. ButGod, I hate him. I don’t even care if that makes me a horrible person. I hate him and the way he makes me feel, and I hate that I can’t escape him in this small town.”
“What can I do?” Callie asked. Because she needed to dosomething.
Aspen closed her eyes and sucked in a long breath, as if trying to calm herself. When her eyes flicked open, she looked a bit calmer. “Give me some Zen with this yoga class, please.”
“Of course. But—”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be dumping this on you. Are you okay? Any more notes?”
Because they hadn’t seen a lot of each other, and Aspen had this stuff going on with Dylan, Callie hadn’t shared anything about Oscar. “Everything’s fine. And Lock’s here to make sure itstaysfine.”
Aspen’s brows flickered.
Callie tugged her friend toward the mat. “Come on. Let’s get you a mat before the class starts.”
Aspen looked like she wanted to push, but instead headed over to a mat. A few seconds later, three other girls walked in. Was the fifth place booked? Usually, this class was full, but she could easily pull out a sixth mat for Lock.
She went to her laptop and pulled up her schedule…and sucked in a quick breath at the fourth name on the list. The classwasfull, and the last person booked was—
The door opened, and Hamish stepped in.
Lock took a step toward him, but she rushed forward and cut him off, shaking her head as she whispered, “Don’t.”
“He can’t be here,” Lock growled quietly, words only reaching Callie’s ears.
“We don’t know that he has anything to do with what’s going on, and we can’t just kick him out because it’s a possibility.”
“I sure as hellcankick him out.”
She pleaded with both her eyesandwords. “Please. I believe he’s innocent. Eastern wouldn’t have released him if there was enough evidence to hold him. And I don’t want to kick him out if it’s just a maybe.”
Lock’s jaw tightened.
“Lock,” she whispered. “I don’t want to hurt him any more than he’s been hurt already.”
Because she’d seen his face when he’d been hauled into that station. Heard the pain in his voice. Hehadbeen hurting. And probably deeply embarrassed.
Lock’s chest rose on a deep inhale. “Fine. But I sit next to him.”
“Done.” She rose to her toes and kissed him before whispering against his lips, “And no glaring at him.”
That got a small smile out of him. “When do I glare?”
