Dex narrows his eyes. “What would you have them fucking do? Stay here with Les?”
Gage scoffs. “No. I’m just saying.” He lays back on the floor, crossing his hands behind his head. “We need to figure out something.”
“Let me call Ghost and see if he knows anybody,” Dex says, pulling his phone back to his ear.
I sink back in the chair, my heart beating out of control. What ifsomething else triggers those explosives? Will we never see Les again? What if I don’t see Ryder or Zane again?
“You okay, man?” Leo asks, leaning back against the desk beside me.
I nod, then shake my head. “No.”
He squeezes my shoulder. “I know this sucks because you just went through this, but we’ll figure this out.”
“What if we don’t?” I ask.
“We will!” Dex roars, making me jump. I turn around to look at him, surprised. Dex never raises his voice; he’s the one you can count on to keep his cool in any situation. “Fuck. I’m sorry, Holden.” Dex blows out a breath. “I’m on fucking edge after seeing what happened to Les in the car. Ghost is making some calls.”
I nod because I get it. It was like she was trapped in her head, stuck in some nightmare we didn’t know anything about. I’ve never seen anything like that before. We’re lucky that Zane has. There’s only so much more Les can handle, and she’s getting close to that limit now.
“Is she going to be okay?” Gage asks from his spot on the floor.
“Yeah,” I answer. “Bright eyes is tough.”
Gage smiles. “The strongest.” He looks over at Leo and me. “You know we can kiss our ass goodbye when we get out of here for trapping her in the car, right?”
Leo chuckles. “She’ll understand.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” Gage snorts. “I remember her not talking to Ryder for two weeks because he told a boy at school he was her boyfriend, so he wouldn’t ask her out.”
“Don’t forget the time she avoided you because you went into Concrete Row to handle something without telling her,” Dex adds, sitting beside Gage on the floor.
“What was Les like when she was younger?” I ask.
Gage grins. “Les has always been smoking hot. Tough. Caring. The best person you could ask for to have on your side.”
Dex laughs. “Do you remember the time she beat the shit out of that girl because she kept grabbing Ryder’s ass?”
“Do what now?” Leo asks, sitting down with them.
Gage sits up, animated. “We were at The Games doing our normal thing. This girl kept following him around; no big deal, right? Then she started getting clingy after Ryder turned her down. Les warned her the first five times she did it.” Gage shrugs. “She didn’t listen. Lesfuckedher up.” Gage pauses, then laughs. “It makes so much more sense now.”
“What does?” Leo and I ask at the same time, making everyone laugh.
“Why Les would always fight our battles against chicks. She was jealous then and didn’t even realize it,” Gage answers.
We lapse into silence, lost in our thoughts of Les. When Les stepped into my life, Iknewshe was the one for me. Did I ever see myself in a relationship with her, much less with five other guys? No. I never saw myself in a relationship with Ryder, either. I wouldn’t change anything except the bad shit that seems to follow us.
“Do you think she’s going to say yes?” Gage asks, sitting up.
“I guess we’ll find out soon,” Dex answers.
We hear a pop outside the door, and all jump to our feet, guns ready. Did Jay come back to kill us? We hear the screech of whatever Jay blocked the door with. “Get ready,” Dex mutters.
The door jerks open, and Mateo sticks his head in with a grin. “Did someone call for backup?”
“Since when do you know anything about explosives?” Leo asks.
“Oh, brother,” Mateo shakes his head. “We all have our secrets.”
