I didn’t feel comforted at all. There was no “you’re cool, buddy, happy trails.”
The smell of Jake and Declan hit me. Cologne, musk, and a tinge of something that made me think of sex. This whole day was shit. I’d missed having fun with them tonight.
Even worse, on the way home it occurred to me that if my name ended up online with an arrest warrant, there was a chance someone might recognize me as the person who had been at the game with Jake and Declan, and then who knew what might happen? That wouldn’t end well for Declan.
Did I do the right thing by coming back here? I watched them sleep and felt worse and worse. I didn’t want anything to happen to them. Closing my eyes, I leaned my head against the doorframe, then spun away to my room I’d never really used. I packed quietly, my heart in my throat. When I had my laptop stowed away and all my bags stacked together on the bed, I sank to the floor—tired and more fucking morose than that skateboarder Emmy wanted to fuck—and flopped backward. The back of my head hurt where I smacked it off the carpet, and I didn’t even care. My eyes stung from being awake too long.
“Shit, are you okay?”
Jake’s words startled me, and I tilted my head toward the door.
“I thought I heard you. Red came to find me this afternoon and told me the cops took you somewhere. Dec! Logan’s home!” Jake fell to his knees beside me and gripped my shoulders like he thought I might be physically injured.
“Don’t.”
“What were they doing to you?” Jake asked. He peered into my face, then peppered kisses on my cheek and forehead.
Declan came into the room and dived toward us. I laughed as he wrapped his arms around me and somehow also dragged Jake down to cuddle-pile with us. The way he knocked into me kind of hurt, and I groaned a little as he squeezed us. “Are you okay?”
“Jake already asked.”
Declan grinned. “And what was the answer?”
“No, I’m not. And I think I should go.”
“Why?” he demanded. I’d never seen anyone look as hurt as he did when he sat up.
“I’m going to ruin your marriage, your jobs, maybe even your lives.”
Jake grunted and clutched at my hand. Instead of telling me to get fucking gone, he kissed my palm. “Wow, what the hell happened?”
I sighed and told them everything, starting from leaving with Ward and Bob to coming back here and packing. They held me between them, and my stomach squirmed with guilt even as I wallowed in their warm concern.
“I want to stay,” I said. “I’m just so worried I’ll wreck your lives, because I have no idea what’s going to happen. What if she did a good enough job of making this look like I did it? It won’t matter what I have to say, and I was stupid enough to think that she loved me—”
“No, you were trusting the person you thought should have your back,” Jake murmured. “You didn’t do what you were accused of, right?”
“No, I didn’t.” I wanted to sound outraged, yell—something. I was too fucking tired for all that.
Declan rested his cheek on top of my head. “Let us do what we can to keep you safe here. It will only make you look guiltier if you run.”
I shuddered. “This just really fucked with me. I thought… I was just a mark. She hated that job and was going to steal money, and then I came along. I was dumb enough to do anything she said to try to make her happy, and that made it all the easier for her to set me up. She was trying to make me do exactly what I did—leave, so I would look guilty.”
“Fuck,” Jake snapped, and his arms tightened around me.
Declan scooted closer and slid his arms around both me and Jake again, bringing us into a small huddle. “How much money was stolen?”
“They said three hundred thousand. Syphoned from various customer accounts, all ones I was handling. I keep thinking I might throw up. This looks bad.”
Jake sat up on his knees, cupped my cheeks, and then kissed me in a sweet press of his mouth against mine. “Come on. Come to bed.” He glanced at my bags. “I’ll help you unpack in the morning before I head to work.”
“You will?”
He nodded.
“Me too,” Declan murmured.
They got me to my feet, and I was too exhausted to pull my own clothes off, so once we were in their room, they undressed me. Declan was more than half responsible for me making it into the center of the bed, and they closed in on both sides, wrapping me in strong arms. Blankets were dragged over all three of us by someone who wasn’t me. The lights blinked out. I was cocooned between them, but my heart raced and my stomach churned.
