I snorted. I’d have to tell Jake about what I’d seen between Coach and Nate later. Giving him another kiss goodbye, I let him walk away from me. It wasn’t until he’d turned a corner to head back to the Ink Well that I made myself go get my Jeep and hustle back to practice.
I sighed when I finally pulled the Jeep into the driveway that afternoon. My muscles ached, and all I wanted to do was go inside, have a scalding-hot shower, and spend time with my guys. I frowned as the garage door slid up, revealing Jake’s SUV missing. After parking, I grabbed my hockey bag and dropped it inside the hallway when I got through the door. The soft pounding of rock music filled the house and I followed it to the kitchen, where Logan was pressed against the counter peeling potatoes.
“Hey,” I greeted, wrapping my arms around his slim waist and giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek. “Where’s Jake?”
He frowned at me over his shoulder. “You don’t know?”
“Know what?” I asked carefully, warning bells ringing in my head. Jake had better not have done something stupid….
“Marcus brought him home to get his phone charger, and Jake said he needed to go visit his dad. He didn’t stay around long before he was gone again.” He shrugged and glanced at me with concern. “Is something wrong?”
I didn’t answer him. Grabbing my phone from inside my pants pocket, I found Chris in my contacts. It took three tries before he answered.
“Hey, Dec.”
I cringed, a heavy lump forming in my stomach as I said, “Is Jake with you?”
“What?” The sound of his confusion alone answered the question. “I’m on shift at Walnut Creek.”
“Fuck. Goddamn it, Jake.” I squeezed the bridge of my nose. Confronting Miranda wasn’t going to help Logan’s case, but once Jake got an idea into his head…. “I have to go. I’m sorry. I’ll call you soon.”
“Wait—”
Guilt gnawed at me as I ended the call. Logan walked up behind me, head cocked in confusion as I tried to call Jake—three times—with no answer. “Goddamnit, Jake!” I slowly turned to Logan.
“What’s going on?” I hated how Logan sounded scared, and I did my best to rein in my temper.
“I think he’s gone to Miranda’s apartment.”
Logan’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. “What for?”
“To find answers. Demand she tell the truth. I don’t know with him.” I shook my head. “When he cares about someone, he gets protective. Fuck. I need to go to Minetto. Maybe I can catch up to him.”
Logan shook his head. “I’m coming with you.”
“You can’t. You should stay away from her.”
“I’m coming with you,” he said more fiercely, chin raised. “Jake’s mine, too. I won’t let him do anything stupid.”
I smiled, insides warming at how passionate he was about Jake already. He was ours. “Okay. Turn everything off. Let’s go.”
21
Logan
The heatfrom the vents on the dash made my cheeks too warm, and my hands were freezing where I had them clenched together in my lap. The tops of my toes bumped the insides of my borrowed shoes as I wriggled them to get some of the stress out of my system. I’d been wearing Jake’s boots most of this week just because they were comfortable; they also reminded me of him, and I liked that. “I hope he’s okay,” I murmured into the silence between me and Declan. Rain splattered against the windshield, and there was a squeak as the wipers chased drops across the glass.
“Mm-hmm.” He didn’t look away from driving because on top of raining buckets, it was still cold enough that occasionally the road was slick. His jaw was tight, and I didn’t like seeing his normally happy face transformed into a stony mask of rage.
“This is all my fault. You shouldn’t be mad at Jake.”
Declan let out a pained laugh, then sent me a small smile. “No. You’re not in control of Jake going off half-assed to get his revenge. You’re in control of you, Jake is in control of Jake, I’m in control of me—”
“And Miranda has everyone on strings. Something bad will happen.” I tried not to give in to spinning out worst-case scenarios in my mind, but it was difficult to stay positive when we’d both tried to call Jake about a million times and he hadn’t answered.
Declan sighed. “No one gets away with everything forever. I know she fucked you over. And it probably happened because you’re a sweetheart”—I cringed, but he kept talking—“and that’s not your fault, either.”
“Isn’t it?” I grumbled, bitterness biting at me. “If I wasn’t such a dumbass—”
