A dark-haired lady peeks out, wiping her hands on a dish towel. “Dinner will be ready in fifteen,” she warns.
“I won’t be long,” Ryan promises. He slips out into the hallway and closes the door behind him, excluding his momfrom this conversation. He inspects me, probably a little surprised I’m only an inch shorter than his six-five height. “You are?” he prompts.
“My assistant,” Josie chirps.
I give him a cold chin lift and fold my arms over my chest. The Rider tat peeks out from under my T-shirt sleeve. Ryan doesn’t miss it. He licks his lips nervously and swings his gaze back to Josie. “Since when do we have a school newspaper?”
“Obviously, we don’t. I lied to your mother, but it’s for her own good. I’m here to ask you about Cole.”
“What about him?”
“He’s missing.”
Ryan shrugs, but his shoulders are tense. “He’ll show up.”
The captain doesn’t know his player is dead.
“We know you were throwing games. Cole didn’t want to do that anymore, and that’s when you had him taken care of.” Josie spouts a theory I hadn’t even known she was considering.
Ryan plants his hands on his hips. “Is that what Cole told you? Because that’s a fucking lie. Cole is the one that was throwing the games, and we just found out about it. You tell that asswipe to get back to school and confess to the principal and district office so the whole team doesn’t get punished.”
He disappears inside his apartment before we can ask another question.
“I guess Cole’s the bad guy,” Josie muses.
“Does explain why he’s dead.”
“But not who killed him.”
Chapter Fourteen
JOSIE
My mind should not be on whether Bam is going to stay over another night. There are bigger things to focus on. It’s hard, though, when he puts so much attention on me. I never thought I’d be one to preen because of a man, but here I am. The attention is addictive, and I find that I’m enjoying every damn second of his compliments. He makes me feel seen in a way no one else does.
“You need to eat.” Bam rests his hand at the nape of my neck as we walk down the sidewalk. The hold is only gentle but firm. I didn’t know such a thing could be erotic, but it’s oddly turning me on. It makes me feel a sense of protectiveness that has me relaxing.
“Yeah, people have to eat to live.” I shrug. I’ll get around to it.
“And it’s my job to keep you alive.” He turns us.
“Where are we going?” My house is a few blocks in the other direction. I was debating if Bam was going to come in or kiss me at the door, but he can’t kiss me at the door because my nosy-ass dad will see.
“To this little store on the corner.” He nods up ahead.
“For what?”
“Food order.”
“Food order? That’s a liquor store.” I point out the obvious.
“It’s where I had someone do a drop.”
“Do a drop,” I repeat. “That sounds so cool.”
“I’m glad you think our groceries are cool.” He chuckles. Our groceries? Why do I enjoy the sound of that so much?
“Wait, are we really getting food in there? There is a store right there.” I point to the grocery store across the way. It’s not a big fancy one, but you can make do and get the essentials there.
