I knew, even without being bonded, something was off.
I climbed in and so did the others. They squished themselves into my SUV without complaint.
No one said a word as I drove across town, fingers white-knuckling the steering wheel.
“Still nothing in the bond?” I asked.
“No,” Rylan admitted.
At least he sounded just as worked up as I was now. He probably knew her better than anyone. They were friends and roommates before becoming official mates.
“I swear to God, if she’s sitting alone in that diner, I’m going to hunt this bastard down and punch him in the dick,” Greer promised.
“Don’t act like that’s all you’d do,” I shot back, knowing damn well I’d be right beside him while he did it, too.
“This is all my fault,” Hayes said as he scrubbed a hand over his face. “I should have never encouraged her to go.”
“We don’t know anything yet,” Greer attempted, but he’d lost confidence in that the moment I questioned their connection to Roxie. “Keep it together. She might need us to be strong.”
We pulled into the lot. Hayes leaned forward, looking around, then frowned.
“His car isn’t here.”
“Fuck,” I cursed. The SUV was barely in park before I was jumping out. Hayes was right on my heels.
As I entered the diner, the waitress at the door practically sagged in relief at the sight of us.
“I don’t know who stood your girl up, Hayes, but she needs you.”
Roxie was staring off into nothing when we walked up. She didn’t even react to our scents.
I slid into the booth beside her. Greer and Rylan sat across from us while Hayes took the end.
“Little bat?” I questioned, my fingers ghosting over her cheek.
She nearly jumped out of her skin at the contact, blinking rapidly until we came into focus.
“Why are you here?” she questioned. Her eyes flickered almost instinctively to the clock on the wall.
Anger flooded my veins. How could he do this to her. His one chance at redemption and he’d fucking blown it by standing her up.
“I’m so sorry, little bat. I never should have told you to come here,” Hayes said.
He sounded just as distraught as she looked.
“No,” she said. “I wanted to. I needed to know.”
She threw some money on the table before gently pushing me to climb out of the booth.
“Can we get out of here now? I can’t do this. I can’t be here any longer. I never should’ve let him ruin this place for me.”
“Men like that don’t ruin places. They ruin their reputations,” I countered. “We’ll make better memories here. Fuck him.”
“I just want to go for now,” she pleaded.
“We can call into the game,” Hayes started but she was already shaking her head.
“You missing your game is going to make me feel worse. Please. I’ll hide out in your office or something. Or go home.”
