Page 17 of Barefoot Lake

As I pull into the driveway for the police station parking lot, I’m still not sure how to handle this. At twenty-two, Scott is an adult, but I still feel like he’s my responsibility. How did he end up at a police station in the middle of the night?

I throw my truck in park and jump out of the cab, eager to get inside and find out what the hell even happened. I’m at the glass doors in just a few steps and feel jittery with the need to get my eyes on Scott to confirm that he wasn’t lying when he said he was ok.

Not wanting him to see how anxious I am, I decide to play it off and give him some grief on my way in. “Scotty, what on earth have you⁠—”

Before I can even see Scott, Alice McDermott’s eyes find mine, and everything in me stalls.

For the second time this very, very early morning, I feel like parts of my body simply stop functioning as my voice cuts off. She’s the last person I expected to see when I walked through those doors. Thankfully, she looks tired but generally unharmed.

I only spare her that quick glance before my eyes dart to my brother right beside her, holding an ice pack over half of his face, and all my attention zeroes in on him.

I don’t remember moving, but suddenly, I’m in front of him, and my hands are on his shoulders. “What happened?”

He lifts the ice pack, and while he’s going to feel like ass for a few days, it’s honestly not so bad. He played hockey in high school, so I’ve seen him looking worse. I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Troy was being Troy,” he huffs like he has many times before.

That piece of shit excuse for a person has been and always will be a bully.

My eyes jump to the chief, who stands behind Scott. “Allen?”

“We’ll handle them tomorrow. You’re all free to go.” He pats Scott’s shoulder and turns to go back to his office.

After he’s out of earshot, I lower my voice. “Scott, you’ve got to give me something more. What happened, and what is she doing here?” I jerk my head toward Alice and spot a young woman I don’t recognize on a nearby bench. Maybe, she’s a friend of Alice’s?

Polite as ever, Scott speaks up to introduce the women, gesturing to the seated one first. “Jake, these are my friends, Piper and —”

“Ace.” I cut him off and finally turn back to my new neighbor.

Her eyebrows pull together as she levels me with a stare.

“It’s Alice,” she barks at me, and I fight back a smirk. This isn’t a very humorous moment. I just amuse myself sometimes. And like last time, I ignore her correction.

“I shouldn’t be surprised that a call to pick my brother up from a police station involves you.” The words tumble out of my mouth before I can stop them, and I really don’t know why I’m being such a jackass.

After talking with Eli at dinner, I intended to be nicer to Alice the next time I saw her. Granted, I didn’t expect that next meeting to be in the middle of the night in a police station. And I sure as shit didn’t expect her to look like that. I hate myself for noticing the way her white sweater sits off her shoulder and the way her pants hug her damn legs. I do not want anything from this woman, and even if I did, this is not the time.

The other woman, Piper, stands abruptly at Alice’s side as if she were more than willing to provide backup if needed.

“Do you two know one another?” Scott asks.

I keep my eyes on Alice when I answer. “Scotty, Ace here is our new neighbor.” I emphasize the nickname, deciding I like how much she seems to hate it.

Alice is staring me right back down, just as stubborn and fierce as she was yesterday morning, finding some unknown man rifling around her shed. I silently admit to myself that I like that, too. Silent admissions don’t count anyway.

The tension is broken when a loud snort comes from Alice’s friend, who quickly slaps a hand over her mouth like it’ll undo the sound she just made.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” She’s presumably laughing at herself and her inability to keep a straight face. “You’re not what I imagined when Alice talked about Neighbor Jake, and the fact that you’re Scott’s brother is just too much. Like, what are the chances?”

Alice spins toward her friend. “Piper!”

I look between the two women with my eyebrows raised. It’s… interesting that Piper knows my name.

Has Alice been talking about me? What has she been saying?

Now, I do let myself smirk. Seeing Alice off-kilter is making this morning just the tiniest bit enjoyable. I bask in it for a moment before I remind myself for the umpteenth time that this is neither the time nor the place and clear my throat to focus the group. My eyes drift back to Scott.

“It’s not their fault, I swear. Troy was talking shit. He came at me first. They were backing me up,” he explains.