My head jerked up at the commotion at the front doors. Two guys were being muscled in by a pair of uniforms. There was a lot of swearing as the punk kid mouthed off at the cop.
At the same time, the paperwork was finally done.
Zane and I moved out of harm’s way, and I grabbed the paperwork before anything else kept us there any longer.
I looked through the charges. Sure enough, resisting arrest was listed as well as preliminary details for his court case. With that level of charges, there was probably video somewhere.
No way it was staying quiet.
Especially with the paparazzi skimming police blotters for stories to juice up their headlines. I hoped like hell it was a busy news day, and Zane wasn’t at the top of their list. Between this and a possible shitstorm thanks to him being drugged, this was not going to go over well with Lila and Noah.
We were fucked.
I handed the papers to Zane. “We gotta go to Lila. And I don’t want you telling Teagan anything.”
“Don’t tell Teagan what?”
Twelve
Rage boiled inside of me as I turned on my heel and walked away from my bandmates. Cooper was much more than that to me, but at the moment, I was too irritated to care.
I was so tired of people thinking I couldn’t handle myself. I was a woman living alone in Brooklyn most of the time. But not only did I apparently need a babysitter in my work life, now I had to deal with even more secrets, supposedly for my own good.
More people trying to control my life.
A bunch of people congregated at the front door of the Brooklyn police department. And being the shortest person in the room more than half the time meant I could go unseen.
Sometimes it worked in my favor.
Like today with my borrowed concert T-shirt and denim shorts, I looked more like a teenager than part of a famous rock band.
Sometimes I wished I was Jamie. Tall, strong, loud and didn’t take shit.
Inspired, I pushed my way through the chattering people who sounded like they were coming in for their shift. I’d just channel her right now.
Cooper rushed forward. Shock and frustration bloomed across his face before he dragged me deeper into the vestibule-slash-waiting area away from all the people. “What are you doing here? I told you to stay at my place.”
“First of all, I’m not a dog. I don’t sit and stay.” His jaw flexed. “The more important question is what don’t you want me to know?” I smacked his hand away from me. I really didn’t want him touching me right now. Ever since he took Zane’s call, I’d had a twisted ache in my belly.
Was this what having a gut feeling meant? Because it really sucked.
He tipped his head back. “I just meant I wanted to talk to Lila before I told you something.”
“Well, too late. Guess you need to tell me now.”
I could practically see smoke coming out of his ears.
“Hey, Teagan.”
My gaze swung to Zane, and I forgot my anger for a moment. He was shirtless, which in itself wasn’t exactly an oddity. Zane wasn’t really into clothes for the most part. Said they were binding. But we weren’t on stage or hanging out in a hotel. I lifted my hand to his face. It looked like someone had swiped the largest mascara wand in the history of makeup across his cheek. “What happened to your face?”
He shot Cooper an annoyed glance and turned to look at his reflection in the large glass box holding flyers and community programs. “You let me walk out here like this?”
Cooper shrugged. “Pretty sure it’s going to take a shower to fix your situation. Why should I make you feel worse about it?”
Zane closed his eyes. “I want to be mad at you, but I kinda want to hug you too.”
Cooper held up his hand. “Had enough of your hugs, man. You are ripe.”
“What is that on your back?” I asked.
Zane reached around. “I figured it was a scrape. It burns.”
I pressed my lips together. It wasn’t a laughing matter—at all—but that would literally be following him around forever. “Not a burn.”
Cooper peered over my shoulder. His fist went to his mouth immediately.
I gave him a hard look, but I had to swallow my own laughter. Even drunk off his ass, Zane went for ocean-life for an inebriated impromptu tattoo session.
“What? What is it?”
“Did the cops laugh at you during the strip search?”
Zane’s cheeks went ruddy. “There was no strip search.”
“Well, at least you kept that slice of dignity. Too bad it will be your last.” Cooper slapped Zane’s back where the tattoo was.
Zane yelped and slammed his fist into Cooper’s chest. “What the hell?”
“Nice tramp stamp.”
“What? No. No way.” He tried to peer around his shoulder, but there was no way to see it. “How bad? Man, what the hell?”
I pulled out my phone and snapped a picture then showed him.
He slapped his hands over his face. “I’m gonna kill whoever did this to me.”
I rushed into Zane’s arms and gave him a solid hug. I didn’t want to think about the slick grime on his skin, and Cooper wasn’t wrong on the stench, but Zane was the kind of guy who needed connections. He’d always been the one to include me when I first joined the band.
Zane held onto me for a minute, and then kissed the top of my head. “Thanks, T.”
I stepped out of his arms. “What happened?”
Zane’s gaze slid toward Cooper then back to me.
“You better tell me right now. Just how drunk were you?” I put my hands on my hips as my thoughts careened from disgust and worry to something darker. “Okay, better question. What does this have to do with me?”
“It’s not about you.” Zane huffed out a breath. “Pretty sure.”
“And what is that supposed to mean?” I ripped out a few hairs from the
