Cooper caught up with me, his long fingers encircling my upper arm. “Would you just talk to me?”
“Talk? You were too busy,” I dropped my voice, “going for inappropriate kisses.”
“Well, I’ll agree that our kisses aren’t appropriate, but only because they immediately lead me to want to get you naked. Every time.”
I widened my eyes. “Dammit, he’s right there.”
“And he has good hearing.”
I spun around to find Zane with one eye open. “As if we didn’t know you left Purgatory to get naked? Please.”
“Would you get off my car, man?” Cooper demanded. He pulled his hand away from me to stuff them in his pockets.
Zane slid off the car. “Took you long enough. I thought the photogs were going to find the car.”
“Again, you’re welcome.”
Zane rolled his eyes. “Look, as much as I would normally enjoy this little lover’s tiff and you guys trying to hide your newly formed relationship, I’d really like to get home.”
“You need to call Lila.” Cooper’s voice was barely above a growl.
“I don’t want to. She’s going to literally kill me with those frosty eyes of hers.” Zane used two fingers to mime laser beams out of his eyes. “Dead.”
“More dead if she has to find you,” I quipped.
I was no stranger to the death rays of our manager, but she was also a fair…boss? Did we have bosses? Well, we had contracts, so I guess kind of. And I’d barely been out of probation when my less-than-stellar past had come out to bite me.
“I’ll do it from my house.”
I shook my head. “No way. You guys are going to tell me what the heck is going on. I’m not some sheltered kid.”
Zane’s shoulders sagged. “Can we do this in the car at least?”
“Yes.” Cooper hit the remote in his pocket and the locks disengaged. He opened my door.
I resisted the urge to tell him I could get in the car myself. That was just me being catty.
“You. Hang on a second.” He pointed at Zane and went to the trunk. He came back with a thick, scratchy-looking blanket and spread it out on the backseat before he held his arm out for Zane. “Roll down the window.”
“You’re a hateful human,” Zane muttered.
“I love my car. And you smell like a three-week bender with Oz at his cabin.”
Zane gave himself a sniff and wrinkled his nose. “Fair.” Then he climbed in.
We all rolled down our windows, and Cooper flicked on the fan.
Zane leaned forward and tapped my shoulder. “Can I use your phone?”
Great, I’d be the one who looked like I had to call Lila. With a half sigh, I unlocked the screen and handed him my phone.
“Should we talk about what you’re going to tell her first?” Cooper asked as he backed down the alleyway to another side street.
He knew Brooklyn as well as a native. In fact, he’d showed me hideyholes I didn’t know of, and I lived there.
“I don’t have any freaking details to tell her. I can’t remember jack.” Zane toyed with my phone.
I turned around. “Nothing?”
He slid his gaze to me then away. “Yeah.”
I turned my attention to Cooper, who was staring stonily through the windshield.
“Want to give me a clue?”
“It’s supposition,” he snapped.
“You’re a lawyer now?” My voice rose. I was trying not to flip out, but I hated when people lied to me.
“Look, it’s just a guess. And we have no proof. Well, except that Z has absolutely no recollection about last night, and he only had two drinks.”
I twisted to face Zane. “Are you sure?”
He nodded. “Just a beer and a mixed drink.”
I frowned. “You aren’t much for those.”
“No.” He swallowed. “It was the one on the table that Cooper got.”
There was white noise in my head for a full minute. “Wait, my drink? Those drinks are mostly sugary something with a bit of rum. That shouldn’t do anything to you.”
“No. It shouldn’t.” Cooper’s voice was flat and hard.
“Are you sure you weren’t with anyone else? Tried something?” I asked hopefully, even though I knew the answer. Zane was a straighter arrow than anyone I knew. I was pretty sure he’d maybe done some pot here and there. Anything more than that was a definite no.
Zane shook his head. “I was just sitting with what was left of the band. Jamie dared me to down the shark drink. I’m pretty sure the fin was a gummy of some sort.”
“Was it a special gummy?” I said around a gulp.
Please don’t make it anything worse. Oh, please.
“Pretty sure the whole drink was far more special than any of us knew.” Misery soaked Zane’s voice. “After that, it’s absolutely black.”
“I ate a gummy off the rim,” I recalled. “It didn’t taste funny. But I didn’t try the drink.”
“Wish I could say the same.”
I reached into the back and took my phone, and then opened my browser. I typed in Zane’s name and got over twenty hits.
Zane partying at Purgatory. Jamie laughing as he got onto the table. There were dozens of pictures from the club then there seemed to be a break in time.
Jamie seemed to have gotten in her usual brand of trouble. Was that a conga line?
“Do you remember this?” I handed Zane my phone.
“Uh, definitely not. Did I get on a table?”
I sighed. “Pretty sure there’s video.”
Cooper stopped at a red light and bounced his forehead on the steering wheel.
“What was I doing in Times Square?” Zane’s voice went shrill and high. “I hate Times Square.”
Cooper’s jaw was locked, and his knuckles were white on the steering wheel.
“This is why you didn’t want to tell me? What exactly would this accomplish?”
“You wouldn’t be a sickly grayish-white right now, that’s what.”
I lifted my chin. “You can’t shield me from being scared.”
“Yes, I fucking can.”
“No, you can’t. I’m a big girl. I can handle it.” I was pretty sure I was
