Tyler laughed as he stowed the guitar in the trunk and then opened the rear passenger door. “You worried my man West will hurl a fifth of bourbon all over this fine, freshly detailed leather?” Before West could open his mouth to tell all of them to go to hell, Shaun and Josh deposited him into the backseat.
“It crossed my mind,” Roxy replied from the front passenger seat and twisted around until she could look at him. It was the kind of look people reserved for swirling storm clouds or a dormant volcano suddenly belching smoke. Cooper got in, turned the ignition, and lowered all the windows.
Bastards. “I’m not going to throw up.”
“My twenty says you don’t,” Tyler said and shot him with a thumb and index finger before closing the door.
“My twenty says you do,” Josh chimed in from the opposite window. “If I had a plate of nachos right now, I’d hand feed them to you for good measure.”
The thought of greasy cheese sauce made his stomach lurch hard enough to put sweat on his face.
Cooper released the brake. “Ah, man. That’s just mean.”
“Mean?” Josh rolled his eyes and then smiled at Roxy. “Why don’t you ask Coop who threw up in the back of my wife’s new Explorer the night of Shaun’s bachelor party, after howling at me to hit the Taco Bell drive-thru?”
Even in the rearview mirror, West could see the younger man’s face turn red. “I paid for the car wash,” he told Roxy.
“Damn right you did,” Josh said. “You paid for a deluxe wash, interior shampoo, and a new baby seat, because the one we had was un-fucking-salvageable. And if he”—Josh pointed at West—“pukes in your car tonight, that, young Simba, is the motherfucking circle of life.”
To get his head out of his churning gut, West turned his face to the open window and focused on Shaun. “What’s your twenty say?”
His boss simply smiled.
Then the car was in motion, slowing backing out of the slot. Cooper probably wasn’t going more than three miles per hour, but West might as well have been strapped into the reel seat of a Tomcat going Mach 10 in a screaming dive. He opened the water bottle and chugged through the three-point turn and the stomach-wrenching g-force of the acceleration.
“You were amazing tonight,” Cooper said to Roxy. “I’ve never heard anyone sing and play so…” He broke off and shook his head. “Amazing.”
Hey, that was supposed to be his line. He was going to compliment her. “I hear her every night.”
The firefighter’s brows drew together, and his eyes darted to West’s in the rearview mirror. “Uh…”
“Through the walls,” Roxy clarified and shot West an irritated look. “I live in the downstairs unit. Sound travels.”
“Ohhhh.” Cooper’s relief turned the word into a laugh. “Got it.” The smile faded as he snuck another glance at Roxy. “You, ah, look really amazing, too.”
“Thank you.” She smiled and touched the neckline of her dress. “That’s sweet of you to say. I didn’t have much time to get ready. I kind of threw myself together.”
There was that word again. Sweet. He could be sweet, too. Hadn’t it been sweet of him not to bust her for hitchhiking? Or trespassing? Or hijacking his laundry? He was sweet as goddamn pie when it came to Roxy Goodhart.
“You throw together real nice, Roxy. Would you like to maybe grab a drink with me tomorrow night?”
Christ. Now he really was going to puke. “She doesn’t drink.”
Roxy aimed another armor-piercing glare at him before offering Cooper a soft smile. “I don’t. Plus, I have to work tomorrow night. Addy’s got me on the dinner shift.”
“Oh.” The younger man’s face fell. “I start a forty-eight Monday. Maybe after that we can go for ice cream, or—”
“Are we there yet?” Holy shit, this was the longest mile of his life. “Can you step on it, Coop? I’m really starting to regret that last shot.”
Funny how a guy who ran into burning buildings for a living could lose his shit at the thought of someone baptizing his ride with slightly used whiskey. “Hold on! We’re there. Practically. Just give me a sec.” Engine gunned, Cooper made a fast right and then pulled to the curb with a screech of brakes.
West was out of the car before the engine fell silent. “Thanks for the lift.” He stopped at the trunk to retrieve the guitar, spotted his suit jacket wadded beneath, and grabbed that, too. Then he came around and opened Roxy’s door. “Ready, Reckless?”
She looked up at him. “Could you give us a minute, West?”
“Sure. Take your time.” He didn’t budge. Yeah, he was being a dick, but no way was Roxy seriously interested in having ice cream with a guy barely out of high school. “Coop, what time does your mom expect you home?”
Now Cooper stepped out of the car, too, and shot him a We gonna do this? look over the roof of the Pathfinder. Apparently, his good nature bottomed out somewhere around giving an over-served, ungrateful cop a ride home. “I’m twenty-three, West. I’ve got my own apartment, my own car, I work a real job, and I pay my own bills. When it comes to my personal life, I don’t answer to my mama or anyone else.”
“Twenty-three? Happy birthday, big guy. I didn’t know you’d moved out of your mom’s place.” Or that the baby-faced firefighter was actually a year older than Roxy. Compared to these two, he was the grandpa of the group.
Roxy got out of the car to stare at both of them. “Is there a problem?”
“I knew you two lived in the same house, but…” Cooper shrugged. “Have I stepped in the middle of something here?”
Yes, West wanted to say, but Roxy responded first, stopping him with a cut of her hand and a shake of her head. “Officer Donovan, could Cooper and