Page 41 of Fear of Love (Falling #3)

LANDON

P eople always leave.

Lydia’s words rang in my head as I leaned against the counter nursing a cup of coffee. It was only a few minutes after eight in the morning, but after no sleep, I decided to hit the gym early this morning, hoping to clear my head.

Last night was a roller coaster.

Seven hours before…

“Well, shit,” Trevor swore, lying back on Bryton’s couch as he shook his head.

“Of course they made it to the playoffs.” Bryton tipped back the last of his beer.

“We beat them last year. It won’t be any different this time.” Wyatt shrugged, not at all concerned. One reason why he was such a good captain—nothing fazed him when it came to hockey. Not a two-hundred- pound man barreling toward him on the ice and not our rivals making the playoffs.

“At least you won’t have to play them for awhile. Unless they get knocked out,” I said. They all nodded in agreement.

“Think the girls will be home soon?” Bryton asked a few minutes later, glancing back at his phone.

It was nearing one in the morning, which seemed a bit late for them to be out.

Everyone, me included, tried not to bother them on their girl’s night, but every few minutes, one of us had our phones out checking to see if they called or texted.

“It is a bit late.” Trevor frowned.

Lydia wasn’t my… Well, I wasn’t sure what to call us, but I still felt anxious about her being out so late. She could take care of herself, but that didn’t stop my worrying. The worry I was currently trying to hide so the guys wouldn’t notice.

“Maybe I should text Jo,” Wyatt went to say, only for his phone to start ringing. If I wasn’t worried about Lydia, I would have laughed at how fast Trevor and Bryton sat up. Wyatt wasted no time in answering.

“Hello?” The way his expression darkened, I had a feeling it wasn’t Josie on the other side. “I see. We’ll be there shortly.”

“What is it?” Trevor moved to sit on the edge of the couch. Wyatt looked at all of us with a clenched jaw.

“The girls got arrested.”

I sat there, letting the news sink in for a moment before jumping to my feet along with the others. What the hell happened for them to get arrested? Like hell I was going to let Lydia stay in a jail cell any longer than she had to.

In a matter of seconds, we were all out the door, headed for our cars. I didn’t care if my reaction came out of left field to the guys. My concern for Lydia outweighed keeping whatever we were a secret.

Wyatt led us out of Bryton’s neighborhood and toward the police station the girls were at.

Worry and anger bled into each other as I drove. The girls were supposed to be at a simple bachelorette party and instead ended up in jail? The thought of something happening to Lydia made my chest tight. I needed to see with my own eyes that she was okay.

It felt like hours before we pulled into the police station’s parking lot. It was empty, but it was one o’clock in the morning, so that wasn’t a surprise. I barely turned my truck off before I jumped out, stalking toward the front doors of the police station, the guys right beside me.

Their shoulders tight with tension, a look in their eyes that screamed a promise to hurt anyone who touched their women. Pretty sure everyone could feel the tension coming off of us as we stepped through the doors.

“If you aren’t here to report a crime, then you’ll need to come back tomorrow,” the man at the front desk said in a bored tone, eyes on his computer not bothering to look up. The bright lights made my eyes twitch, and I had to squeeze my hand into fist so I wouldn’t say something rude to the guy.

Wyatt was the first one to speak. “We aren’t here to report a crime.”

“Then…” The younger officer finally looked up, only to freeze in place. I watched as his eyes bounced from Wyatt to Trevor to Bryton to me, and then back. “You’re… You’re Wyatt Boone, Trevor Hall, and Bryton Young.”

The look of awe on his face as he stared at the three professional hockey players was almost comical. It was a look I still hadn’t gotten used to whenever I was out and about with my brother. He used to look at me like I was his hero and now people did the same to him.

“Hi.” Wyatt plastered on a fake smile. “I got a call about my fiancée being here.” Wyatt told the guy Josie’s name.

“Oh, um..” I shifted on my feet, trying to be patient as the guy went over to his computer and typed something in. Beside me, Bryton rocked on his feet like he was also trying not to shove through the doors to get to Mila.

“Is there a way we could get them released?” Trevor asked, flashing the guy a smile of his own. A smile that got him out of trouble plenty of times.

“I’d have to talk to my chief.” I could tell the guy was trying to play it cool, but the way he kept staring at the guys, eyes bright and unblinking, made it clear he was starstruck.

“That’s okay. You can go get him if you need to,” Bryton added. I knew for a fact if the guys had to do a bit of schmoozing to get the girls, they would in a heartbeat. Hell, even I would if I had any sort of pull.

In a matter of seconds, the officer was gone.

“Time to kiss some ass.” I gestured to all three of them. “This is the one time you use your fame to your advantage.”

“That, and getting out of tickets,” Trevor said to which I gave him a look. “Not that I ever did that,” he quickly amended. I didn’t believe him for a second.

A moment later, an older man walked through the archway. Judging by his uniform and the stern look on his face, he had to be the police chief. He was glaring at the younger officer like he was annoyed to be bothered and didn’t believe whatever he had been told. That was until he looked over at us.

Watching a grown ass man get dreamy-eyed never got old. This guy, who was probably a hard-ass, was looking at my brother like he was a god.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” He stepped toward Wyatt, eyes flickered to the others. “You boys have been having one hell of a season.” He went and shook Wyatt’s, Trevor’s, and Bryton’s hands before coming to me. I could tell he was confused as to who I was.

“Landon Boone, Wyatt’s older brother.” I shook the chief’s hand.

“Nice to meet you.” I didn’t blame his lack of enthusiasm for meeting me. I got that more often than not. I wasn’t a celebrity like the guys were. There’d been plenty of times people were disappointed when they learned I was a nobody.

“What can I do for you?” the chief asked.

“I got a call that my fiancé is here,” Wyatt said.

“As well as my girlfriend,” both Trevor and Bryton added. I stayed silent, but it was implied I was here for my girlfriend as well.

“Let me take a look.” I swore the guy took his sweet ass time going to the computer, but I held back from making some retort.

We were already treading the line coming here to see if we could get the girls released in the middle of the night.

Regular people would have been required to wait until the morning to get bailed out.

“Josie Scott, Tasha Davis, Mila Roberts, and Lydia Ellis?” he listed off.

“That’s them.” Wyatt stepped forward. “Is there any way we could get them released?”

“Well, there haven't been any charges filed.” The chief glanced at us again before he broke out into a grin. “Of course. Anything to help our Cup Champions.”

While there were some disadvantages to having a brother so well-known in the city, this right here was a perk.

All he needed to do was show his face, flash a smile, and people would do as he asked.

Even a police chief would jump through hoops to make him happy. Same went for the other two next to me.

I didn’t like flaunting my brother’s name, but with the girls somewhere in a jail cell, I was glad he was here.

We stood there impatiently as the chief clicked a few more buttons.

When he finally told the younger officer to take us back to where the girls were, I almost shoved the guy to the side to get through the door that led farther into the station.

This burning need to see Lydia and make sure she was okay was almost too much. If it was Mateo in that cell, I’d be worried, too, but this feeling was more than that. I didn’t know how to describe it as the four of us followed the two through the station.

The tips of Wyatt’s shoes almost clipped the back of the chiefs.

The rest of us were no better as we kept right on his heels.

Despite it being one in the morning, there were a lot of officers here, each one stopping in their tracks to watch us walk through.

I wasn’t a professional hockey player like the guys, but I easily matched them in height and muscle, so I bet they assumed I was one.

I was surprised we didn’t get stopped but was grateful we didn’t. I wasn’t sure the guys would have appreciated having to talk to people or take pictures while their girls were trapped behind bars. We made our way down a hallway and through another door.

I heard the girls before we saw them.

“Wish we had more tequila.” Tasha’s voice carried down the hall. “Think Officer Newby has some at her desk?”

“We could ask,” came Lydia’s voice.

Trevor and I shared a look before we came to a stop in front of a holding cell.

It was the first one on the right with the remainders lining the other walls.

They were too busy talking to one another to notice us standing there.

Josie and Tasha sat on one bench as they faced Lydia and Mila, who were on another.

“How mad will the boys be?” Mila asked.

“For what? Going to a strip show, going to a bar, or getting arrested?” Josie commented from her spot.

I only briefly looked at the others before my eyes went straight to Lydia.

She was leaning back against the wall, her eyes closed.

I looked over her form, trying to decide if she was hurt.

Seeing nothing eased the worry in my chest.