Page 27 of Let It Breathe (The Can’t Have Hearts Club #1)

R eese clicked off the phone and hurried back inside, cursing herself for not driving her own car. Now she was going to have to ask Wally to take her to the police station on their first date.

And this is why I’m single , she thought.

Wally was standing by the door when she walked in, a frown making deep brackets around his mouth. “Is everything okay?”

“No,” Reese said. “I hate to do this, but is there any chance you could take me to the police station?”

“Police station?” He frowned, and Reese stood up a little straighter, braced for judgment.

“I don’t know what’s happened, but my cousin is in trouble and my friend Clay—my old friend from college? He—he?—”

She stopped, not sure how much to say. Hell, she didn’t know much more than that, did she? “Please?”

“Absolutely, let me get our coats. I’ll head off your grandfather’s friend if she comes back. Why don’t you wait right here?”

Reese stood there in the doorway shivering until Wally brought the thin black trench coat she’d borrowed from Larissa. He set it over her shoulders, giving her a second to shrug her arms into it and cinch it around her waist before he led the way to his car.

Wally was quiet on the drive there. Maybe he sensed her need for silence or maybe he was second-guessing the wisdom of dating a woman who’d had two brushes with illegal activity in the twenty-four hours he’d known her.

That was hardly Reese’s biggest concern at the moment. Her mind buzzed with questions. Was Larissa okay? Had Clay been drinking? Part of her raged in silence—he’d slipped off the wagon, she knew it, she knew it.

Part of her just wanted to cry.

This isn’t the first time you’ve bailed Clay out of jail, whispered a voice in her head.

By the time they pulled up in front of the police station, tears stung the back of her eyes. Reese unbuckled her seat belt and threw open her door.

“Do you want me to wait here or come in?” Wally asked.

She hesitated, not sure what etiquette called for when making jail visits on a first date.

“I’ll come in,” he said, unbuckling his seat belt. “You might need someone who’s not emotionally invested.”

“Thank you,” Reese said as she hustled to the door.

She pushed her way inside, blinking hard against the white walls and fluorescent lighting. A uniformed officer leaned against a doorframe writing something on a clipboard. Behind a glass wall, a woman spoke rapidly into a telephone receiver. The room smelled of stale coffee and unwashed bodies.

On a bench across the room sat Larissa. She had mascara streaks running down her face, and her shirt looked rumpled and beer stained.

Reese hurried toward her and dropped to her knees in front of her cousin, brushing her hair back off her face. “Larissa, my God, are you okay?”

“Oh, Reesey—thanks for coming.” She sniffed, looking up with red-rimmed eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

“What happened? Are you hurt?”

Larissa shook her head and a tear slid down her cheek. “He tried to grab me and he wouldn’t stop and I said no, but he kept coming at me and?—”

“Clay? Clay tried to grab you?”

Larissa reeled back as though struck. She blinked hard, then shook her head. “What are you talking about?”

“You said he tried to grab you. Clay, you mean?”

Larissa shook her head, a bewildered expression on her face. “Of course Clay didn’t hurt me. Clay’s the one who saved me.”

“Saved you?”

Larissa stared at her, confusion giving way to something darker. “Is that really how you see him?”

The door beside the cop flew open and Clay walked through with another man behind him. They both froze when they saw Reese kneeling on the floor.

“Reese,” Clay said flatly. “What are you doing here?”

Reese blinked up at him, still trying to figure out what was happening. “Larissa called me. I heard there was trouble.”

Clay nodded once, his expression steely. “It’s over.”

“You’re not in jail?”

“No.” He glanced at the other man, then back at her. “They brought me in for questioning because of my past arrest history and the alcohol clause in my probation, but no. I’m not in trouble.”

“And he wasn’t drinking,” added the guy at Clay’s side, folding his tattooed arms over his chest. “I can vouch for that.”

Clay nodded at the guy, then at Reese. “Patrick, this is Reese. Reese, this is Patrick. My sponsor.”

She bit her lip and held out her hand, a little taken aback Clay was bothering with pleasantries like introductions.

“Where’s Derek?” Larissa sniffed.

Reese saw a muscle clench in Clay’s jaw. “Derek may be tied up awhile.”

Patrick snorted. “They’re hauling his ass to the county jail in McMinnville. Guy already had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.”

“Good!” Larissa snapped. “God, Clay, I didn’t mean for you to get dragged into that, and I’m sorry?—”

“Stop it,” Clay interrupted. “It’s not your fault he hurt you.”

Reese felt her heart constrict and she grabbed Larissa’s knee. “Your date hurt you?”

Larissa bit her lip. “Clay stopped him. It’s okay now.”

Reese looked up at Clay, noticing for the first time that he had a tiny, flesh-colored butterfly bandage over one eye.

She glanced at his hands, noticing the tightly clenched fists at his sides.

His knuckles looked red and raw on his right hand, and he had another bandage there, too.

She looked back up at his face. Her heart squeezed tighter in her chest, and she felt tears gathering at the edges of her eyes.

“Did you get hurt?” she whispered.

Clay shook his head and moved his hands behind his back. “No. I’m fine. The bartender jumped in before it got bad.”

“Finnigan’s?” she asked, trying not to think about that night.

He nodded but said nothing.

“Derek had already been kicked out of the place twice before for fighting,” Larissa added, slurring her words enough to give Reese an idea of how much she’d probably had to drink. “I’m done with bad boys. I mean it. I’m dating chess players from now on.”

Reese squeezed Larissa’s knee and stood up. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”

Behind her, Wally cleared his throat. “There should be room for all three of you in the backseat if you give me a second to get some of the stuff out.”

Wally. Hell . Somehow, Reese had forgotten all about him. She gave him a weak smile as she offered Larissa a hand up. “Thank you. I know the evening hasn’t gone the way we’d planned.”

“It’s fine, really,” he said, smiling a little. “It’s definitely one of the more interesting dates I’ve had.”

“You’re on a date,” Clay said, his voice hollow. “That’s right. Reese, I’m sorry you got dragged down here. Look, I can take Larissa home. Patrick can run me back to Finnigan’s for my truck, and I’ll drive ’Riss from there. We don’t need to ruin anyone else’s evening with this mess.”

Reese shook her head. “It’s okay,” she told him before turning back to Wally. “I’ve had a great time so far, but maybe we can do a rain check on dinner?”

“Absolutely.”

“No, really,” Clay insisted. “I’ve got my truck back at Finnigan’s. I need to get it anyway and I can take Larissa wherever she needs to be. Go on, Reese—don’t give up your date on account of us.”

Reese shook her head. “Larissa called me, I want to be here for her. ’Riss, you ready to go?”

Larissa blinked up at Clay, then looked to Reese. “No, Clay’s right—I’m sorry I dragged you down here, Reesey. I wasn’t thinking when I called you. I knew about your date, but I got so worked up and forgot and?—”

“It’s fine, sweetie,” Reese insisted. “I don’t mind. I want to be here for you.”

Larissa shook her head. “I’ll go with Clay. Really, I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to go home alone and I panicked.”

“Tell you what,” Wally said, reaching out to give Reese’s shoulder a small squeeze. “Why don’t I run Reese home right now, Patrick can take Clay and Larissa back to get Clay’s truck, and Clay can drive Larissa back to your place so she’s not alone tonight?”

Reese looked up at him as the relief flooded through her body. “You’re sure you don’t mind?”

“Positive. You need to be with your family right now.”

She nodded and turned back to her cousin. “That sound okay to you?”

Larissa bit her lip, then nodded. “That would work,” she said, brightening a little. “That way you and Wally can be alone in the car to make out, and when I get to Reese’s, she can tell me all about it.”

Reese rolled her eyes and pretended not to notice the way Wally’s face also brightened at that idea. “She’s drunk,” Reese told him. “But I like your idea about the driving. Clay? Is that okay with you?”

Clay nodded, then looked at the cop. “We’re all free to go, right?”

“Right.” The cop nodded at Larissa. “As long as that one’s not driving.”

“Definitely not,” she said, reaching down to help her cousin to her feet. “You sure you’re okay, ’Riss?”

“I’m fine. I’ll see you back at the house.”

Reese nodded and looked at Clay. He held her gaze for a moment, his eyes flashing beneath the fluorescent lights. “I’ll get her home safely.”

“I know you will.” She swallowed. “Thank you for everything.”

He held her gaze a few beats longer, then turned to Wally. “Sorry to kill your date, man.”

“No sweat,” he said, reaching out to shake Clay’s hand. “Sounds like you did a good thing there.”

Reese saw Clay grimace—from the words or the pressure of the grip on his hurt hand, she wasn’t sure.

She turned and followed Wally out to the car. They buckled their seatbelts in silence, neither of them saying a word until they were safely out on the road.

“That really wasn’t how I pictured this date going,” Reese said.

“It’s fine, it made for an interesting evening.” He chuckled. “Why do I have a feeling there’s never a dull moment when you’re around?”

Reese folded her hands in her lap and frowned down at them. “Actually, I am pretty dull. It’s my family that generates drama.”

Wally touched the back of her hand. “I definitely don’t think you’re dull.”

“Thanks, but trust me, I’m very dull. So dull I reread the same romance novels over and over again.”

“Nothing wrong with liking a good story.”