Page 54 of Before We Fell

Ha. Right.

Something told me getting involved with Noah wouldn’t straighten out my world—he had the power to rock it right off its axis.

I was halfwayhome when I decided what to do about Shawn. We had texted a couple of times since our date on Wednesday and while I knew I couldn’t lead him on further, letting him know that via text or a phone call hadn’t seemed right. So far, he’d made vague inquiries into another date which I’d side-stepped, but that wasn’t fair either. Double-backing to Grind It Up, I ordered him a black coffee and took a chance he’d be at the station.

Walking in, I was first stopped by two women at their desk, settled neatly behind what I assumed was bulletproof glass. For a moment, my steps faltered. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d ever stepped foot into a police station and the security alone impacted me.

Every single person who worked in this office risked their safety in some way for others.

I shook off the thought and stepped forward, reading the sign that told me to press a button to initiate the speakers. When a door opened to my left and I immediately recognized the masculine voice.

“Hey, Lauren.” It was Ryan, and his tone went cautious, thick blond brows furrowed. He quickly scanned my body and stepped closer. I was still dressed in my yoga gear and no makeup. I didn’t exactly appear like I came by to have a quick chat with a guy I’d gone on a date with. “What are you doing here? Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” I held up the coffee heating through the cardboard wrapped around it. “I came to talk to Shawn. Is he here?”

His worried expression softened, and he stepped back, punching in a code on the keypad by the door. “Yeah.” He grinned at me over his shoulder. “He’s here. I’ll take you to him.”

That grin told me everything. He knew about our date. But boy did he have the wrong idea.

“Thanks, Ryan.” I dipped my head and cringed, blocking it from his sight. Of course Shawn would have told Ryan. Which means Brooke probably knew as well, and now Tinley did. Heck, half the town was probably talking about Shawn taking out the teacher since there’d been so many looks our way on Wednesday.

Great. Just freaking great.

I followed Ryan through a sea of cubicles, walls halfway to the ceiling. Along one wall were offices walled in on three-sides, glass front so whoever used those could see out into the large, open cubicle space. There was a bustling of activity, men and women wearing casual dress skirted through the mazes but what I didn’t see was another officer dressed in uniform like Ryan.

“Where are all the cops?” I asked him as he turned a corner.

He gave an amused look. “Hopefully, they’re out on patrol where they’re supposed to be.”

Oh. Right. Of course. “I had just stopped back here to drop someone in the drunk tank and was headed back out.”

“Just your average Saturday morning patrol, right?” The stories I heard from Ryan always left me with a surprising debate of whether to laugh or curl into my cocoon and pretend nothing bad ever happened. I mean, it wasn’t even noon on a Saturday. Was the guy he picked up drinking since early morning? Or still drunk from last night?

I wanted to ask. Oh, I wanted to open up that can of curious worms, but before I could, he pulled to a stop at a corner office and rapped on the glass. Behind him, though, I could already see Shawn. He swiveled in his chair, phone to his ear and he grinned when he caught sight of Ryan.

As he recognized I was standing next to him, his eyes widened before narrowing. He held up one finger, smiling at me while he spoke words I couldn’t hear through the closed glass.

“So, what are you here to see Shawn for?” Ryan crossed his arms over his chest and resting against the wall.

“Thought I’d be a good citizen and thank the detective for his service.”

He gestured to the coffee cup. “Where’s mine then?”

I pointed at his uniform. “You’re not a detective, are you?” Ryan snorted and I rolled my eyes playfully. “None of your beeswax, Ryan. Don’t you have more drunks to haul in?”

The door opened and Shawn was there, Ryan stepped back to give him space to get to me. “Well, this is a nice surprise,” Shawn said. For a moment, his hotness distracted me. It just wasn’t fair that the man was so delicious looking. And bonus: He was one of the nicest I’d ever met. “Everything okay?”

“Yep,” Ryan said and smacked Shawn on the shoulder. “See you later. Got to get back to work.”

“About time you did some of that,” Shawn called out to Ryan’s back.

“Bye Lauren.”

“Bye Ryan.”

As he walked away, Shawn stepped toward me. “You want to come in?”

“Oh, yeah. And here.” I held out his coffee. “I was at Grind It Up earlier and bought this for you. You do drink coffee, right?”

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