Page 69 of No More Secrets

“Fuck.” Beck pivots only to turn back. “You can’t tap that,” he tells Finn.

“No shit,” Finn says, his eyes on her. His face slackens with betrayal. “You told me you were eighteen.”

“Yeah, well, you said you were nineteen.”

Beck barks with laughter. “He told you that?” He laughs again. “He’s fucking twenty-five. Smooth, dude.”

Shiloh’s jaw comes unhinged at the ten-year age gap.

Beck knocks the back of his hand against Finn’s chest. “Come on, dude.” He disappears into the dark mouth of the Grotto.

Finn holds up both hands and backs up inside with a slow shake of his head.

“Where are you going?” she asks with mounting panic.

“Sorry, Shy Girl. I can’t be with you.” He turns around and disappears inside.

Shiloh stands there in a daze. Did he dump her?

“Want me to call your mommy to come get you?”

Taken aback, Shiloh glares at Aldo. “Fuck you.”

He throws his head back with a burst of laughter. Then he drags his stool over and pats the seat. “The band’s only playing for another hour. The guys won’t be long. You can wait here with me.”

As if he’s her babysitter.

No, thank you.

Shiloh doesn’t give him the courtesy of a reply. Arms crossed tightly over her chest, she turns in a circle. It was foolish to call Finn and come here. Now what’s she supposed to do? Where can she go? Girls in line laugh at her. The bouncer calls her over again. He’s laughing, too. Her throat starts to close up. She feels like she can’t breathe. Everyone’s pointing and laughing and gawking, and she has nowhere to go. Panicking, she slips around the building to hide.

31

Lucas wakes up with the mother of hangovers. He slowly eases from bed. Feet on the floor, he drops his face in his hands and leans over, waiting for his stomach to settle, and not just from the alcohol. He’s sick with nerves, terrified for Shiloh. He blacked out after Lily ran away, and he blacked out before he chased his father in his truck. But this time he remembers everything. Not even the laughable number of shots he tossed back will let him forget he lost Shiloh.

He needs to find her and ensure she’s safe.

Someone bangs on the door, and his heart lurches into his throat. He jackknifes from bed, glancing at the clock. Six a.m. Why is he still here and not behind bars?

Memories from the previous night light up. There’s a warrant for his arrest, but not for what he thought, which doesn’t make sense to him. Neither does Zea. Sophie, rather, or whatever her name is. Who is she?

More banging. “I know you’re in there, Lucas. Open up, or I’ll bust this door down.”

Sophie. Shit.

He looks down at his naked body and wonders if he undressed in front of her. There’s a glass of water on his nightstand and two aspirin. He’d never have left those there for himself. Pushing off the bed, he pops the pills and downs the water. The room spins, and he stops short of hurling when he takes several deep breaths. He pulls on athletic shorts and pushes his arms into a shirt on his way to the door.

“Lucas!”

He jerks it open, and she jumps at the suddenness of it. “You never answered my question last night.”

She blinks. “Good morning to you, too.” She moves past him into the apartment.

He shuts the door. “Two questions, actually.”

“Here, for you.” She gives him a coffee in a disposable cup. She sips from her own.

“Where’d you get these?” They left her car at the tavern, and the keys to his truck are on the counter, so she didn’t use it to go get coffee.

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