Page 61 of The Puck Secret

Julian finds my questioning stare once more, flicking it to and from the road before he clears his throat and responds, “Not as far as I know, Maddie.” Then he promptly turns his eyes back to the road, effectively ending any further conversation.

I shake off the weird vibe I am getting from him and turn my attention to the passing town as we head home. When we arrive, I’m not surprised to find Hector waiting for us, we are a little late for their shift swap and as we pull up outside the house, he moves to open the door for me, smirking as Julian curses at him.

“Evening, Maddie,” he coos, holding out a food container for me. “A treat from the wife, she said if you even think about sharing it with me that she will castrate me.”

For the first time in hours my smile is real as I take the container and open it to inspect it. “Banana bread,” I guess out loud, from the look and the smell, and Hector confirms with a nod. “Your favorite,” I muse, enjoying how Neeve likes to torture her husband.

Another nod as he sheepishly admits, “I skipped out on dinner with the in-laws.” I smirk even wider, knowing that if they are anything like mine that I can’t even blame him.

Taking pity on him I reply, “Don’t worry, I’ll save you a slice for your morning coffee.”

“Hey what about me,” Julian cuts in, and I have to roll my eyes, the two of them are such overgrown children,

“I’ll save you some too,” I say, shaking my head as I bid them both a goodnight and move towards my door. When I turn to wave they both seem to be having a quiet, heated conversation, and my confusion from earlier comes back full force. So much so that I can’t help but call out, “Hector, have you seen my brother?”

Both of their heads snap towards me as he snaps back far too quickly, “Nope.” And before I can say anything else he adds, “Night, Maddie.”

When I enter the house it’s dark as I expected. Hallie is having dinner with her family and won’t be home until late, and even with Hector outside, I make sure the porch light is on for her. Then I head upstairs to strip off my clothes and take a much needed shower, the water not hot enough to erase the touch of my future fiancé. Once I am done I head into my room to get changed, not letting my eyes linger on the jersey still slung over the back of my chair as I reach for one of Josh’s. The number twenty-two doesn’t feel as familiar as it once did, not now that I've had the weight of the number nineteen against me.

I should probably give Nova’s jersey back to him, or at least throw it out. I am just torturing myself by leaving it there, but I can’t seem to bring myself to do it yet. Grabbing my phone and turning on myHarry Stylesplaylist to cheer me up, I reach for my Kindle and throw myself into someone's fictional love life to try and appease my own. I have barely gotten a few chapters in when the music cuts off and my phone starts ringing.

Reaching to grab it, I frown at the unfamiliar number flashing across my screen. I don’t give my number out to strangers, with one obvious exception, so I have no idea who could be calling me. I think about ignoring it, not caring about whoever is on the other end, and then I think about the voicemail I left earlier. Maybe it’s him. I accept the call faster than I’d like to admit and my ears are instantly assaulted by muffled music and shouting.

“Hello?” I say, the word sounding like a question, as I wait for the person on the other end of the line to speak.

“Princess Peters?” a familiar voice all but shouts, and I pull the phone from my ear to check the number again.

“Archer?” I ask, recognising his voice but still not being completely sure it’s him. We don’t exactly talk, not really anyway, despite how close he has become to Hallie. He’s Nova’s friend, not mine.

“Yeah, look I’m sorry to call but I need your help,” he starts, before moving away from the phone and yelling, “Alexander, for the love of god keep him away from that prick before we all end up in jail.”

I can barely hear Reign’s response, but I am already sitting up in bed in a panic. “Archer, what happened? Is everything okay?”

There is a long pause and I check the phone again to make sure the connection is okay, even though I can still hear the dull beat of the music, before he finally sighs, “I’m not sure, can you come pick us up?”

A beam of hope pulses deep inside of my chest at his question, as I barely whisper, “Us?” I know who he means, he knows I know, but still I need the confirmation.

I swear I can feel Archer nodding before he replies, “Yeah, I think you’re the only one who will be able to calm him down.” I don’t need him to say anything else, I don’t even bother asking him any questions, I am already out of bed and shoving my feet into some leggings and boots.

“Text me the address,” I command, disconnecting the call and striding down the stairs, bypassing my coat as I grab my car keys.

When I open my front door and head outside, Hector is already alert, winding the window down, but before he can ask me anything I just hold up my keys and point to my car, signaling him to follow me. His engine is on before I can even start my own, and he pulls out onto the road behind me as I input the address Archer sent me after I ended the call into my navigation system.

The drive to the bar isn’t far, but the ride over feels like it takes forever, and when I reach my destination and spy who I am looking for, I don’t even properly park the car. I just pull up in the middle of the road and dart out of my door, rushing over to where Archer and Reign are trying, and failing, to keep Nova in place.

“Just let me go find him and I’ll wipe that fucking smirk off his face all over again,” he curses, eyes wildly scanning the street in the opposite direction to me. Yet still I spy the blackening beneath his eye, and the slight cut to his lip. His knuckles are the worst, swollen, angry, and red, and from the looks of things he has had more than a few drinks. He can barely keep himself upright.

“You already did man,” Reign starts, looking all too exhausted by their night, as he holds up his friend to stop him from slumping to the floor. “He was bleeding so much you’re lucky he didn’t need an ambulance.”

His Captain scoffs and before he can respond, Archer spots me and looks a little too relieved by my presence. “Finally, what the hell took you so long?”

I frown, looking down at my phone to check something before I reply, “It’s been nine minutes since you called.” Is he serious right now? This bar is ten minutes from my place and I made it here so fast I’m surprised I didn’t get pulled over for speeding.

Nova swings his head around at the sound of my voice, his stare drinking me in before he looks at Archer with an accusatory stare. “Really, you called my girl?” he sneers, the term of endearment not sounding affectionate in the slightest, and I pretend it doesn’t sting.

“I thought you said she wasn’t your girl,” Archer snaps back, raising his brows at him and it’s clear they have been talking about me, but Nova remains silent. “That’s what I thought,” Archer adds. “Now shut up and get your ass in her car.”

Before he can refuse his best friend, Reign steps up, pulling Nova with him and they both start moving him towards me. I rush to open the back door for them, stepping aside so Alexander can shove his Captain inside without protest. When he looks at me in thanks, Nova snaps, “Don’t fucking look at her, Reign, what did I tell you.”

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