Page 43 of The Chances We Take

I gained a lot of respect for the old man that day. He could have kicked me out, told me to go home or find somewhere else to spend my evening so he could leave, but he didn’t. We didn’t know each other’s story, but we didn’t have to know to realize we were more alike than it seemed.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

reid

PRESENT DAY

Mikey passed around shot glasses filled with clear liquor instead of our usual Pendleton, but he didn’t tell us what it was.

As he stood waiting, I took a big whiff of the glass, squeezing my eyes shut at the burn, tears already stinging my eyes. “God, Mikey, what the fuck? Everclear?”

“It’s Colter’s bachelor party, Lawson! Lighten up and have some fun.” Mikey raised his glass. “To Carson finally tying the knot! And to the rest of us hopefully getting lucky tonight.”

I rolled my eyes. The only person who’d probably be getting lucky was Mikey. The rest of us wouldn’t leave Colter alone at his own party.

“Bottoms up, I guess.” Jake took a deep breath and took the shot, wincing as it went down. I reluctantly followed suit, as did Colter and Hayden, right before someone pounded on the front door of our rental.

“What’s going on? Did you invite people over, Mikey?” Colter’s voice teemed with confusion before shifting toward suspicion.

Mikey threw his hands up at the accusation. “No, I didn’t do anything.”

The pounding began again, more aggressively this time. “Police! Open up!”

Hayden exchanged a panicked look with me as the others froze in place, the confusion evident on their faces.

“Well, someone answer the door!” When no one moved, I pushed through them. I opened the door, and did indeed find two male law enforcement officers standing in front of me.

“Evening, officers,” I greeted them, taking long, slow breaths to keep my heart rate steady. We didn’t do anything wrong, so it would be idiotic to give them a reason to think we did by acting guilty. “How can I help you?”

“We’re looking for Colter Carson and Reid Lawson,” one of the officers, a brawny, dark-haired man who towered over me despite my height, replied, glancing over my shoulder at the group.

I made a quick sweep with my eyes over the two men. His companion was shorter, but still fairly well built.

“Colter’s right here!” Mikey shouted before Jake clamped his hand over his mouth, muttering something like,“What the fuck, Mikey?”

“I’m Reid, but what is this regarding?” I hardly had time to finish my sentence before the taller officer pulled out his hand cuffs and the shorter one entered the house.

“You’re under arrest…” he started as he moved to cuff me. “For being too damn sexy.”

What the hell?

The men walked me and a handcuffed Colter to the couch in the living room as a third walked through the doorway carrying a massive stereo on his shoulder.

“What the fuck is going on?” Colter asked over the chaos.

“We heard you two are celebrating a special occasion tonight. A bachelor party,” the man who cuffed me replied.

The second one pitched in, “We were hired to come celebrate the two grooms-to-be.”

“Hit it!” the dark-haired “officer” called as upbeat club music started playing.

“No. Fucking. Way.” Jake clamped his hand over his mouth as the men ripped off their shirts.

Clearly, I’d failed to recognize that they weren’t real officers. I was a bit too concerned with the fact they showed up at the door to notice they were missing the normal equipment that actual police officers had. Upon closer inspection, their uniforms were only a step up from what you’d get at a Halloween store.

“Michael! Did you hire fucking strippers?” Colter snapped his head in Mikey’s direction.

Jake was still laughing, his body slouched over as he clutched his stomach, and Hayden looked absolutely mortified.

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