Page 13 of Wrecked
The phone started ringing. A mixture of affection and guilt shot through him when he saw who it was. He’d gotten close to his ex-partner’s twelve-year-old son during the five years he and Adam had worked together. Cole wanted to be there for the boy, though it wasn’t as easy now that he was no longer in New York, but they spoke often on the phone. He owed Adam that much, at least. “Hey, Davey.”
“Cole! I made the team!”
Cole chuckled. “No wonder you’re up so early. That’s fantastic, bud. But I’m not surprised; you’ve been training hard.”
“Are you coming to New York anytime soon? Do you think you’ll be able to make one of my games?”
His gut tightened painfully. “I wish I could, but I don’t think I can swing it. Get your mom to email me some pics from your first game, though, yeah?”
“Sure thing.” There was a pause. “Be there in a sec, Mom. I gotta go, but I’ll call you after training Wednesday.”
“Sounds good.”
“Bye, Cole.”
“Bye, Davey.”
Cole slumped back, the twisted knot in his gut nearly overwhelming him.
“Thought I’d find you here.” Deke’s voice cut through the noise of his thoughts. Cole looked up to find his friend leaning against his office door. “You’ll turn into a workaholic like me if you’re not careful.”
Cole sat back in his chair. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Was that Adam’s boy?”
Cole rubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah.”
“It’s good you’re still close…”
He cleared his throat. “So, back from the honeymoon already?” He didn’t want to go there, not even with Deke.
Deacon stared at him for several long seconds, then thankfully decided to let it go. “Yeah, unfortunately. I promised Alex I’d take her away again when things aren’t so busy.”
The expression on his friend’s face changed, became all business. Did he know? Had Piper told him what happened? “This is early, even for you. Problem?”
“I need to talk to you about something. About Piper actually.”
Fucking wonderful.
This was the part where Deke warned him away from his baby sister. Well, he was wasting his breath. He already knew he wasn’t good enough for her. He’d never do that to Deke, not after everything he’d done for him, the way he’d stepped up when his world had crashed down around his ears.
He took the chair across from Cole. “I’ll cut to the chase. I know it pisses Piper off when I get involved in her life. She thinks I should butt out and let her do whatever the hell she likes, but I can’t. I won’t. These last few nights I’ve lost sleep over a situation that I just can’t leave alone, which is why I’ve come to you…”
Cole lifted his hands, stopping him before he could go any further. “You’re her brother, and I respect that. But you have nothing to worry about where Pipe’s concerned.” There, surely that was clear enough without getting into it. Because he sure as hell did not want to talk about any of this. Not now, not ever, and sure as hell not with Deke.
The guy frowned, sitting back in his seat, disbelief clear on his face. “You think I should let her live all alone on that street with no other houses close by?”
Okay. That wasn’t what he’d expected. “What are we talking about here?”
Deke frowned. “What did you think I was talking about?”
Cole forced a careless shrug. “Fucked if I know.”
Resting his elbows on his knees, Deke leaned forward. “When Alex moved in with me, I was okay, because Pipe still had Rusty. But now Rusty’s moved in with Reid and Pipe’s all on her own. Every night I worry about her.”
Deacon wasn’t the only one. “It’s not ideal.”
“She told me you drove her home after the wedding. You must have noticed how isolated that road is at night?” He’d noticed. He hadn’t liked it, either. “She won’t leave. I know that much. When I brought it up she closed me down.”
