Page 193 of Play Dirty (Brooklyn Dawn 1)

He took my hand and toyed with my fingers. “The night you sent me that lovely picture—”

“I’m really growing to hate that word, you know.”

He kept going. “I didn’t reply at first because I was working with an artist and we ended up running long. Then I left and just started driving. I was out of sorts all night. Somehow, I ended up driving toward Lo’s and it was pouring out. It made me remember that night. Christ, this is hard to say.”

I rubbed his shoulder. “Would it be easier to write it down?”

His shoulders heaved as he inhaled a deep breath. “No. I can do it. But I’m going to keep that in my pocket for someday, if that’s okay with you.”

“It’s okay.”

“The flashbacks were coming fast and furious and I was having trouble with the Jeep. I couldn’t get it to respond to me. My head was fuzzy. I kept thinking of you in the center of it. You steadied me.” He brought my hand to his mouth, holding it there. “You always do.”

“Funny thing, that, because you make me tremble in the most amazing ways.”

He kissed my fingers. “Same. Which is why when I tell you I crashed my Jeep, you won’t become angry at me for not telling you all this time.”

Stunned, I reeled back, although he didn’t relinquish his hold on my hand. “What? You crashed?” Foolishly, I looked over his body, where he was lounging amongst the bedsheets like a lazy lion. It was silly in light of how many times I’d touched him since then, but my panic didn’t allow for logic. “You didn’t get hurt?”

“I did, but not seriously. I think I got a concussion, a mild one. But I’m okay now. Kyle helped me.” The sarcasm in his tone wasn’t lost on me.

“You called him?”

“No, he followed me and pulled open my door so I could get out.”

“He followed you,” I said slowly.

Alex told me the rest, how Kyle had said Alex had called him and wanted to meet at a bar. Alex not remembering. Then after Kyle helped him get out of his crashed car, how he’d driven Alex home and suggested he sleep it off.

“That’s not what you do with a possible concussion. What the hell?”

“No, but it is what you do with someone you drugged. He didn’t want me to go to the hospital for a reason. That night, I couldn’t puzzle it out. I was too messed up. Now I’m thinking he had a good reason for it.” He gripped my hand when I would’ve jumped out of bed to pace. “We’d been together earlier that day. I had a soda in the car I’d taken from home. It’s all I can figure. I had a couple sips before working with Matthias and finished off most of the bottle while I was driving around later. I just don’t know what he gave me. Or why.”

“You think he’s trying to kill you and you’re just telling me now?”

“I don’t know what his purpose was. Hell, I don’t even know if I’m not spinning a yarn. He also knew that you call me Alex. It’s all so crazy. Maybe part of it was an episode—”

“Bullshit. He keeps showing up all these places where strange things happen, and it’s just a coincidence? Yeah, right. He seemed off to me the first time I met him.”

“Did he?”

“Doesn’t he to you? I mean, I know you have a past, and you’re feeling guilty over what happened, but that doesn’t change reality. If he’s turned his issues into a weapon, we need to deal with it.”

Almost immediately, the soundtrack on the calls that had been placed to me echoed in my head. Moans that sounded like my own. Voices just too low for me to make out.

After the fan thing tonight, what was the likelihood it could be Kyle? If the calls actually had been more than pranks, then more than likely, the culprit was being dealt with by the authorities.

Alex had enough to deal with without me adding more by mentioning Kyle could be involved in that too.

“He was my friend from boyhood. I didn’t want to think the worst.”

“No matter what he was, you can’t let him hurt you now. I won’t allow it.”

His lips twitched. “That so, duchess?”

“Glad you think this is all so amusing.” I turned my back on him and drew my knees up to my chest.

He exhaled heavily and sat up beside me. “It’s not so easy to think that way about your lifelong best friend. If it was Jamie—”

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