Zip, Zero, Zilch (The Reed Brothers 6)

But these guys have friends. “Oh, shit,” I breathe, and I pick up my crutches so I can go help.

I see Edward swing, and suddenly bodies are flying.

It feels like hours later, but I know it’s only minutes. The police push through the front door, and people start to scatter.

“Get out of here,” I hear Pete hiss to Edward. Edward is still on probation. If he gets caught in a fight, even if it was just helping out his friends, he’ll be in violation.

“Give me your shirt,” I say, already yanking mine over my head. “Trade!”

Pete nods at Edward and Edward hooks his elbows in his shirt and jerks it over his head. We trade, and I put on Edward’s bright red shirt, and he takes my light blue one.

“Give me your hat.” I jerk Edward’s worn baseball cap down over my head. “Now get out of here,” I hiss. I shove him. “Go!”

Edward backs out of the room, with Abby leading him by the elbow. He looks at me over his shoulder and I can see the fear in his eyes as she drags him toward the rear entrance.

“Thanks,” Pete says, wiping his brow. The police put him in cuffs, and his features harden. It’s not the first time he’s been in cuffs. But he hoped the last time would actually be the last.

“You would do it for me,” I say.

He did do it for me. He took the rap and went to jail for me. He lost two years of his life for me. I’d do just about anything for him.

The police put cuffs on me, too, and I see phones raised snapping pictures. I motion toward my crutches. “I can’t walk with these things on.”

The officer removes one of them and I follow him to the car. They shove me and Pete into the backseat, and the others go in different cars. At least Edward got away. That’s all I can think. That boy deserves a shot.

Paul is going to fucking kill us.

***

They let Pete out of the cell almost as soon as we get here. He works with the juvenile detention center as an advocate, so they know him here. I can see him through the bars having a great time chewing the fat with the officers.

Me—they don’t let me out. Not until Sky gets here.

Sky is my brother Matt’s wife, and she’s my manager. She was an attorney before she met Matt, and she quit to raise their family. The decision was easy for her, since her parents are loaded. She has a trust fund that’s worth a lot more than my signing bonus with the Skyscrapers was. I needed an attorney to handle my contracts and to manage my career, and she volunteered.

She has her hair pulled back in a ponytail when she gets to the station. They take me to a room where she’s waiting with a stack of papers in front of her.

“They’re letting you out,” she says.

“How mad is Paul?” I ask. I sink down across from her and drop my head into my hands.

“He’ll be pissed when he finds out.”

I choke. “You didn’t tell him?”

“I did call your coach and the Skyscrapers’ PR team. You have a meeting with them next week. And as for Paul, I don’t think I’ll have to tell him.” There’s a TV in the corner of the room, hanging on the wall. She points to the screen. “I don’t think I’ll need to.”

There’s a picture of me being shoved into a police car, with Pete right beside me on the screen. I wish I could hear it.

But I don’t need to hear it, because by the next morning when I get to the shop, Paul is staring at the stack of tabloids in front of him. Apparently, the media has made up its own story. Actually more than one.

Sam Reed arrested for drugs!

I flip to the next one.

Sam Reed purchases prostitute! Caught in the act!

Paul growls.

Skyscrapers’ rookie injured in bar brawl!

And the worst one of all:

Skyscraper’s cheerleader pregnant with Sam Reed’s baby! Lovers quarrel lands him in jail.

Paul opens his mouth, probably ready to ream me a new one. But I don’t wait. I hobble out of the shop and hail a taxi. There’s only one place I want to be. And it’s not here.

I know Peck lives in the same building as Emily and Logan, and since she’s not answering her phone, I decide to go to her, instead.

I walk into the lobby of the building and Henry, the doorman, raises a brow at me. “What up?” he says, trying to sound like a thug.

I laugh. “Do you know if Peck’s home?” I give him a quick hug. I haven’t seen him since the beach, and I miss the old guy.

“She’s out with the girls,” he says. He narrows his eyes at me. “Did you need her for something?”

“I just need to talk to her.” Henry kicks a chair toward me, and I drop down into it.

“Everything okay?”

I nod. But I say, “Not really.”

He flips the newspaper in front of him open. “Does this have anything to do with the news?” he asks. He turns it toward me. I’m on the front page.

What bullshit. “They didn’t even arrest me. They let me go.” I blow out a breath.

“What happened?”

Since he actually took the time to ask, I tell him. He whistles softly. “That’s fucked up,” he says. “But what’s it got to do with Peck?”

“Nothing.” I avoid his gaze.

“You’re a terrible liar.” He chuckles.

“One of the tabloids printed a story…”

“And?” he prompts.

“And they kind of implied that I got a girl pregnant and that it was the cause of the fight. So I wanted to tell Peck about it before she sees it.” I duck my head and avoid Henry because sometimes he can look all the way into my soul.