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Alarmed by the urgency in his tone, I straightened. “What’s wrong?”
“Just get your ass over here.”
8
FOSTER
When I pulled up to the curb in front of the red and white, bricked split-level, I found everyone else already there. Damien’s Ford was parked behind Keene’s silver Jeep Rubicon and next to Oaklynn’s Kia, which was in front of Hudson’s Challenger.
Finding a spot between Thane’s Equinox and Parker’s Lucid Air, I cut the engine on my Dodge and pushed my way into the bright morning.
I’d been coming to this house since I was eleven to hang out with Damien. It’d been his childhood home. And even though his parents had retired and moved to Arizona, leaving it for him to live here with Keene, Alec, Hudson, and Oaklynn, it would always be just Archer House to me.
After jogging up the front steps, I pulled open the door to the main living room and found pandemonium inside.
Damien was trying to contain a hysterical Oaklynn, who was shrieking, “I don’t understand. Whyher? Why?”
Heart pounding hard, I demanded, “What happened?”
Oaklynn spun toward me, and her eyes narrowed. “You,” she charged savagely, pointing in angry blame. “Wherewereyou? You should’ve been here. She’d still be alive right now if you’d justbeenhere.”
I reared back, stunned by the accusation. “What?” I choked out in dread, and for some reason, my thoughts went to the nameless girl I’d spent the night with.
From the couch, Hudson lifted his hands and waved them. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Don’t put this on Union.”
Grasping Oaklynn’s arm gently, Damien spun her back to him and pulled her against his chest so he could stroke her hair. Over her shoulder, he shook his head at me as if to apologize.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” Oaklynn wept, burying her face in Damien’s shirt and gripping handfuls of the cloth. Then she lifted her face to wipe her eyes and say, “I’m sorry, Foster. It’s not your fault. It’s mine. It’smyfault.”
“No,” Damien crooned, kissing her temple and urging her back around to him. “It’s no one’s fault.”
Meanwhile, Alec was sympathetically patting Keene’s back, where he was slumped in a chair and gripping his head. “I was the last person to ever have sex with her,” he uttered in shocked horror. “I mean, she died within an hour of my penis beinginsideher.”
From the kitchen, I heard glass break. “Will you stop telling me to calm down?” Parker boomed, no doubt talking to Thane since he was the only other person not in the front room. “I’m the one who bought the fucking ride shediedin.”
Clued into the fact that someone was dead, I turned my attention to the couch, where Hudson and Faith seemed to be the least traumatized people in residence.
All I had to do was meet his gaze with a questioning lift of my eyebrows, and he jerked his head, motioning me over to the couch. Faith was quietly running her hand down his arm as if she didn’t know what else to do, and he was wincing in pain as he rubbed the thigh of his leg that wasn’t wrapped in a cast.
I sank down on a cushion not far from them, and he licked his lips, glancing at Keene, then Oaklynn before returning his attention to me with weary eyes.
“You know that girl Oaklynn’s been hounding you to go on a blind date with?” he asked.
“Holy shit!” I exploded in surprise. “Shedied? How?”
“Just—” He lifted his hand to stop me. “Shut up and listen.”
I pulled back, closing my mouth.
And Hudson continued, “So she was here last night with her sister, hoping to finally meet you.”
This time, I did cringe. “Seriously?” How many times did I have to tell Damien’s girlfriend that I wasnotfond of setups?
“Hey, she wasn’t so bad,” Hudson told me. “Cute, sweet, bubbly; you probably would’ve liked her.”
I made a face, not so sure about that, but Hudson kept talking.
“Anyway, I plied her with one of my special brews while Keene hooked up with her sister. And then Parker sniffed her out and tried to hit on her until he learned she was reserved for you.”
