Page 32 of Playing With Temptation

Alarm bells started blaring in my head.

“Is everything okay?”

“Rainy…” she trailed off and grabbed my hand. “Let’s sit.”

I didn’t want to sit. I wanted to know what the hell was going on.

“Is Josie okay?” I asked as Sophie attempted to pull me to my couch. After everything that had happened at the Hope Center in the last few years, I thought that was a fair question.

“Sophie!”

I didn’t think her flinch meant good tidings.

“Is Valentine⁠—”

“He’s fine,” she cut me off. “It’s…um…Jase.”

Jase?

“What about Jase?”

There was five seconds of silence. I counted. And it was five seconds too long. Especially when the next thing from her mouth was a whispered, “He’s been shot, honey.”

“Shot?” I screeched.

I reached out to balance myself. Unfortunately, there was nothing within reaching distance. I stumbled to the side, hitting the wall. Sophie lunged but I caught myself before I could go down.

“I’m so sorry, I should’ve⁠—”

“Shot? Where? Is he…”

Okay?

Alive?

“He’s at Liberty Regional.”

That was a where, but not the where I was after.

Fear hit me like a sucker punch.

“I’m sorry, Rainy. Valentine called and told me. I thought…well, Saturday night…I thought you’d want to know.”

Saturday night.

What a waste. I’d spent the time sitting with Jase with my shields up and my attitude front and center instead of using those precious minutes to tell him how much I’d missed him. How many times I’d thought about him over the years. How sorry I was for my immature stupidity.

Now it might be too late.

“I have to go,” I told Sophie, already on the move to find my purse and car keys. “Lock up⁠—”

“I’m here to drive you,” she informed me.

Right. Yeah. That was probably a good idea.

“Now,” I demanded. “We have to go now.”

Where the hell was my purse?