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Ramsay’s head jerked up, a plea in her gaze as she looked at me.
I moved over, letting the adults do their introductions.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Trenton cursed, jumping back on his feet.
I wasn’t liking the restlessness coming from him.
Ramsay filled in the blanks. “My uncle is leaving my aunt.”
Alex was glaring at me, his jaw clenching.
“Alex,” I started.
He shook his head. “Don’t even, man. You were off with my cousin? You couldn’t answer a fucking phone call?”
I hadn’t looked at my phone all night. How could I explain that he rarely called me, and the only other person I wanted to hear from was with me? That Cohen was aware I was at a fight and knew I tended not to answer because I was usually in work mode, studying, networking, that sort of stuff. I hadn’t noticed any of the notifications.
Ramsay said, “Clint’s missing.”
Trenton shifted back to the group, but he was still edgy, like a firework that’d been lit and just hadn’t been tossed yet. “He’s getting himself into deep shit. That’s what he’s doing. We gotta find him before he either puts someone in the hospital or he gets put into the hospital.”
“Yeah.” Alex was eying his brother. “We just gotta figure out where he’d go.”
Both shared a look. Then, as one, they turned to Ramsay.
Her eyes got big. “What?”
I was on the outskirts, not understanding these cousin dynamics.
Trenton smirked.
Alex rolled his eyes. “We know he was doing shit, and he pulled you in. Where’d you go? What’d you do?”
“The booze,” Trenton added. “Where’d you get it?”
“Oh God.” Horror flared over Ramsay’s face as she took a step back. “Oh no. He wouldn’t—”
“He’s not thinking clearly, and he wants to hurt something or someone. Where’d you go that night?”
Ramsay actually wavered on her feet. My hand shot out, catching her.
At the touch, she centered and drew in a deep breath.
Both her cousins noticed, noticed my hand too.
“There’s a fraternity on the other side of Pine Valley,” she whispered.
“We’re going.” Alex started for his car.
“No.” I held up my keys. “I’m driving.”
Trenton’s eyes narrowed.
Alex didn’t look happy.
Ramsay moved so she was between them and me. Her hand went to my chest. I didn’t think she even knew it, but her cousins did. They were very aware of every move between the two of us. She was saying, “If we run into trouble, we’re going to need him.”
“This is a family thing.” Trenton’s head lowered, still glowering.
Alex didn’t say anything. Neither did Ramsay. As if knowing it was his decision, we all waited. Finally, he sighed. “Ramsay, you’re in the back seat. I’ll text mom, let her know we’re going to get Clint.”
The adults had moved inside the house.
I got in the front. Trenton jumped to the back.
Ramsay climbed into the back seat, and Alex got into the passenger seat. He had his phone out.
“Who are you calling?”
He didn’t look my way. “Cohen. If we really do need all hands on deck, we’ll need him too. We can pick him up.” He had pulled up Cohen’s number and hit the call button as he looked at me. “If something happens to Ramsay, we’re going to need someone who can talk you down because, sure as shit, none of us will be in the mindframe to deal with you.”
I wasn’t sure if that was an insult, a dig, or just solid forethought.
I was going with the latter.
68
RAMSAY
My uncle hadn’t stopped the affair. That was what my cousins told me, which was also what all of them were told tonight when Uncle Nick sat everyone down in the living room. The affair never ended, and he’d made a decision.
He was leaving Aunt Aileen.
The aftermath was Clint and Trenton going apeshit on him, making him pack his bags because they’d kicked him out of the house. After that, they showed up with their mom at my house as my mom was getting home from her shift.
They piled into the house, and it was pandemonium as they filled her in on what happened. When they were trying to find me because I wasn’t in my room like everyone assumed I would be, it got even worse.
That’d been my bad.
I hadn’t thought about letting my mom know I’d be gone as long as I had been.
I thought we’d be back before her shift ended.
But that happened, and when they were calling me and panicking, and also looking for Scout and further panicking because he wasn’t picking up his phone either, that was when Clint took off.
Then we rolled up and now we were heading over to Pine Valley University.
I gave them directions on where to go, and we parked on a street away from the Rho Mu Epsilon house. “That’s him.” Trenton took off first, running up a back alley.
I moved to go after him, but someone stopped me. I looked. Scout was holding onto the back of my jeans, his eyes locked on Trenton, who was now wrestling with Clint.
