Catching Summer (Second Chances, #6)(44)

“Miss me already?” she murmured seductively.

My dick twitched and I groaned. “Always, sunshine. How’s it going at the restaurant?”

“It’s been busy as hell. I’m going to have to hire more help,” she said, laughing.

“Yeah, but that’s a good thing. What time do you think you’ll get out of there tonight?”

“Uh, let me see…probably around midnight. Is there something wrong?”

“No, it’s just there’s a party tonight at Second Street and Derek wants me to go. He and Bri were going to let me ride with them.”

“That sounds like fun. I wish I could go, but I have too much shit to do here tonight. I trust you to have fun, but not too much, okay?”

I chuckled. “Agreed. I’ll be home around midnight as well. I think I’m going to call Luke and see if he wants to meet me there. I haven’t talked to him since your party.”

“Good idea. You two need to work things out. I don’t want you guys mad at each other.”

I didn’t, either. He was my best friend, but I was torn between wanting to help him and respecting Lara’s wishes. “I don’t, either,” I sighed. “But I’ll see you later. I love you.”

“Love you, too. Be safe.”

We hung up and I immediately called Luke. I half expected him to ignore me, but he didn’t. “What the f*ck do you want?” he grumbled.

“I guess I deserve that. What are you doing tonight?”

“Going to a party. I heard you and the players were invited.”

“Did Avery tell you about it?”

“Yep.”

Jason Avery was an undercover detective and one of Luke’s good friends. When Luke wasn’t hanging out with me, he was with his cop buddies. I guess I should’ve known they would invite him. “Look, I’m sorry for not letting you in to see Lara. If Grayson wasn’t in there, I would’ve. You know that, right?”

He sighed. “I know. It just sucks that I couldn’t talk to her. She won’t return my calls.”

“Again, if you really want her back, you need to step it up. Calling her isn’t going to do shit.”

“Then what will? Got any good ideas up your sleeve?”

“I don’t know, but we’ll talk about it tonight. Drinks on me?”

“You’re damn right, *. I’ll see ya there.”

—

Derek and Brianna picked me up right on time and we headed to the bar. Most of my teammates were already there, including Jaxon and his friends, who gave me a wide berth. He hadn’t spoken a word to me since I punched the shit out of him. Glancing around the bar, I spotted Luke sitting at a table talking to Jason. When he saw me, he waved me over.

Jason stood and extended his hand. He wasn’t exactly what I would envision a cop looking like, but I guess that was why he was so good at working undercover. He was a tad shorter than me, with dark, spiky hair and a full-sleeve tattoo down his right arm. Luke told me he was a sneaky and dangerous bastard, fast on his feet. In his line of work, he needed to be. “Townsend, it’s good to see you again. Thanks for coming.”

I shook his hand. “My pleasure,” I said, taking a seat. We ordered some drinks and bullshitted for a while until Jason excused himself.

Luke tossed back a shot. “All right, so tell me what I can do to get Lara back.”

About that time, Derek and Brianna sat down with us. “What’s up, guys?” Derek asked, slamming his beer on the table. Luke’s eyes brightened when they settled on Brianna; he moved closer.

“Actually, Townsend, I think I have a better idea.” Luke held his hand out to Brianna, who looked at him like he’d completely lost his mind. “I don’t think we’ve officially met. I’m Luke.”

She looked at his hand and then over to Derek before shaking it. “Brianna.”

“Don’t worry, Bri,” I said, shaking my head. “I think he wants to ask you some questions.”

Brianna nodded her head at Luke. “I’m ready when you are.”

Luke preferred talking to her in private, so Derek and I left to take a seat at the bar. “He better not be trying to f*ck her, Townsend. He may be your friend, but nothing will stop me from kicking his ass.”

I slapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, big guy. Luke has a hard-on for Summer’s sister. He f*cked her over a few months ago, and now he wants her back.”

Derek bellowed. “Holy shit, he’s delusional. Lara’s not going to take his ass back.”

“He’s determined, so anything’s possible. Hopefully, Bri can help.”

He snorted. “You and I both know how stubborn Lara is.”

I glanced back at Luke, who was listening intently to what Bri was telling him. “I know.” If Luke didn’t change his ways, there was no way in hell Lara would even consider taking him back.

About an hour passed before Bri and Luke finished conversing and joined Derek and me at the bar. “You good now?” I asked him.

He shrugged and looked over at Bri, who smiled and squeezed his arm. “He’s got this,” she said. “It might take a while, but he knows he f*cked up.”

Luke elbowed me in the side. “You wanna know the first thing Brianna said when I told her what I did?”