“They’re going to hate us.”
Claire shrugged her shoulders. “They were in the wrong tonight. They shouldn’t have fought. They’ll get over it with time.”
She didn’t tell the other woman about Shane and his hatred of small spaces. The cell would be killing him inside. She had to figure out a way to get him to open up. Being nice to him and treating their encounters as if they never happened hadn’t worked.
She had to push up the pressure.
Going to bed, she stared at the ceiling for the longest time. In the cooler hours of the morning, she started to doubt her decision.
Chapter Ten
“When I get my hands onto that woman, I’m going to spank her ass so damn bad she won’t be able to sit down for a month,” Shane said.
Liam burst out laughing. The thought of seeing Claire across his friend’s knees while the bigger guy gave her a spanking was fucking hilarious.
“What’s so funny?”
“You. Never in your life would you hurt Claire. You’ll do your usual self and give her a dose of the silent treatment.” Liam leaned back and closed his eyes. His jaw ached from the few punches he’d received. Getting into a fight had been a huge mistake and one he hoped never to repeat.
“Don’t think I won’t. She left us here.” Shane paced the cell. The Walker men sat on the floor of their cell, shooting glares at Michael.
“And you don’t think we deserved it?” Liam asked.
“We got into a fight. It’s what men do.”
“No. We got into a pissing contest to see who had the biggest dick. Might I remind you over a girl who we don’t even want,” Liam informed his friend.
“Why can’t you guys stay away from Cassidy? She doesn’t need or want any of your trouble.” Michael growled.
“I don’t see her bailing your ass out of here,” Scott Walker said.
“Who gives a fuck what she wants,” Shane shouted. Liam watched his friend, amazed at the anger within him.
“Claire will get us in the morning,” Liam said. “You might as well get some sleep.”
Shane sat beside him, his legs bouncing to an unknown beat.
“Seriously. Don’t you know how to sit still?”
“I can’t help it. We agreed if we ever ended up in the station, one of us would bail the other out.”
Liam laughed. Since being locked up in a jail cell, Shane had turned into a complainer. “Are you really going to hold that against her when we’ve done so much stuff against what we’d originally bargained?”
“Some shit we can’t change. She should have bailed us out. It wasn’t our fucking fault we got into a fight in the first place.”
Sometimes his friend did have double standards.
Their bargains had been ridiculous, like sleeping together on prom night if they hadn’t lost their virginity. Liam had lost his the day after to the high school darling before she left for college. Shane had lost his in the back of a car not long after he turned eighteen. Claire had lost hers…he couldn’t recall if she had. Liam frowned. Thinking about his past brought up so many questions and memories.
Being in the cell didn’t feel great at all.
Closing his eyes, he willed himself to fall asleep.
* * * *
Shane watched his friend fall asleep. Most of the men around him were in some stage of slumber. Cursing his situation, he stormed to the other side of the cell.
“I never thought I’d see the day I’d be on the inside of these bars,” Michael said.
“Don’t talk to me. I’m pissed at you,” he told the man. Shane sat on the floor with his back to the bars. There was a single window, and he could see the outline of the full moon outside. Not letting himself look at the metal surrounding him, Shane calmed his racing heart.
He was at home in a warm bed. The noise of the ranch told him it was settling for the night.
“I love Cassidy.” Michael broke the silence and Shane’s exercise in self-restraint. “I know Gary and the others love her, too.”
“I don’t want to hear this,” Shane said.
“You’re in love with Claire.”
He didn’t dispute the claim. He’d loved Claire for all of his life. It was what made being stuck in the cell all the more hurtful.
His father had been stuck in one of these cells, and he’d taken him out. Shit, his dad used to lock him in the closet as punishment for breaking a plate. The walls were caving in on him, and he closed his eyes, trying to imagine the outside world.
“I’m sorry for dragging you into this mess.”
Shane didn’t respond. Michael had started the fight, but Claire had left him.