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all of us. You’ll ruin all of us if you keep her around.”
    I fume and turn away from him.
    “Look, I just need you guys to keep an eye on Cassie for a little bit. Hide her out here. I know this is Petrol’s place. I need to sort some things out and I can’t trust my apartment as a hideout anymore.”
    Surge sighs heavily and I hear his hand rub the back of his neck. I can’t meet his eyes though, in case he’s already decided. When I finally look back at him, he’s staring through the window on the door at her and the other men talking. “All right. But she can’t stay for long.”
    “Thanks, Surge,” I say. I give him a nod and he slaps me on the shoulder and gives me a powerful shake that nearly knocks me to my ass.
    “Don’t mention it. Can’t say I’ve ever had to protect someone who’s hit another biker before. Go get your shit figured out. But if you want my advice — .”
    “I don’t, —,”
    “—, You’ll take her to the police and you’ll leave the country.”
    I stare at him and shake my head to stop myself from lashing out. “Just let me take care of it.”
    Surge pushes out the door into the front room and I follow him. Our entrance stills the air, and the men all turn to us, expectant or curious, I can’t decide. I walk up to Cassie and grab her by the arm and pull her to a dark corner of the bar, near the broken down jukebox. Surge starts talking with the boys, probably about our agreement, and I steal her attention with a touch on her face. She looks at me, startled but not nearly as frayed as she was when we first came in. Those beautiful eyes suck me in and make everything else vanish.
    “What is it? What happened?” she asks.
    “You’re going to stay here for a little while.” Her face pales a bit. “It’s okay. Petrol owns the bar, and Surge won’t let anything happen to you. I trust him with my life.”
    She looks over as Surge as I talk about him, probably to study him. When she looks back at me, her eyes are determined and filled with a strange kind of fire I’ve never seen in her before. “If you trust him, then I do, too.”
    “Good. I just have to clear some shit up... I might be able to save us all a lot of trouble.”
    She looks panicked. “What are you going to do?”
    “Don’t worry,” I stroke her hair and touch her shoulder. The feeling is exciting, being so close to her like this. Her eyes keep dancing and I can’t stop my eyes from glancing at her lips. She smiles in a way that makes me feel like I’m standing near divinity. She’s more than anyone has ever been to me. I can’t put my finger on it, but I feel something is being driven inside me to be with her. To keep her near me, to keep her safe. What I’m planning on doing is for that purpose.
    “They’ll keep you safe,” I say. She nods again and I embrace her, not caring if the men see. I’ll get shit for it, but fuck ‘em. They’re on my side after all. I catch Surge looking a bit smug as I release Cassie, and I meet his gaze and nod knowingly.
    Surge doesn’t want me to deal with Rifle. But I know where he lives, and he needs to be dealt with.
    . . .
    I leave Cassie at the bar and get back on my motorcycle. Confident she’ll be safe, I jump on the highway and head down the south-bound connector to reach Rifle’s neighborhood. I know he lives alone, in a shitty apartment like me, and he needs to have some sense beaten into him. He seemed so sincere when he talked to me the night we were raiding the bars for street cred, so I don’t know what happened. Lingering doubt or guilt? Maybe he was the one keeping the bartenders from calling the cops on us, only making us believe that it was our brute force making us untouchable. But like a snake in a garden, he only looks scary. Harmless if confronted... and easily decapitated with a shovel.
    I exit the highway and give my engine a few twists of life as I kick it into lower gears. My arms feel tense like coiled springs. I have to reassure