And I’ve hurt him worse than any physical pain ever could.
I shake off the guilt and watch in awe as Rex takes down his opponent in a tangle of arms and legs. People cheer and yell. He punches and tightens his hold. It looks like he’s winning. I drive my fingers into my hair. How long until it’s over? The ref slices his hand through the air. The bar explodes in applause. Rex jumps to his feet and shoves both fists into the air. I exhale and my shoulders relax.
He won.
Pride and loss swirl in my chest, and I fight to take a full breath.
I should be there, sitting behind Rex and his camp, between Layla and Raven, enveloped in Rex’s family, accepted as one of them, there for the sole purpose of support. But instead I’m here, kicked out, forced to move on from everything I’ve ever cared about. My life, my future, ripped from my hands.
Jonah, Caleb, and some good-looking surfer guy smother Rex. They hug him and pound his back with congratulations. An announcer says something into a microphone and then shoves it in Rex’s face.
“Turn it up.” I want so badly to hear his voice, even if only for a second. The bar is too loud. I can’t hear him. “Hey, turn it up!” No one pays attention. I stand from my stool and lean over the bar. Dammit. His mouth moves and his chest thumps with heavy breathing. He’s not smiling, but he looks fine.
I drop back onto my stool. Better than fine, he looks happy.
It’s not as if I expected him to be destroyed after I left. After all, he demanded I get out of his life. But seeing him so strong, as if our time together meant nothing, sends agony slicing through my chest.
Tears burn the backs of my eyes. How can he be so unaffected? I drop my head into my hands and rub my temples. I can’t do this. I need to get out of here.
I fish a few dollars from my bag and drop them on the bar. A hand clamps down on my shoulder.
“Snow White.”
My back goes stiff, but at the same time warmth blooms in my chest at the familiar voice.
“What the fuck’re you doing here?”
I turn into the enormous frame, all wide shoulders and crossed arms, of Hatch standing just over my shoulder. “I was just leaving.”
He studies me, eyes tight while he rakes his teeth across the flavor saver below his bottom lip. “What happened to you?”
“Nothin’.” My head feels like it weighs a ton, and I fight the urge to rest it against the bar.
“Don’t look like nothin’.” He rounds my back and pulls the stool next to me up close so that he’s practically straddling mine. Pushing my hair over my shoulder, he studies me. “You runnin’ again?”
How did he know? I roll my eyes. “Hatch—”
“No, you show up here all the way from Vegas, you tell me what the fuck.”
I groan and give into the weight of my head, resting it on my forearm against the bar. My eyes close as fatigue and booze kick in tandem. “Had to leave. Didn’t know where to go.”
His hot breath is at my ear and the overpowering smell of liquor and smoke. “Can’t get this drunk in a place like this, Snow.”
I huff out a breath. If I could just sleep for a few minutes. “Been riding for ten hours.” I yawn so hard it makes my eyes water. “My ass is numb. Need sleep.”
“I get that, but you can’t do that shit in a place like this.”
Whatever. I mean what’s the worst that can happen? I get killed and left on the side of the road? At least then I can end the suffering and finally get some rest. Ahh, rest. I take a deep breath, gently pulled into sleep—
“That’s it.” Firm hands grip my shoulders. “You’re coming with me.”
I shove him off, trying to focus on him with one open eye. “Five minutes, Hatch.” It closes and I go back to resting my head.
“Ha, take a look around. Check out the way you’re being sized up. You’ll be begging me to get you out of here.”
“Hatch, man, you cool?” The bartender’s voice is laced with concern.
I tilt my head back to see him scowling at Hatch.
“Yeah, Zip. Mac here’s roommates with my chick in Vegas. I’m taking her to the compound before these idiots catch the scent of her pass out.”
Zip’s eyes move across the room. I follow the path of his glare. A few bikers off to the side of the bar are watching me, whispering. My skin crawls and my hand darts out to Hatch’s cut.
“Now she gets it.” Hatch chuckles. He holds out his hand. “Bike keys.”
I fish them from my pocket. Hatch snags them and tosses them to Zip. “Honda out front. Mind pulling it into the back for the night?”
Zip nods. “Sure thing. Get Annie the fuck out of here.”
A burst of energy sends me to my feet. A wave of liquor-haze makes me dizzy and I stumble.
Hatch holds me upright. “Easy there. Let’s get you on the back of my bike.”