Page 76 of Dirty Dancer

“I—I don’t know,” Emersyn said slowly. “I need to think.”

She rubbed a hand over her face and winced. There was a bit of blood at the corner of her mouth. I’d bet she bit the inside of her cheek.

“Will Jasper really hurt Rome?”

“Fuck, I don’t know,” Liam said, shocking me. “If he could pin it on me and shoot me, he’d probably leave Rome alone. But they’re turning the city upside down looking for fucking Freddie, and all he wanted was for Rome to make sure you were safe.”

Where the hell was Freddie, now?

“They haven’t found him yet?” Worry filtered into the emptiness and loss in her voice.

Liam stared at her, eyebrows up. “I have no clue. I’ve been following you for the last couple of hours. Then your boyfriend.” The barest hint of a smirk was there to irk me, not her.

“Shut the fuck up,” I ground out. “Don’t even joke about that.”

“Hey, Doc, just calling it like I see it. I saw her kissing you before she got out of the truck, and you sure pulled up conveniently when she was out there walking.”

“Wait,” Emersyn cut in. “You followed me? I didn’t see you.” It wasn’t the first time she commented on that. I wasn’t sure how much of this she was processing.

“You weren’t supposed to.” Liam smirked.

“I walked for a long time and you just let me go? I thought you were worried about your brother.”

“Yeah,” I murmured. “If you were that interested in protecting Rome, why let her get that far at all?” I had my suspicions.

“I just wanted to see where you were going,” Liam lied.

“And?”

He leaned over and spat blood onto the pavement. “And I debated just letting you go. Fine? Is that what you want to hear, Pr—Hellspawn?”

“Why did you change your mind?” Good question, one I wanted the answer to as well.

“Fuck if I know.” Liam glared at her, then at me. “You know what? This shit is not worth it. My nose fucking hurts—nice hit, by the way. You ever want to work on that southpaw, you let me know. You take her back, and I’m getting out of here. This side of town gives me hives.”

“Hey, Mockingbird,” I called before Liam even made it halfway down the alley. “You’re trying too hard.”

The other man flipped me off, and then he was gone. I shook my head. He could lie to himself all he wanted, I just hoped he didn’t pull that shit with his brother. If I could see through it, Rome damn well could.

“Where do you want to go, Emersyn?” Because no way in hell was I leaving her in this alley or anywhere, alone.

Not anymore.

So much for restraint. I was as bad as those boys, but I would let her go when the time came. No matter how much it cut me. That was what you did when the broken birds healed. You set them free.

SOARED (DELETED SCENE)

JASPER

Two hours north of Braxton Harbor was paradise. Granted, the hotel and its outbuildings probably weren’t what most people probably idealized as the paradise-like location, but it was perfect for us. Working there had been a lot of hours and a lot of labor. At the same time, it offered us the kind of freedom I’d never had before. That freedom was what made it paradise.

Whether we were bellmen, lifeguard backups, waiters, or maintenance men, I’d loved the work. The shit jobs were so much better than the group home. If not for the guys, I’d probably have ditched that fucking place the year before. Milo and I had scored jobs there the summer we were sixteen and found jobs for most of us—except for Freddie. He’d been too young.

We managed to sneak him out to stay up there with us as often as we could and when we couldn’t, one of us went back to keep an eye on things for him. But today—today was going to be fun. It was my birthday and we’d all cut school. Milo, Mr. Responsible, arranged everything.

“You ready?” Milo asked, his wild grin so at odds with the raptor personality he’d been cultivating over the last couple of years. I laughed.

“Hell yes, it’s a good day to die.”

---