Page 94 of Red Queen (Red Thorns Crew 3)

He clutched his heart. “Your words. They hurt. Oh. I never thought I’d see the day when you lorded your college degree over my head.”

“Well, newsflash, hot stuff, I don’t have a college degree yet. And I won’t. Ever.”

“Yeah, we still need to talk about that.”

I shrugged. “We can talk. That’s fine. It won’t change my opinion, though.”

His hand fell against my knee. “I’ve got ways of persuading you.”

“Max.”

“Dani.”

“You can’t make me do something I don’t want to do.”

“Then I guess you’ll just have to truly convince me that you really don’t want college in your life. Because I don’t believe that shit for a second.”

I settled my hand on top of his as we finally got back into familiar territory. It was a few minutes past two in the morning, and the grease in my stomach had finally settled. I felt my eyes drooping, a need for sleep overcoming my body. I had finally come down from my adrenaline high, and all I wanted to do was slip off into dreamland for a few hours.

“Holy shit. Rupert!”

The truck slammed into park and my body lurched. I heard a door rip open before heavy footsteps scuttled across the ground. I had to blink the sleepiness away for a while before the dark world came into focus. And when I saw John on the porch with a smile on his face, I quickly found Max. Embracing Rupert.

In front of the truck.

I drew in a deep breath as I unbuckled myself. I heard the sound of motorcycle engines revving in the distance. Dozens of them. As if to say ‘goodbye for now’ one last time. I hopped out of the truck and walked over to Rupert, my arms opened wide for the redheaded, bearded man in the beanie. He patted Max’s back as laughter fell from both of their mouths. I eyed Rupert and he quickly pulled away, then scooped me up into his arms. He twirled me around, making me giggle before he set me back down. And as I rubbed his arms, I let my eyes dance over his body.

“You don’t look hurt. Are you hungry? I think there’s a pizza joint that’s still op--”

“Bambi, look at me.”

My eyes panned up to his face. “It’s really good to see you, Rupert.”

He smiled. “It’s good to see you, too, badass.”

I blinked. “What?”

Max placed his hand on my lower back. “Yeah, Dani. You’re a badass now. Deal with it.”

I shook my head. “I don’t--I don’t know how--”

Rupert released me from his grip. “Don’t go getting all coy on us now. John told me the plan. He told me everything that was supposed to happen, and whose idea it was all along.”

John limped up to us on his cane. “Yep. Oh, and a woman S.W.A.T. captain told us to send her regards to you two. She said ‘Hopefully this proves you can trust her.’”

I drew in a relieved breath. “It sure as hell does. It’s good to see you standing here, Rupert.”

He snickered. “To be honest? Wasn’t sure it would happen. I just knew I was spending the rest of my life in that fucking place.”

I shrugged. “We’re family. It’s what we do.”

Rupert laughed. “You’re a real, tried and true badass, Bambi. We’d be fucked without you.”

I paused. “Come to think of it? Yeah. You probably would be.”

The guys around me laughed before Max guided me into the house. There were beers in the fridge waiting to be popped open and a bottle of wine. Just for me. I smiled and thanked John for his courteousness. Because I knew none of these assholes drank wine. Ever. And while I knew our worries weren’t entirely over--what with the trials coming up now--I still felt a great relief deep in the pit of my heart.

Max lifted his beer. “To the future.”

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