Page 107 of Bad Cowboy, Tennessee

I expected Draven to do what everyone else did—stay on the outer edges, surrounding me, but not interrupting my conversation with the cops.

I should have known better.

Draven made his own rules, and he pushed past the others, coming straight to my side and wrapping his arms around me in a tight hug.

“I’m here,” he said, with an urgency in his voice.

“You’re here,” I said, finally feeling some semblance of normalcy. “Draven, they weren’t real. They were blanks! I knew it was weird that he wasn’t shootingatme, anyway?—”

“Fuck,” Draven said, furrowing his brow. He pulled back, but stayed right next to me.

He didn’t seem relieved. Not even slightly.

“They weren’t real bullets,” I repeated. “He wasn’t trying to kill me.”

“That isn’t good,” he said. “Because it means he faces less risk of criminal repercussions, now, but hisintentwas still to scare you. Threaten you.”

I answered a few more questions for the police. Draven and Dominic both walked around, scanning the area as if they needed information more than the police did.

Slowly, the red and blue flashing lights started to pull away, one by one. Once the police had assessed the situation, Kane found me and gave me a hug.

“I didn’t know your stalker problem was actually this bad,” Kane said.

I pulled in a deep breath. “I didn’t, either. I thought… I thought Draven was just worrying too much about me. He said my innocence can attract acertain kind of person.”

“Well, it’s certainly not your fault,” Kane said.

I nodded. “That’s what Draven said, too.”

“He really cares about you,” Kane told me, glancing over at Draven now, who was on the edge of the police line, surveying the area still like he was a detective trying to look for clues.

I swallowed. “I guess he does.”

Dominic walked over, nodding at us both. Earlier, I’d been a little intimidated by Dominic, because meeting one of Draven’srealfriends was an unexpected part of my day.

I noticed his eyes were a little bloodshot, now, as he walked up to me.

He goes back to Draven’s house, only for about an hour, then returns with bloodshot eyes?

I didn’t have the time or mental energy to question it right now, but it still formed questions in my mind that I didn’t necessarily want to know the answers to. I was pretty sure Draven didn’t do any strange illegal drugs, but was it possible his friends did?

Dominic nodded at me now, though, and he definitely didn’t seem intoxicated. He seemed sad, almost.

“I’m sorry you had to experience that,” he told me. “Are you doing okay, Max?”

I nodded. “As good as I can be.”

Dominic gave me a hard stare. His blond hair shined with blue and red as the final cop car pulled away. He really was like Draven—cold, calculating, but also had a way of making you feel like you had a guard dog by your side.

“I never should have pulled Draven away from you tonight,” Dominic said. “I regret it. And I’m sorry.”

“Oh,” I said, blinking. “It’s fine. Didn’t exactly think I’d be shot at.”

“But Draven was worried. I could tell he didn’t want to leave you alone yet, and he only did it because of my presence. It won’t happen again.”

Goddamn.

Dominic had seemed a little snooty, maybe even judgmental, earlier in the diner, but I was surprised to see this earnest side of him now. He didn’t seem like an asshole at all.

---