Page 57 of Rough Rider (Bad Boy High)
“What’s all this?” he’s asking.
“I’m investigating,” the girl says. “Remember how I told you those boys went missing, Andy?”
Andy nods.
“I’ve been asking around, and there’s some group called the”—the girl checks her notes—“Pipefitters. They’re a criminal gang and in a territorial war with—” She pauses again.
“The Riders,” Bam supplies.
The girl brightens. “Yes, the Riders. The Pipefitters heard that the Riders were recruiting and trying to take over more territory, so the Pipefitters have gone in and taken these new recruits by either offering them money or, if they refuse, outright kidnapping them. Can you believe it?”
“Unfortunately, yeah.” Andy looks at me and then Bam. Neither of us show our tats or give away our affiliation, but I getthe sense she might know who I am already and isn’t saying it. “I think you should be careful, Josie. What if the Pipefitters find out what you’re doing and come and hurt you?”
“She’s right,” Bam says. He reaches out and takes the notebook, stuffing it inside the waistband of his jeans. “Keep your nose out of this stuff. It’s not for you.”
The girl launches herself at Bam. “That’s not for you to decide.”
My order number is called. I tap Bam on the shoulder. “Give the girl her notebook back. Our food is ready.”
He drops into the booth seat opposite of the girl. “No.” He folds his arms over his chest. “Go home to Julie. I’ll get all the details from her and fill you in later.”
“You’re not going to leave me here with this caveman, are you?” the girl demands of Andy.
Andy wrinkles her nose. “I’ve got a reading date with a very demanding five-year-old. Sorry.”
We gather up the food and leave the girl gasping in outrage while Bam glowers at her like an irritated guardian angel.
“He won’t hurt her, right?” Andy asks as we make our way back to my apartment.
“Nah. Piss her off, sure, but he’s not going to hurt an innocent. Besides, we’ve been wondering why headquarters has been so bare.”
“I meant to ask you. Josie said something, and it slipped my mind with everything going on. Are you going to look into it?”
“Probably?” I sneak a glance at her. “Does that make you unhappy? Because I won’t do it if you don’t want me to.”
“Really?”
“I love you, Andy. That means I want to make you happy. I think that’s my whole purpose in life. To protect you and my mom and Julie and to make you happy.”
She lets out a little laugh. “It’s so weird to hear you say you love me. I’ve never heard that from anyone except my mom.”
“You believe me, right?” She stops me and rises on her tiptoes, her hands resting against my chest.
“I absolutely do.” She beams up at me with full trust. “And if these Pipe assholes are up to something, it should be handled if they are hurting and killing people. I’m starting to really understand that in life people like the Riders are needed. They’ll push back against them when the cops are busy looking the other way and getting a cut from them. Even the girls at the club. Life is better there too because of the Riders.”
She’s right, and Bam and I will dig more into it. Bam is already going off about staying with the Josie girl. Andy is always shining a light on things I feel are all darkness. Showing me that it's not. She doesn't think the Riders are this dirty gang that needs to be off the streets.
As much as I enjoy bashing a few skulls from time to time when needed, I also like when we can do some good. The Riders did save my sister, after all. Not only that, but they have filled my pocket with cash. I'd never worked a minimum wage job while in school. In fact, I think they can help pay for a lot of things to work toward all the things Andy and I want in life.
The Riders aren't the threat. They actually might be the answer. My girl sees that, and because of her, I'm seeing it too.
I kiss her, right there on the sidewalk. I pull her tight against me, shove my tongue in her mouth, and kiss her until her cheeks are red and her breath is gone and nothing in the world exists but her and me.
Epilogue
ANDY
YEARS LATER
