“I walked back outside because I’d lost one of my heels. Diesel was out there fighting with the guy, and the guy was punching him. I grabbed a nearby pipe and when he reached for a bottle to smash over Diesel’s head, I hit him with it.”

I felt a little embarrassed telling the story. Not that I regretted what I did, not at all. I had kept Diesel from getting hurt. I had zero regrets. But at the same time, it made me sound violent, which, really, I wasn’t at all.

But the guys looked impressed, which eased my worry.

“Wow. That was…” Ryker seemed like he was trying to find the words. “Just… good job.”

“Yeah, quick thinking,” Axel answered. “Thank you for helping my brother out.”

I smiled and looked over at Diesel. “Well, he helped me out first.”

“Harlow!” I heard someone else call, this time it was a female voice.

Liza was running toward me. “Girl, where have you been all night?” She laughed, blissfully unaware of the insane series of events this night had become.

“You have no idea,” I said, not sure whether to laugh or cry.

She could tell by my tone that something bad had happened. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine now,” I told her as I sighed.

She looked confused. “Well, I mean, is everything alright? Do you want to go home or—”

Actually, I did. Lately, I couldn’t get enough of Crave. But I wasn’t exactly in a partying mood anymore.

“You should go home,” Diesel told me. “You need to get some rest.”

Ryker and Axel nodded in agreement. “Yeah, go sleep. Just relax.” Ryker added.

This only confused Liza more because all of them agreeing I needed to rest added to the serious vibe of the situation.

“Okay. Yeah, that’s exactly what I’ll do.”

“I’m completely sober,” Liza spoke up. “We can take my car home.”

I nodded as I got off the bar stool. “Thanks for your help tonight, Diesel,” I told him.

“Of course,” he answered, giving me a gentle rub on the back.

I gave all three of them a quick wave and they said goodbye. As Liza and I walked away, she began to question me relentlessly.

“What the hell is going on?” she asked. “What happened tonight?”

I sighed. Where to even begin? “Well, you know how I disappeared to find Axel?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I didn’t find Axel. I found Ryker.”

She eyed me suspiciously. “As in, you found him and you…”

“Hooked up? Yeah, that happened.”

“Oh my God, girl!” She laughed. “But I don’t understand. You seem upset. I mean, what happened? Did Axel get jealous and there was some kind of fight? Or…”

“No, no, nothing like that,” I told her. Though I wondered if the other guys knew about what happened with Ryker, would there be any jealousy? “No, everything with Ryker was fine. But afterward, I came down here to look for you and this total fucking creeper comes up to me. He’s mad that I am obviously blowing him off, so he grabs me and starts dragging me outside of the club.”

Liza’s jaw dropped. “Holy hell, Harlow, are you okay?”