“What’s wrong?” My phone buzzes in my pocket, so I pull it back out.

Just as I answer the call, Harbor says, “I’m here.”

As if someone shot a starting pistol, Dane swings open the door and makes a run for the front. “I’m gonna fucking kill him.”

33

Harbor

Parked behind a truck I don’t recognize, I get out of my car and head to the passenger side to wait for Lark. It’s dark, but I can make out the silhouette of a woman sitting inside the rumbling old truck. The exhaust, which can’t pass any state inspection, is about to kill me, so I walk up the slick path and call Lark to check on her. As soon as she picks up, I say, “I’m here.”

The sounds of crashing causes me to duck until I realize it’s inside the house. I run forward just as the main door flies open, and a man slips on the wet path.

I yell, “What the fuck?” moving out of his way.

“Motherfucker,” he shouts, catching his balance. When he looks up, his rage is set on me. Unlike the truck, I know exactly who he is. Dane. “I told you to stay away from her.”

Screaming pulls me toward the sound. I know Lark’s voice and hear the terror. I run to get her, to protect her, to—A locomotive slams into me from the side, taking me down. My eyes close on impact as I hit the ground. The mind plays tricks when the body feels pain. My adrenaline kicks in before the pieces of what caused the impact come together. When the image is clear, I only see one thing—Dane.

My instincts have me shoving the weight of his body off me, rolling over, and throwing punches before my vision clears. When it does, my eyes lock on the target and my arms keep swinging. “Fucking asshole.”

I’m grabbed from behind, my girl’s voice filling my ears. “Please. Harbor. Harbor. Stop!” Pulling me, she doesn’t make much headway. I punch the fucker in the face once more, busting something since he’s now bleeding. “Harbor!”

I make the mistake of reacting to her calling my name and find myself on the receiving end of a hard-hitting uppercut.

The world slows as I fall backward, but when the darkness arrives to pummel me, images of Lucas come back. The fights we would get into for fun, the laughs we had though our faces hurt from being punched, and the fall . . . I land on my back, which forces my breath to halt in my chest.

The pain blunts in the cold air when I’m kicked in the side. Refusing to take another hit, I jump to my knees and then to my feet right after. If I’ve learned only one thing from my cousin, it was to never let them take you down with them.

Seeing Dane standing next to my heart as if he’ll use her to shield himself, I’m sent into a rage and charge at him. I shove him so fucking hard that he flies before landing on his ass and skids across the soaking grass.