“I’d do anything for you,” Bear says, suddenly fierce, with that gleam in his eye that comes out every now and then when he talks about me or Otter. “You know that. And until you turn eighteen, these are decisions we’ll all make. Together. After that… well….” He looks away. “We’ll see what happens after that.”

And it’s like I’m nine again, it’s like all I am is the Kid again, a know-it-all too-smart-for-my-own-good Kid again. I launch myself at him and he catches me, and I babble something in his ear that doesn’t make sense, but he understands it anyway as he holds me close.

“YOU’RE BEING kind of quiet,” Dom rumbles at me, looking over from the driver’s seat as we head toward the Green Monstrosity. “When you’re quiet, it scares me, because it usually means you’re planning something and I’m going to end up in jail again.”

I snort. “You should have seen the look on your face when I threw red paint on the security guard at the boutique. It was pretty hysterical.”

“I was still trying to get over the fact that you told me it was supposed to be a peaceful protest rally, but then you threw that paint balloon and screamed ‘fur is murder’ at the top of your lungs.”

“Hey, at least that’s when you decided for sure you wanted to be a cop. Jail cells apparently offer unique perspectives. You’re welcome.” I try to keep any traces of bitterness out of my voice about his chosen profession. We haven’t exactly seen eye to eye on that. Not that he should have listened to me, anyway.

“Except for the fact that we sat next to a transvestite hooker named Diamondique for three hours, sure. It was a blast.”

I sigh, almost content. Almost. “Ah, the good old days.”

Dom reaches over and cuffs the back of my head lightly with a big hand. “For you, maybe. Bear and Otter didn’t think so when they posted our bail.”

“Why do you think I called Anna first? It felt neat to be able to say I wanted to get my attorney on the phone and have her show up. She went all hard-core on all of them. Everyone was scared of her.”

“All while pulling a crying two-year-old,” Dom points out.

“JJ was not a happy camper,” I agree, suddenly wishing the reminiscing was over, even if Creed and Anna’s son is the coolest kid on the planet. It feels a little raw right now. I glance surreptitiously at Dom, taking him in, trying to see if just his presence is enough to help me make up my mind. I haven’t told him yet what we talked about in the Green Monstrosity a few days ago, only because I don’t want him to know he could influence me in any way. Bear is right about one thing: I shouldn’t allow this one person to be the deciding factor on my future.

Too bad it already feels like everything rests on him.