“I’ll get the coffee going,” Lily said, shooting Dante a smile as she pulled away from him, lingering her fingers on his as long as possible before letting go.
He watched her sashay off into the gas station and took a deep breath. “Some solid wingman work there,” he commended as he stepped closer to Ace.
“Well, one of us needs to be decisive,” the redneck quipped, and finished topping off the tank, replacing the nozzle on the pump. “You know anything about dirt bikes?” he asked.
Dante shook his head. “Not really,” he admitted. “Wasn’t great with machines growing up. My father was a graphic designer, so there wasn’t any of that learning at my father’s knee stuff as he fixed the car. Now, if you need me to drive it down to the mechanic to have the oil changed, I can handle that for you.”
Ace laughed as he pushed the bike towards the store. “Well come on, I’ll give you a quick run through on this bad boy, so you’ll at least know what the working parts are.” He held up a finger. “Now just so we’re clear, Lily’s my cousin, so I can’t show you how that works.”
Dante barked a laugh. “Don’t worry,” he said, “I’ve got that one covered. Believe it or not, I didn’t always look this pretty.” He motioned to his face.
Ace stopped short, brow furrowing, face a rare expression of seriousness. “Hey man, you know Lily don’t care about that,” he said. “I mean hell, you met Maddox, so it’s pretty obvious she ain’t about looks.”
Dante chuckled and patted his friend on the back. “Come on, let’s check out this bike.”
CHAPTER TWO
The bike stood on its kickstand by the front counter. Ace knelt down on one knee, pointing out some things on the engine as Dante looked over his shoulder. He nodded along with everything the redneck said, intently focused on it even though much of what he was saying went over his head.
“Coffee’s on, boys,” Lily declared, and both men looked up as she held out two tall cups of liquid gold. “Savor it, because in another week or so we’re going to be out of the light roast,” she added, as they both nodded and thanked her for the brew.
“Looks like we have something to add to the shopping list,” Ace said.
Dante raised his eyebrow. “You mean it wasn’t already?” he asked.
They chuckled before turning back to their engine lesson, sipping the steaming brew.
Lily walked back to the coffee maker, pouring herself a nice tall cup, mixing in a couple packets of the powdered creamer. She took a deep sniff of it, enjoying the steamy scent of fresh brew. She walked over to the front door, enjoying the peace and quiet as the sun crested the horizon.
The view from the front window of the store wasn’t too impressive—at least on a normal day. But with the sun creeping up over the trees in the distance, and no flesh-eating monsters in sight, it was beautiful enough for her to enjoy it.
The beauty was short-lived, however.
Lily froze at the sight of two large SUVs in the distance. She opened her mouth, but her voice came out in a quiet squeak.
“Dante…” she rasped, and then finally found her voice. “Dante!”
The boys raced over to her, concerned.
“What is it?” he asked.
She motioned to the vehicles. “Down the road,” she gushed.
They squinted and quickly realized that the SUVs were similar to the ones QXR had on the marine base when they were there a few days ago.
“Fuck man, how in the hell did they find us?” Ace breathed, pressing his hand to his forehead.
Dante shook his head. “I don’t think they have found us,” he replied, “or they don’t know that they have. Look.”
The trio watched as the vehicles stopped a hundred yards away at the first set of houses on either side of the road. Eight men got out, standing around for a moment before seven of them headed off to investigate various houses.
“They’re just doing a sweep,” Lily said, relief in her tone.
Ace nodded. “Well, let’s get the fuck outta here,” he said.
“How?” she asked, shaking her head. “As soon as we start up the truck, they’re going to be on us. We don’t have the firepower to take them on!”
Her cousin crossed his arms. “Well what do you propose?”
“We gotta pull them away from here,” Dante cut in firmly.
“What?” both cousins exclaimed at the same time.
He held up his hands. “If we don’t pull them away, they’ll just follow us down to the school,” he explained.
Ace swallowed hard as the insinuation sunk in. The last thing they needed was QXR finding their farming operation.
“Well, how in the hell are we gonna do that?” he asked.
Dante motioned to the dirt bike.
Ace shook his head. “You wanna outrun a bunch of mercs on a dirt bike?” he demanded. “And go where?”
“We head back towards the prison where we broke Francis out,” Dante explained. “Lose ‘em in the town and hightail it back down south.”
“We?” Ace asked, raising an eyebrow.
Dante nodded. “Yeah, we,” he confirmed. “I’m assuming you know how to drive that thing?”
“Been riding since I was four,” the redneck replied proudly.
“You good enough to have a passenger on the back?” Dante asked.
Ace smirked. “You saying you wanna ride bitch?” he asked.
The taller man drew his handgun. “I’m saying I want to do a drive by, and I need you to drive,” he replied. “You think you can handle it?”
“Let’s do it,” Ace agreed.
“As soon as you get clear, I’ll get everybody to safety,” Lily cut in.
Dante nodded. “Thanks,” he said.
“And Dante…” she added, and when he looked over, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him in for a searing kiss that left him light-headed. When she pulled away, she smirked up at him. “We’ve been a couple for all of ten minutes now,” she said. “Don’t go making me single again, you hear?”
He brushed a stray
