my helmet from the table. “I think I’m just gonna go for a quick ride and air out my brain. See you later, okay?”
As I turned to leave, he grabbed my hand and stopped me. “Give it some time, Liv. Nothing good ever comes easy.”
I pursed my lips and smiled. “I know, we’ll figure it out.”
“You will.” He stood up and touched my back. “Come on, I’ll walk you out. I could use a smoke.”
I strolled outside and immediately saw Torch standing on the sidewalk talking to Gauge. Spotting me, he patted Gauge on the back and starting walking over.
“Hey, babe,” he said, leaning down to kiss me. “How’s everything going in there?”
“Better than expected. We’ve had a hundred and twenty people get tested, I thought we’d get maybe half of that.”
He smiled. “That’s how we do things around here.”
“Church tonight, brother?” Zed asked.
“Yeah, at seven,” Torch told him.
I noticed their eyes doing a weird little dance and wondered what the inside scoop was. Jesus, it really was driving me fucking insane not knowing.
“Liv!”
I looked to my left and saw Roxy heading down the sidewalk toward me. Moira, Tamra, and Dana were huddled together and stayed behind, the latter giving me her notorious stink eye. She still wasn’t over her shit with me? Talk about holding onto a dumb fucking grudge.
Rox gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek. “Hey, doll, been a while.”
“What are you crazy bitches plotting over there?” Torch asked her.
She planted her hands on her hips and huffed. “Why do you always assume we’re up to no good?”
“Because you usually are,” he shot back. “Don’t be teaching my old lady your tricks.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, your old lady’s got plenty of her own tricks.”
“I’m standing right here,” I reminded them.
Rox turned her attention back on me. “We’re going to Scooter’s for breakfast, you’re coming with us.”
I glanced over her shoulder. Yup, still getting filthy looks. “I don’t think Dana—”
“Dana’s being Dana, you two need to squash it,” Rox cut in.
“Squash what?” Torch asked.
“Nothing.” I narrowed my eyes at Rox.
She grinned and opened her big mouth like I knew she would. “Beanie didn’t tell you? Dana made the mistake of talking shit about Nadia and pointing a finger in Liv’s face. Your woman about broke her hand and threatened to kick her ass.”
“I did not almost break her hand,” I argued. “Her fingers, maybe.”
Zed chuckled. “Forget squashing it over lunch. Torch, we need to bust out the baby oil and get them in the ring.”
My husband snickered and shook his head. “Wouldn’t be worth the mess, Liv would wipe the floor with her ass in ten seconds.”
Rox rolled her eyes again. “Nobody’s wiping the floor with anybody else. Come on, Liv, I know you’re over it.”
“Of course I’m over it, it wasn’t even that big of a deal.” I looked back at Torch. “Do you want me to bring you back some food?”
“Nah, I’m good.” He playfully swatted my ass. “Have fun.”
Huh. His mood seemed to be improving, maybe it had something to do with whatever was going down at church that night. Goddamn it, I had to quit over-analyzing.
“Zed, you want anything?” I asked.
“Just a text if you and Dana decide to go at it again,” he requested with a grin.
I shook my head and walked off, following Rox to the crosswalk where the other girls stood waiting. I exchanged kisses on the cheek with all three of them—including a frigid Dana—before realizing I still had my helmet in my hand.
“I’ll be right back,” I told Rox. I ran back over to Torch and handed it to him. “Can you put this under the bar for me?”
“Sure thing, babe.”
I winked at him and went jogging back to rejoin the girls.
I’d only caught up to them halfway when the crosswalk light turned white, so I sped up to a sprint. But just as I stepped off the curb, the sound of squealing tires grabbed my attention. I looked down the road to my left and saw a red sedan racing toward us.
Shit, he was going way too fast.
Everything else in my vision slowed.
I whipped my head back over at the girls. They were still in the middle of the street, but noticed the car right then too and went scattering. All except for Dana, who’d apparently just dropped something because she was obliviously looking at the ground and took a step back.
When Mo yelled her name, Dana finally looked up and saw it. But