Even though he’s not my aunt and uncle’s biological kid, you can see them in him. He’s sweet and soft-spoken like Aunt Sophie, yet a badass to the core like Uncle Nico, which is why he works with Jax.

As soon as my feet touch the ground, Wes pulls me to him. “Be good,” he says against my mouth. I don’t say anything; after all, it’s only a lie if you acknowledge it, and if Wes never finds out what I’m doing, he will have no reason to be mad.

“All right, let’s go,” Sage says, holding the door open. I grab my bag from the table and wave goodbye to Wes as he pulls away from the house on his bike.

“Kayan is meeting us at the theater. Z said he would follow her there and wait for us,” I tell Sage as we get into his truck.

“Cool,” he mutters, getting behind the wheel.

“I wish Nalia was here,” I say, and Sage’s eyes come to me for a moment before going back to the road.

“She’ll be home soon,” he says, but I can also hear the doubt in his words. When Sage and Nalia turned eighteen, they were able to talk to their biological parents. Sage wanted nothing to do with them, but Nalia got close with their mom and moved to Colorado to be nearer to her. I understand her reasoning, but I know it’s hard on my aunt and uncle and her brother. I just pray she finds whatever it is she’s looking for.

“Well, I’m happy she’ll be home for Christmas.”

“Me too. I just hope she’ll decide to stay home after that,” he says.

“Maybe.” I shrug. I know Aunt Sophie has been torn up about her being gone. She feels like she did something wrong, but I also know that sometimes you have to do stuff for yourself, even if it’s hard on the people you love.

When we pull into the parking lot of the movie theater, I see Z and Kayan standing near his bike. I look around for her car and sigh in relief when I see it parked over on the side of the building.

“Hey, Z, are you sure you don’t want to watch the movie with us?” I ask, hopping out of Sage’s truck and walking toward Z’s bike.

“Thanks, but no, thanks.” He smiles then turns and kisses Kayan, then whispers something to her before letting her go mussing my hair and getting on his bike starting it up and pulling out of the parking lot.

“Ready?” Kayan asks, wrapping my arm around hers and heading into the theater, with Sage following close behind us.

“Ready.” I mummer wondering if there is a way that I can talk her out of this then I look over my shoulder at my cousin and ask “Are you sure you don’t want to come in?”

“Nah, I’ll wait here,” he says, and we pay for our tickets and stop to get popcorn and candy, giving Sage a wave before heading into the movie.

“What’s the plan?” Kayan asks as we head into the theater.

“This is your idea.” I remind her.

“Yeah but you’re the planner.” She smiles and I roll my eyes and lead her towards the front of the theater, where I push through the door marked Exit. The moment we clear the door, I head towards the parking lot.

“What are you doing?” She shrieks as I start to toss the food we got into the garbage that is on the corner of the building. “You cannot throw that out,” she pulls the popcorn from my hand, causing half of it to land on the ground, “or this.” She hands me the keys to her car and takes the soda from me.

“Are you good now?” I ask. She shrugs shoving a hand full of popcorn into her mouth after making it to her car. I make sure Sage isn’t anywhere around, start up the car and head out of the parking lot towards the compound.

“So much for this plan,” Kayan says through a mouthful of popcorn as we pull up in front of the compound fifteen minutes later.

“Yeah,” I agree then shove her head down and duck as well when I see a bike pull up. The moment the roar of pipes dies, I lift my head and watch as Harlen swings off his bike and heads inside, coming back a few minutes later carrying an envelope.

“We need to follow him. He’ll be with Z.” She says from her still bent position then takes a drink of her soda.

I look at her for a long moment then shake my head and take off after him following him for about ten minutes down some back roads. When he pulls into a parking lot, I park a block away and watch as he rides right to where the rest of the guys are waiting including my cousin Jax. When Harlen gets off his bike, he says something to Wes then hands him the envelope. Even from this distance, I see Wes’ jaw go tight and I wonder why he’s pissed. Then he puts his phone to his ear, and I watch his mouth work and wonder what he’s saying.

“I wonder what they’re talking about.”

“I don’t know,” I say, watching Wes go to Z and say something. When Z’s body goes tight, a ball of anxiety forms in my chest.

“We’re busted,” Kayan whispers. I look at her, put the car in drive, and take off. The moment I hit the road, the sound of pipes fills the air. My hands start to sweat and my heart starts to pound. “Oh, my God. Z is going to kill me.”

“Maybe we can get back to the theater,” I say, not believing it for a second.

“Yeah, maybe,” she agrees, and I push down on the gas and take every back road I can until I reach the parking lot of the theater. The moment I turn off the car, we get out and rush toward the door of the theater we left out of, then stop dead when we come face-to-face with a very pissed-off Sage.

“Hey, what are you doing out here?” I ask, and his eyes turn even angrier.