I don’t want back into this lifestyle, so it’s okay to look.

It might scare me far away from him. I sit up and edge myself off the bed. I slowly make my way to the bathroom. When I reach the doorframe, I close my eyes as I lean on the door. I take three deep breaths before I reopen them. I’ll never forget this moment. The moment where my legs become jelly and my hand grips the doorknob for support. With his back turned to me, the water cascades down the ripples of his muscled body. His shoulder blades flex as his palms rest on the shower wall and his head tilts down. Braxxon’s back is entirely covered in tattoos, but the one that stands out the most is the intricate spine with breaks going through it from the back of his neck all the way down. The word breakneck splits in two: break on the left side of his shoulder and neck on the right. It almost matches the skeleton figure I’ve seen with the broken neck and the head tilted to the side decorating the back of the cuts. The globes of his ass are strong and firm, and it makes me want to dig my fingernails deep into the skin of them. His left hand leaves the wall and runs through his short brown locks. His body starts to turn as his head tilts back and the water runs over his closed eyes. I suck in a breath and start to lose my balance even as the door tries to keep me steady. My gaze is stuck and mesmerized on this magnificent man. Sculptors would fight to the death to get a hold of him. His eyebrows are perfect. His eyelashes are so long and dark, any woman would be jealous. His nose is the perfect size for his strong jawbone; his gorgeous lips pierced twice. The hoops sitting right next to one another have a small chain connecting them. How did I not feel them both? I felt just the one.

My feet move me closer as I push off the door. My gaze travels over his chest and my palms begin to sweat as my eyes land on a chiseled eight-pack that has a faint scar running through them. His V dips so far in I just want to run my tongue along the depths of that valley. His happy trail fades away to nothing but a freshly shaved area. Oh, he’s so clean cut and yet dirty at the same time and to make his flawed free body even more astonishing is his long thick c**k hanging flaccid. I move my attention back to his face, his eyes still closed as his lips twitch into a crooked smile. He feels me. I step into the shower and run my nail along his scar. Braxxon’s eyes fly open, and I gasp as his hand catches me and his gray eyes stop me.

In that moment where my mind, body, and soul are assaulted, I know that I’ll never be the same ever again. Braxxon has seized me, and something tells me he isn’t letting me go.

Braxxon’s hands grip my hair. Jerking my face to him, his lips descend on mine as gunshots ring out and echo all around us. Braxxon curses and slams me down to the floor of the shower.

5

I pull my knees into my chest as he runs out of the shower, not bothering to snatch a towel. It’s the last thing on his mind as bullets ping all around the building. I don’t shake or scream. It’s just another reminder of why I don’t get close to this kind of lifestyle. The sounds stop. Braxxon throws a shirt across the bathroom and it lands on the floor. I reach up and shut the water off, crawl out and tug on the t-shirt.

“You can stand, Angel.”

I just wanna go home. My legs bring me up, the shirt falls down to my waist, and just like that, he’s down the stairs leaving me all alone. Realization hits me, and I scream for Hazel as I run across the room and down the stairs. When her screams and cries hit my hearing, I start panicking.

“Hazel,” I scream, running towards the sound of her cries.

She’s lying on the bar with people all around as she thrashes about. I start shoving people away from her, and the smell of rust hits my nostrils. Blood, lots and lots of blood covers her naked body.

“Lana,” I choke.

“Winter,” she cries.

“It’ll be okay,” I say as I grab her hand. “Someone call a f**king ambulance.”

I look up at the pervy prospect holding the blood soaked towel against her chest.

“Get her a f**king ambulance,” I scream as I tug him closer with my free hand.

“Star, there’s a doctor on the way.” Pyro tries to calm me. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have been here, and Lana wouldn’t be bleeding to death.

“I swear to god you better pray she’s gonna be okay because if she’s not, I’ll blow this motherfucking club up!”

“Star, calm the f**k down,” Pyro roars.

“Calm down; you want me to calm down? She’s my only family, and if it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t even be in this f**king mess!”

“She’ll be fine.”

God, I hope Pyro’s right. I need gummy bears, the fruity smell and taste of gummy bears; that is what I need right now. The smell of her blood is lingering in my nostrils, bringing memories back that I don’t care to summon.

“Gummy bears,” I whisper, wiping the tears from my eyes with my free hand.

“What?” The prospect laughs.

“She needs gummy bears,” Lana wheezes. “Get her some gummy bears. It’s like her crack; it’ll calm her.”

“Fuck! I knew this was gonna happen,” Pyro curses. “Prospect, go get Star some damn gummy bears. Star, press that towel tight to Hazel.”

I nod and take over for the prospect. Lana’s eyes start fluttering shut, and I scream for her to keep them open. Everyone is busy on phones and loading guns, and I still don’t know where Braxxon ran off too. The doctor and another prospect take over, and I scoot out of the way. As I fall to the floor, I take a bottle of whiskey with me on the way down. I bring the bottle to my mouth and bite the cap off. I spit it out and tilt the bottle to my lips as PP hands me my gummy bears.