Renegade Path

“I’d never hurt her.”

“Sometimes we can’t help hurting the ones we love the most,” he said in a low voice I barely made out over the noise in the parking lot.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Dex. Juliet and I just met.”

“Doesn’t matter. Sometimes you just know when you meet the right person.”

An uncomfortable sensation rolled through my chest. Juliet was the one for me. Knew it the second I met her. Our souls connected. My rational brain knew that was absurd, but the rest of me didn’t care.

Dex saw it too and didn’t think I was crazy?

He handed over a card with a name and address.

“What’s Crystal Ball?” The address was way the fuck down in the city of Empire. Not sure how he expected me to find my way there.

“Club owned by my MC. Come down and see me. I’ll find you some work.”

“Uh…” I hesitated and considered handing the card back. “Whatever the job is, it has to be legal and I have to get it approved by my caseworker. Plus, I have no way to get there.”

He stared at me for a second. “You always such a rule-follower, Roman?”

“No, but I’m not really in a position to do anything about it, unless I want to get moved to another home, which I’d rather avoid.” I glanced at the low brick building behind us. “I like it here.”

He nodded as if he approved of my answer. “You’re awfully level-headed for your age.”

“Sometimes.”

“Give me some time to come up with another lead. In the meantime, do me a favor.”

Finally, the reason he came to see me. I lifted my chin and waited for him to continue.

“Look out for Juliet. Her uncle’s nastier than ever. Make sure everything’s okay there. If it’s not, let me know and I’ll handle him.”

“I noticed he’s a prick. You think he’d hurt her?”

“Don’t know. Not sure she’d tell me if he did.”

“But you think she’ll tell me?”

“If she trusts you.”

He picked his helmet up off the seat of his bike and strapped it on.

“Wait,” I said. “When’s her birthday?” It had been bugging me all night that I didn’t know.

Dex smirked and gave me the date which was three weeks from today. That made her younger than me by about eight months.

“My cell’s on the back of that card,” he said. “Call me if she needs anything.”

As if he just thought of it, he reached into the pocket of his leather vest and pulled out a silver flip phone. “It’s nothing fancy, but if you need to get a hold of me, or if she needs to reach you, use it.”

Phones, or any electronics besides small MP3 players, were strictly forbidden. Plenty of kids at the home had contraband phones. I’d considered it myself once or twice, except who the fuck was I gonna call? I had no brothers or sisters I wanted to keep in touch with. No parents. The risk of getting in trouble seemed pointless. But now I had Juliet, and Dex was right. If she needed me, I wanted her to be able to call. I didn’t enjoy taking charity from anyone, but it would be stupid to turn it down.

“Thanks. Appreciate it.”

He shook my hand again before taking off. I made sure the phone was turned off and slipped it in my bag before going inside.

“Morning, stranger,” Juliet greeted me at our locker. A teasing smile played over her lips. She was wearing the jacket Dex gave her yesterday and a pair of brown leather boots.

“Dex give you a ride?” I asked.

She blinked. “How’d you know?”

I nodded at her jacket. “The outfit. And the fact that he was outside waiting to talk to me.”

“He what?”

“It’s cool. He said he might be able to help me find a job.”

“Why? So you’re too busy to spend time with me?”

I snorted and emptied my backpack into our locker, pulling out the books and notebook I’d need for first period. “I think he just doesn’t want you dating a bum.”

I was staring right at her when I said it, so I didn’t miss the way her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. Or the way her cheeks turned an even deeper shade of pink. “Are we dating?” she whispered.

The air in my lungs vanished and my stomach bottomed out. Did I move too fast?

I closed the locker door with a quiet metallic click and braced my hand against the cool metal, considering all the possible answers.

“Roman?” she prodded.

Finally I met her troubled blue eyes and let it all out. “I don’t have anything to offer you, Juliet. Not a penny to my name to give you the things you deserve. My time’s regulated more than an inmate. Can’t spend hours online with you or even call you without someone listening in on our conversation. Got no car or way to take you out—”