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“I can’t,” I grunted, my ribs feeling like they were being tightened with each turn of a crank. “You know I can’t.”

“You can,” he insisted. “This doesn’t have to be your life, brother. You can have all the good shit everyone else has. The house with the big yard, a dog, and two little rugrats running around. The wife,” he stressed, jerking his chin toward where Iris was still standing with that Wraith. “She’s a beauty, man.”

“I know that,” I hissed. “You think I don’t know that? First time I locked eyes on her, she took my goddamn breath away. Been doing it every day since.”

Archer’s face changed, anger coloring his cheeks and the tips of his ears. “Fuck, North. You aren’t a goddamn vigilante. You’re a cop. This self-imposed mission you’ve put yourself on spits in the face of every reason you went through the academy.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and stared him down. “I’m not doing anything illegal.”

“Just stupid,” he spit out. That was the last thing he said before he jerked around and stomped away from me, eventually being sucked into the mass of people enjoying one hell of a party.

I would have been lying if I said I didn’t understand why he was so pissed off. It didn’t come from a place of anger, but fear. There were those friends you had who came and went from your life, then there were those who were closer than blood. That was Archer. We were brothers in every way but biology, and he was scared shitless at what I was doing.

When I looked back at Iris, she was leaning in closer to Pope’s guy, a tiny grin playing across her plump cherry-colored lips as he whispered something into her ear. My solo cup crumpled as my hand spasmed around the cheap plastic. Warm, stale beer seeped between my knuckles and dripped down my hand as he reached up and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

And just like that, I snapped.

I moved on instinct. Pure primal, caveman instinct that had my heart beating against my ribs with the need to claim Iris as my own in front of everyone. To mark my goddamn territory. I didn’t feel like a man in the moment so much as a feral animal.

Everything I felt must have been written all over my face, because the crowd parted for me like a wave being pulled back into the ocean. Whatever that said, they wisely wanted no part of, making my trip to Iris that much easier.

He saw me first, and if he was surprised by my sudden appearance at Iris’s side, he sure as hell didn’t show it. From the little smirk curving one side of his mouth, I would have thought he’d been expecting me.

“Hey man. Enjoying the party? Gorgeous here did an amazing job, didn’t she?”

First he called her gorgeous. Then he flung his arms over her shoulders and grinned down at her like that shit was his right. I wanted to rip his head off and drop-kick it across the forecourt.

“It’s fantastic,” I deadpanned as I stared him down before finally turning my eyes on the one and only person I wanted to talk to. “Do you have a minute? There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Her brows curved in concern as she nodded. “Yeah, of course.” She turned to place her beer on the table, then gave her attention to the biker. “It was good talking to you.”

“You too, sweetheart. We’ll catch up soon.”

Over my dead, rotting corpse, I thought before placing my hand on the small of Iris’s back and leading her away.

The sounds of the party faded behind us as I continued leading her farther from the party.

“Where are we going?” Iris asked from beside me. “Also, can you maybe slow down?” I glanced over and saw she was having to jog and skip after me to keep up with my much longer steps.

I slowed down to make it easier on her, but I didn’t stop. Now that I was touching her, there wasn’t a chance in hell I would be able to stop. I didn’t want to. All I wanted was to get her alone.

We circled the side of the metal structure of the garage and rounded to the back until the noise from the party had gotten a little quieter.

Iris’s brow was marred with concern, those eyebrows dipping over expressive eyes as she reached out to place her hand on my arm. “North, are you okay? Did something happen?”

She looked around like she could see more than just the overgrown weeds behind the garage, like she was searching something or someone out. “Don’t tell me one of Tolliver’s little minions showed up.” Her expression went from worried to angry in a single beat. Her nose scrunching up adorably, momentarily changing the positioning of her freckles and creating all new constellations.

That was another thing I remembered about that night. After she fell asleep, her lush, warm body snuggled against mine, I’d stayed up, gently mapping those freckles with my finger, committing as many of them as possible to memory.

“I swear to god, I’ll skin the asshole alive.”

The way the corners of my mouth trembled with the need to grin at her surprised me. Given my mood, I would have thought it was impossible, but I was quickly discovering that was the Iris effect. The woman was just too goddamn cute for her own good.

“Easy, killer. There’s no one from his camp here, as far as I can tell.” Not that I’d been looking, honestly. My entire being had been solely focused a certain redhead all evening.

The concern came back with a vengeance. She took a step closer to me, lavender and sage filling my lungs. Christ, I’d never smelled anything more heavenly in my entire life. “Okay, so what made you drag me all the way back here?” A teasing smile played at her lips. “You aren’t planning on murdering my back here are you? That wouldn’t be very smart. You’d be down one vote come election day.” She winked at her own joke, and fuck, but I wanted to kiss her so bad my lips felt like they were on fire.

“Are you with him?” I intended to be smoother in my approach, but the desperation to know blew that out of the water.