Ride or Cry

The Morning Everything Changes

Chapter 17: The Morning Everything Changes

Maya wakes to an empty bed.

The space beside her is cold. Knox has been up for a while — long enough that his warmth has faded from the sheets. She sits up, blinking in the gray light filtering through the blinds. Her hand still remembers the feel of his fingers intertwined with hers.

For a moment, she lets herself pretend. Pretend this is a normal morning. Pretend she's just a girl waking up next to a man she's falling for. Pretend there isn't a storm coming.

Then she looks at the clock. Seven thirty. The meeting is at noon.

She finds Knox in the shop. He's standing next to a motorcycle — his motorcycle, she realizes, the one he rides like it's an extension of his body — running a cloth over the tank in slow, methodical circles. He's been at it for a while. The bike is already spotless.

"You're going to polish through the paint," she says.

He doesn't look up. "It needs to be perfect."

"The bike or the plan?"

"Both."

She walks over to him. Stands close enough that their shoulders almost touch. "Talk to me."

"I'm going to meet Cole. Alone."

"We already established that."

"I'm going to tell him that you're under my protection. That if he touches you, or anyone connected to you, I will burn his whole operation to the ground."

Maya's stomach clenches. "That sounds like a threat."

"It is."

"And you think he'll listen?"

Knox finally looks at her. His eyes are different this morning. Harder. Colder. The eyes of a man who's done terrible things and isn't afraid to do them again. "Cole knows me. He knows I don't make threats I can't keep."

"What about Derek?"

"What about him?"

"He's not a biker. He's not part of this world. He's just a man who can't let go." She reaches out, touches Knox's arm. "He's not going to be scared of you the way Cole might be."

Knox sets down the cloth. Turns to face her fully. "Then what do you suggest?"

"I suggest I come with you."

"No."

"I'm not asking to be in the room. I'm asking to be nearby. In the car. At a different table. Somewhere I can see him."

"Maya—"

"Derek is my ex. My problem. My ghost." She holds his gaze. Doesn't flinch. "I've been running from him for months. I'm tired of running. If he's going to be there — if he's really working with Cole — I want to look him in the eye."

Knox's jaw works. She can see him arguing with himself behind those dark eyes. Every protective instinct screaming no. Every rational thought whispering she's right.

"If anything happens—"

"Nothing's going to happen."

"You don't know that."

"I know you'll be there." She squeezes his arm. "And I know you won't let anyone hurt me."

He stares at her for a long moment. Then he sighs — a deep, defeated sound that's almost a laugh. "You're going to be the death of me."

"Probably. But not today."

She goes back to his room to change. Her clothes are limited — jeans, the band tee, the denim jacket. She braids her hair back from her face. Looks at herself in the small mirror above the dresser.

The girl staring back is different from the one who stumbled into Noworse four days ago. Still scared. Still broken in places. But standing taller. Eyes clearer.

You can do this, she tells herself. You've survived worse.

Has she, though? Surviving Derek was a quiet kind of war. This is different. This is loud.

When she comes out, the others are gathered in the bar. Jesse is checking his phone. Tank is loading something into a duffel bag — she doesn't ask what. Ghost is already gone, scouting ahead.

Knox is at the center of it all. The president. The man they follow.

"Everyone know their roles?" he asks.

Nods all around.

"Jesse, you're on lookout. Tank, you're backup if things go sideways. Ghost, you're eyes in the sky." Knox looks at Maya. "You're with me. But you stay in the car until I say otherwise."

"Agreed."

"And if I tell you to leave — if I say the word now — you drive. You don't look back. You don't wait for me. You drive."

"I can't do that."

"You can. And you will." He steps closer. Lowers his voice so only she can hear. "If something happens to me, I need you safe. That's not negotiable."

Her throat tightens. "Nothing's going to happen to you."

"Promise me."

"Knox—"

"Promise me."

She looks at his face. At the scar above his eyebrow. At the fear he's trying so hard to hide. "I promise."

He nods. Steps back. Becomes the president again.

"Let's move."

They take two vehicles. Jesse and Tank in one — a beat-up truck that's seen better decades. Knox and Maya in his car, a black sedan that's faster than it looks. Ghost is already on the road, invisible, everywhere and nowhere.

The drive is silent. Knox's hands are steady on the wheel. His eyes are fixed on the horizon. Maya watches the Montana landscape roll past — endless sky, brown grass, the occasional cluster of trees. It's beautiful in a harsh way. Unforgiving.

"Where are we meeting?" she asks.

"There's a diner about thirty miles from here. Neutral ground. No weapons allowed."

"Cole will bring weapons anyway."

"Probably." Knox glances at her. "But so will I."

The diner appears at the edge of a small town — a silver Airstream converted into a restaurant, surrounded by gravel and pickup trucks. It looks harmless. Friendly, even. Maya knows better than to trust appearances.

Knox parks across the street. Kills the engine.

"Stay here," he says.

"Knox."

He looks at her.

"Be careful."

He reaches over. Tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. His fingers linger on her cheek. "Always."

Then he gets out. Walks across the street. Disappears into the diner.

Maya watches the door. Her hands are shaking. She presses them flat against her thighs.

The minutes crawl by. One. Five. Ten.

She checks her phone. No messages.

She looks at the diner. The windows are fogged, impossible to see through.

She thinks about Derek. About the last time she saw him — on the couch, with her best friend, in her mug. About the way he looked at her when she walked in. Not guilty. Not sorry. Just... annoyed. Like she'd interrupted something.

She thinks about Knox. About his hands. His voice. The way he said you're not alone.

Fifteen minutes.

Twenty.

The diner door opens. A man walks out. Not Knox. Not Cole.

Derek.

Maya's blood turns to ice. He's standing on the sidewalk, squinting in the sunlight, looking exactly the same as he always did. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. That face that used to make her heart flutter and now makes her stomach turn.

He's scanning the street. Looking for something. Looking for her.

She slides down in her seat. Her heart is pounding so loud she's sure he can hear it.

The door opens again. Knox comes out. He's talking to someone over his shoulder — Cole, probably, though she can't see his face. Derek says something to Knox. Knox stops. Turns.

They're too far away for her to read lips. But she sees Knox's posture change. Sees his hands curl into fists.

Derek laughs. Puts a hand on Knox's shoulder.

Knox shakes it off. Walks to the car. Gets in. Starts the engine.

"Go," he says.

"What happened?"

"Go. Now."

She doesn't argue. He peels away from the curb, tires spitting gravel. The diner shrinks in the rearview mirror. Derek grows smaller. Smaller. Gone.

Maya's hands are still shaking. "Knox. Talk to me."

He doesn't answer for a long moment. His knuckles are white on the steering wheel.

"Cole wants you," he says finally. "Derek wants you. They've made a deal. Derek pays. Cole delivers. They split the reward."

"What reward?"

"You." Knox's voice is flat. "You're the reward, Maya. Derek's been offering money to anyone who can find you. Cole just happened to be the one who bit."

She feels sick. "How much?"

"Does it matter?"

"No." She looks out the window. The landscape blurs. "What happens now?"

"Now we fight." Knox glances at her. His eyes are hard, but there's something underneath. Something soft. "You still want to be there? When it happens?"

She thinks about running. About disappearing again. About finding a new town, a new bar, a new set of strangers to hide among.

Then she thinks about Knox. About Jesse and Tank and Ghost. About the way they've made her feel like she belongs somewhere for the first time in years.

"Yes," she says. "I want to be there."

Knox nods. Reaches over. Takes her hand.

They drive back to Nowhere.

The war has begun.

End of Chapter 17