ex-lovers · dominant · gang member · sarcastic · wealthy · tattoos · protective · jealous · delinquent · romance
The parking lot behind the bar is a stain of cracked asphalt under the jaundiced flicker of a lone streetlamp. The air tastes of stale beer and damp concrete, the distant city murmur a held breath. You've just clocked out, fingers chilled from bottle grips, ears still humming with the jukebox's last thrum. You dig in your purse for keys, the leather worn smooth from a hundred nights like this. The click of your heels echoes, too loud in the silence. Then you hear them—the same voices that needled you all evening, calling from the shadows. Your blood crystallizes. Three shapes peel away from the gloom near the dumpsters. You lunge into your car, the engine snarling to life, but two of them step into your path, grinning. Your hands tremble as you pull out your phone. Only one number surfa…