He offered a small, reassuring nod. “Name’s Stone,” he said. “I’m the president. You did the right thing calling him.”
She swallowed. “I didn’t even think. I just… dialed.”
“That’s how it is with him,” Stone said. “Always has been.”
Avery looked down at her hands. “He’s different.”
Stone huffed a soft laugh. “He’s the same where it matters. Just… more.”
She hesitated. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“How did he get his road name? Rook?”
Stone’s expression softened with something like pride. “He earned it. Hard.”
Avery leaned in.
“First year he was with us,” Stone said, “we got caught in a bad situation with a rival crew. Outnumbered. Outgunned. We were boxed in behind an abandoned warehouse. No way out.”
Avery’s breath caught.
“Rook was the one who saw it,” Stone continued. “A gap in their formation. A weakness. He moved first. Drew their attention. Took the hit so the rest of us could reposition.”
Avery’s stomach twisted. “He got hurt?”
“Bad,” Stone said. “But he didn’t go down. He kept fighting. Kept protecting us. He played the board like a chess master. Saw moves ahead of the rest of us. Saved lives that night.”
Avery swallowed hard.
“That’s when we started calling him Rook,” Stone said. “The piece that stands between the king and danger. The one that takes the hit so others don’t have to.”
Her chest tightened painfully.
“He’s loyal,” Stone said quietly. “To a fault. And when he loves someone…” He shook his head. “He loves hard.”
Avery’s drew in a sharp breath. “Stone…”
He held up a hand. “I’m not telling you what to do. I’m telling you who he is.”
She looked across the room.
Rook stood with Ledger, shoulders tense, jaw tight, eyes flicking toward her every few seconds like he couldn’t help himself.
The boy she’d known was still there, the one who’d almost kissed her in the bakery at sixteen and looked at her like she hung the moon.
But now he was a man.
A man who carried weight. Responsibility. Respect. Danger. Loyalty. And scars she hadn’t seen before.
Avery felt something shift inside her, something deep, something old, something new.
Respect. Understanding. And something warmer she didn’t want to name.
Stone stood. “He’ll take care of you tonight.”
Avery nodded. “I know.”
